Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences, B.S., Specialization in Pre-Physician Assistant

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Contact:

Dr. Dale Telgenhoff
Associate Professor and Coordinator
dtelgenhoff@oakland.edu

Nancy Demo
Executive Secretary
demo@oakland.edu

Physician Assistant (PA) practitioners serve a critical role in the delivery of healthcare in the public and private sectors. With an increasing emphasis on health and wellness, PAs provide the community with traditional medical care and education on health and the prevention of disease. PAs perform many of the patient care tasks traditionally performed by physicians in diverse practices from family medicine to surgery and orthopedics. They perform complete medical exams, prescribe medications, and counsel patients on health and wellness.

The Pre-Physician Assistant (Pre-PA) specialization in Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences (CDS) allows students to complete the pre-requisite classes required for entry into most PA programs. Students may enter the Pre-PA program in their freshman year, or transfer into the program from other majors or institutions. There is no application to enter the program. Students must complete four one-credit courses in the Pre-PA curriculum designed to prepare the student for the PA application and field of study. These courses are offered in the fall of each year, and more than one course may be taken concurrently for students transferring into the specialization.

Requirements for clinical and diagnostic sciences, B.S.

Students pursing a Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences degree are required to complete a minimum of 120 credits and fulfill the requirements described below:

Meet the university general education requirements (see General Education Requirements ). Note that several courses under requirement number three below satisfy general education requirements and Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences degree requirements. See courses marked with “*”.
Complete the Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences core curriculum.
Complete the specialization course requirements specified under the following specialization: pre-physician assistant.
Complete all Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences major program course-work with a cumulative GPA of 2.80 or higher.

Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences core curriculum courses

BIO 1200 - Biology I (4) *
BIO 2100 - Human Anatomy (4)
BIO 2101 - Human Anatomy Laboratory (1)
BIO 2600 - Human Physiology (4) *
CDS 2010 - Careers in Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences (1)
CDS 2050 - Contemporary Issues in Health Care Organizations and Practice (2)
CDS 2100 - Medical Terminology (1)
CDS 2260 - Introduction to Laboratory Theory and Techniques (2) (not required for Pre-Physician Assistant, RAD or NMT specialization)
HS 4500 - Ethics in Health Care (4)
STA 2220 - Introduction to Statistical Concepts and Reasoning (4) * or STA 2222 - Statistical Methods for Biology (4) or STA 2226 - Applied Probability and Statistics (4)

Admissions

To be accepted in a clinical specialization internship, students must submit a formal application for each program for which they seek consideration. Applications for the histotechnology and radiologic technology internship programs are processed in the winter semester of the sophomore year (or winter semester following completion of the Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences core curriculum). Applications for nuclear medicine internships are processed during the fall or winter semester of the junior year (depending on desired start of clinical program) and applications for the MLS internships are processed during the summer prior to the senior year. It is recommended that students have at least a 3.00 overall GPA. Students with lower grade point averages may be admitted provisionally pending satisfactory completion of appropriate fall semester, junior-year course work. Students should check the clinical program’s websites for exact application dates.

Grade point policy

Students in the professional specializations HTL, MLS, NMT, or RAD whose cumulative grade point average falls below a 2.80 are not able to graduate with the professional specialization designation. In these cases, students are eligible to graduate with a Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences Pre-clinical professions specialization.

In order to remove program probationary status, students must raise their cumulative major grade point average to 2.80 or higher.

Pre-Physician Assistant specialization professional course requirements

Students in the Pre-Physician Assistant specialization must complete the following courses:

and eight (8) credits of CDS electives

Recommended CDS Electives (Senior year):

Note

Note that several required courses satisfy general education requirements. See courses marked with “*”.

Some clinical programs may require MTH 1441 . Check the individual clinical programs for current requirements.