School of Health Sciences Physician Assistant Studies

Admissions Process

Steps To Apply

Submission of completed application and all required materials to CASPA by October 1. Besides the application itself, these materials include:

  • Official transcripts from all colleges/universities attended
  • Three (3) Letters of Recommendation submitted to CASPA

*Complete, verified applications must be received by the program no later than November 15th.  Incomplete applications and those not meeting all requirements are not considered for further evaluation.

CASPA will not review or forward your application to the Program until all requested information is received, therefore the Program is not responsible for applications not received due to missing information.

Additional Application Materials
  • All applicants to the USD PA Program are required to complete the USD Graduate School application and pay the $35 fee
  • Any additional application materials deemed necessary by the program will be e-mailed to applicants upon the program's receipt of their completed CASPA application. Due dates for these materials will be included in the e-mail and will generally be 14 days from the send date of the e-mail, but are subject to change based on program time constraints. Failure to return all additional materials by the stated deadline will result in the withdrawal of the application from consideration for interview or acceptance
Interviews
  • Invitations to interview will be offered to select applicants based on review of the written application materials
    • A personal interview with the PA Admissions Committee is required
  • Each applicant will have two interviews conducted by an Admissions Committee of five to seven members
  • Additional information may be obtained at the time of interview 
  • Interviews are generally conducted the last two weekends in January
Selection

After personal interviews are conducted, the Admissions Committee makes its final selections, and a decision letter is sent to each applicant.

Background Check

All applicants offered a position in our program must pass a criminal background check before officially being accepted.