MS in Physician Assistant

Elevate your clinical experience. Become a physician assistant.

Carlow University offers a new and innovative cohort-based physician assistant program. Accelerate your learning with this 25-month program designed to build upon your prior healthcare experience and the clinical skills you already have. There’s nothing like being in a holistic and supportive academic environment that provides personalized attention in the classroom and lab. Our program ensures that clinical application is a big part of your transformational educational experience. It consists of a three-phase curriculum, grounded in Carlow’s mercy values, taught in a multidisciplinary environment alongside other healthcare professionals. This environment equips students with integral skills including ethical leadership, compassionate care and interprofessional collaborative competencies.

Upon graduation, students are prepared to take the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination (PANCE) and pursue a versatile and in-demand career as a physician assistant.

Admission requirements and application process

Physician Assistant academic curriculum

Students progress through the physician assistant curriculum as members of a cohort in three phases: didactic, clinical experience and transition to practice. Interprofessional collaboration, a founding concept of the physician assistant profession, is at the core of each phase; providing students the opportunity to learn collectively with multiple healthcare disciplines. This collaborative education experience encourages meaningful alliances and ultimately prepares students to practice high-quality clinical care as a member of a healthcare team. 

Learn in our simulated hospital environment

The Celtic Simulation Center for Innovative Learning (CSCIL) is a simulated hospital environment designed for student experiential learning. Primarily during the didactic phase, physician assistant students, alongside other healthcare disciplines, experience predetermined scenarios to practice clinical decision-making, diagnosis, procedures, and patient communication and interaction in a safe and realistic environment.

Curricular phases

• Phase 1: Didactic: An intense period of instruction meant to impart clinical knowledge, skills and attitudes in preparation for clinical practice
• Phase 2: Clinical experience: An experiential phase of education whose purpose is to apply the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed for patient care in a supervised environment, includes:
  • 8 clinical rotations in areas including family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, surgery, behavioral medicine, women’s health, pediatrics and elective
  • 5 weeks, full-time (average of 40 hours per week)
  • Sites are practices and healthcare systems located in southwestern Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh, as well as across the country
• Phase 3: Transition to practice: The final period of the formal education program intended to prepare graduates for successful entrance into the profession and clinical practice

Rotation disciplines

• Family medicine
• Internal medicine
• Emergency medicine
• Surgery
• Behavioral medicine
• Women’s health
• Pediatrics
• Elective

Physician Assistant faculty

Alex S. Baumcratz, DPAS, MPA, PA-C Assistant Professor and Principal Faculty

Alison Wix, MPA, PA-C Department Chair, Program Director

Karen M. Katon, DPAS, MS, MAS, PA-C Assistant Program Director

Sarah Donaldson, MPA, PA-C Director of Clinical Education

Kathleen Kail, MPAS, PA-C Instructor, Physician Assistant Program

Brooke Gall, MPAS, PA-C Instructor

Afokoghene “Zino” Okpozo, MBBS, PhD Associate Professor, Physician Assistant Program

Program information, outcomes & policies

View or download the following files:

Required program policies for applicants:

View or download the following policies:

ARC-PA accreditation status

At its September 2024 meeting, the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) placed the Carlow University Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Carlow University on Accreditation-Probation status until its next review in September 2026. 

Probation accreditation is a temporary accreditation status initially of not less than two years. However, that period may be extended by the ARC-PA for up to an additional two years if the ARC-PA finds that the program is making substantial progress toward meeting all applicable standards but requires additional time to come into full compliance. Probation accreditation status is granted, at the sole discretion of the ARC- PA, when a program holding an accreditation status of Accreditation – Provisional or Accreditation – Continued does not, in the judgment of the ARC-PA, meet the Standards or when the capability of the program to provide an acceptable educational experience for its students is threatened.

Once placed on probation, a program that fails to comply with accreditation requirements in a timely manner, as specified by the ARC-PA, may be scheduled for a focused site visit and is subject to having its accreditation withdrawn.

Specific questions regarding the Program and its plans should be directed to the Program Director and/or the appropriate institutional official(s).

The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA’s website at https://www.arc-pa.org/accreditation-history-carlow-university/.

The College of Health and Wellness and Carlow University fully support the Physician Assistant Program and are actively addressing the concerns raised by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). We remain committed to student success and delivering a high-quality program.

• View Probation Status FAQs