Earn Your Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies at Maine’s Leading Health University
51°µÍř’s Master of Science in Physician Assistant degree program — the only PA program in Maine — prepares master’s level physician assistants to be highly skilled members of health care teams.
Our students graduate as knowledgeable, collaborative clinicians trained in providing compassionate, competent, patient-centered health care to people of all backgrounds and cultures throughout their lifespans.
You will begin our program on our Portland Campus for the Health Sciences, then start clinical rotations in your second year. The program can be completed in two years.

percent of our students who pass the PANCE exam on the first try
Why 51°µÍř for Your Physician Assistant Studies
Not only are we the only PA program in Maine, we are also accredited by the .
More reasons to choose our PA degree include:
- First-time exam candidates from our PA degree program consistently outperform the national average pass rate, with 98% of our 2023 graduates passing the PANCE exam on their first try (PDF).
- We are a comprehensive health sciences university that is nationally recognized for excellence in preparing students for collaborative, interprofessional, team-based care. Draw on the expertise of faculty members from our colleges of medicine, health professions, dental medicine, and our College of Arts and Sciences, and benefit from training alongside future providers in other health professions.
- Guided by skilled faculty, you receive instruction in the College of Osteopathic Medicine’s gross anatomy lab, and you build your PA skills in our state-of-the-art health care education facilities. Rather than just hearing and reading about difficult or unusual cases, you experience them by treating our high fidelity patient simulators and patient actors in scenarios that mimic real life.
- You gain experience caring for people from different walks of life. Our emphasis on medically underserved populations, including rural communities and the geriatric population, will enhance your skills as a clinician and your sensitivity as a caregiver.
- Enjoy the supportive community of 51°µÍř’s Physician Assistant degree program. With encouraging faculty and professional staff and fellow students who embrace a collaborative — rather than competitive — spirit, you are better able to focus on learning the material that will make you the successful PA you strive to be.
- Portland has been named “America’s Most Livable City” by Forbes and “Foodiest Small Town in America” by Bon Appetit. We also have a thriving student life.
What Will You Study? Accredited PA Program Curriculum Overview
Our accredited PA program — the only PA program in Maine — operates on a 24-month, full-time calendar, beginning each June with a new entering class.
You begin patient care in your first year through our nationally recognized Interprofessional Geriatric Education Practicum, which pairs you with an elderly individual from the community whom you visit and evaluate regularly. Through this experience, you enhance your medical knowledge, gain clinical skills, and develop a professional presence to carry into your clinical year.
Our M.S.P.A. degree curriculum is built upon a foundation of science and pathophysiology to foster understanding of disease processes and clinical medicine. You receive two full years of instruction in pharmacology, learn evidence-based medicine theory, and work in small groups to develop the critical thinking skills required to address complex medical and surgical challenges.
By emphasizing all aspects of health care, including geriatrics, health promotion, disease prevention, pharmacology, and public health practice, we empower future physician assistants to work effectively within the physician/PA relationship, exercising autonomy in medical decision making and providing a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services.
Curriculum
Phase I of the Program of study consists of sixty-one (61) credit hours in pre-clinical didactic coursework. The summer, fall, and spring terms include instruction in the fields of biomedical sciences, clinical medicine, public health, pharmacology, clinical assessment, anatomy, physiology, evidence-based medicine, ethics and professionalism, specialty disciplines, and geriatrics. Twelve (12) months of clinical rotations will take place upon successful completion of the didactic phase. The Program ends with a final week on campus, which provides a forum for the presentation of students' research projects to peers and faculty, offers assistance in preparing the graduating students for certification, and gives PA candidates an opportunity to integrate the didactic and clinical portions of their training in preparation for the Physician Assistant National Certification Exam (PANCE). The purpose of the catalog is to provide a comprehensive list of required courses. The Physician Assistant program can provide a degree map listing which courses should be taken in each stage of this timeline.
Program Required Courses | Credits |
---|---|
PAC 503 – Clinical Assessment I | 2.5 |
PAC 509 – Clinical Medicine I | 1 |
PAC 519 – Clinical Medicine II | 8 |
PAC 533 – Clinical Assessment III | 3 |
PAC 543 – Evidence Based Medicine I | 1 |
PAC 545 – Specialty Disciplines | 7 |
PAC 546 – Clinical Medicine III | 6 |
PAC 547 – Interdisc Geriatrics Ed Prog I | 1 |
PAC 548 – Principles of Biological Science | 3 |
PAC 551 – Introduction to Public Health | 1 |
PAC 554 – Clinical Assessment II | 3 |
PAC 555 – Anatomy | 5 |
PAC 556 – Evidence Based Medicine II | 0.5 |
PAC 559 – Pharmacology I | 3 |
PAC 560 – Pharmacology II | 3.5 |
PAC 561 – Pharmacology III | 3.5 |
PAC 564 – Interdisc Geriatric Ed Prog II | 2 |
PAC 565 – Integrating Seminar I | 3 |
PAC 582 – Professional and Ethical Issues for Physician Assistants | 1 |
PAC 585 – Integrating Seminar II | 3 |
PAC 614 – Preparation for Clinical Practice I | 1 |
PAC 615 – Preparation for Clinical Practice II | 1 |
PAC 616 – Preparation for Clinical Practice III | 1 |
PAC 628 – Clinical Therapeutics I | 0.5 |
PAC 629 – Clinical Therapeutics II | 0.5 |
PAC 670 – Clinical Practicum I | 6 |
PAC 671 – Clinical Practicum II | 6 |
PAC 672 – Clinical Practicum III | 6 |
PAC 673 – Clinical Practicum IV | 6 |
PAC 674 – Clinical Practicum V | 6 |
PAC 675 – Clinical Practicum VI | 6 |
PAC 676 – Clinical Practicum VII | 6 |
PAC 677 – Clinical Practicum VIII | 6 |
Minimum Total Required Credits | 113 |
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Graduation Requirements
Students must complete all program requirements before the issuance of their Master of Science degree and the certificate of completion of the program.
Academic and Technical Standards
WCHP Academic Policies
The Department of Physician Assistant, the Westbrook College of Health Professions, and the University of New England are committed to offering a quality Physician Assistant education program that complies with the evaluative criteria of the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant. The program provides learning experiences to enable graduates to achieve the outcomes required for the practice of a Physician Assistant. Please refer to the WCHP Graduate Program Progression Policies and Procedures (PDF) for a detailed description of academic standards.
Technical Standards
A student in the PA Program must have abilities and skills in five (5) categories: observation, communication, motor, intellectual, and behavioral/social. All students admitted to the Program must meet the following abilities and expectations upon matriculation and maintain these standards while enrolled in the PA Program. In the event a student is unable to fulfill these technical standards, with or without reasonable accommodation, the student will be subject to dismissal after admission.
Reasonable accommodation for persons with documented disabilities will be considered on an individual basis. However, a candidate must be able to perform these skills in an independent manner. Accordingly, the program requires each student to meet the following technical standards with or without accommodation:
Observation
Students must have sufficient sensory capacity to observe in the lecture hall, the laboratory, the outpatient setting, and the patient’s bedside. Sensory skills adequate to perform a physical examination are required. The ability to acquire sensory input using vision, hearing, and tactile sensation must be adequate to observe a patient’s condition and to elicit information through procedures regularly required in a physical examination, such as inspection, auscultation, percussion, and palpation.
In any case, where a student’s ability to observe or acquire information through these sensory modalities is compromised, the student must demonstrate alternative means and/or abilities to acquire and demonstrate the essential information without reliance upon another person’s interpretation of the information. It is expected that obtaining and using such alternative means and/or abilities shall be the responsibility of the student. The University will reasonably assist the student where necessary.
Communication
The student must be able to effectively and efficiently communicate in the English language using verbal, written, and reading skills, in a manner that demonstrates sensitivity to fellow students, patients, their families, and all members of the healthcare team.
- A student must be able to accurately elicit information, describe a patient’s change in mood, thought, activity, and posture. Students must demonstrate established communication skills using traditional means which may include the use of assistive devices.
- The student must be able to communicate complex findings in appropriate terms for patients/caregivers and other members of the healthcare team.
- A student must be able to communicate clearly and audibly during interactions with classmates, professors, patients, and members of the healthcare team.
- A student must be able to receive, write legibly, and interpret written and verbal communication in both clinical and academic settings.
- The student must be able to interpret and record legibly observations in a manner that is efficient and accurate using handwritten and electronic and dictating formats.
Motor
The ability to participate in basic diagnostic and therapeutic maneuvers and procedures (e.g. palpation, percussion, auscultation) is required. Students must have sufficient motor function to safely execute movements required to provide care to patients. Students must be able to negotiate patient care environments and must be able to move between settings, such as clinic, classroom building, and hospital. Physical stamina sufficient to complete the rigorous course of didactic and clinical study in required. Long periods of sitting, standing, or moving are required in the classroom, laboratory, and clinical experiences.
The student must be able to execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general and emergency diagnosis and medical care such as airway management, placement of intravenous catheters, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and suturing of wounds. At all times the ability to administer care to patients in a safe manner is paramount.
Intellectual
Students must be able to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, and synthesize information effectively in a precisely limited time as would be appropriate for the individual’s level of training in a given clinical setting, while under stress, and in an environment in which other distractions may be present. Problem-solving, one of the critical skills demanded of PAs, requires all of these intellectual abilities. In addition, students should be able to comprehend three (3)-dimensional relationships and understand the spatial relationships of structures.
Students must be able to read and understand medical literature. The student must be able to demonstrate mastery of these skills and the ability to use them together in a timely fashion in medical problem solving and patient care.
The student must be able to, with or without the use of assistive devices, but without reliance on another person, interpret x-ray, and other graphic images and digital or analog representations of physiologic phenomena (such as EKGs).
Behavioral and Social Attributes
Students must possess the emotional health required for full utilization of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, and the prompt completion of all academic and patient care responsibilities. The development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients and other members of the healthcare team is essential. Flexibility, compassion, integrity, motivation, interpersonal skills, and the ability to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in clinical practice are required.
Students must function professionally and effectively in any academic or clinical setting. Students must always demonstrate the psychological and emotional health required for full utilization of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, and the prompt completion of all academic and clinical responsibilities.
The student must demonstrate mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with University faculty and professional staff, peers and classmates, patients, and other members of the healthcare team. Flexibility, compassion, integrity, motivation, interpersonal skills, and the ability to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in clinical practice are all required.
For more information on disabilities and accommodation, please contact the 51°µÍř Student Access Center at (207) 602-2815.
Grading
Upon completion of a course of study, the faculty member in charge of that course submits the number of hours taught and a grade for each student to the academic coordinator. The M.S.P.A. program uses a standard letter grading system.
To learn more view the Academic Catalog or download the M.S.P.A. Student Handbook (PDF).





Potential Career Paths for PA Degree Grads
As America’s health care delivery system evolves to meet the needs of medically underserved populations, the demand for affordable primary care providers continues to grow. Physician assistants will play a critical role, and the opportunities available to you as a member of this challenging, rewarding, and lucrative profession should continue to expand.
According to the , physician assistants earn on average $126,010 per year, and the career is expected to grow 27% over the next decade — much faster than average. Also, unlike doctors and nurse practitioners, PAs can easily switch specialties during their careers without additional schooling.
We will help you launch your career with our personal career advising.
Physician Assistant Degree Program Facilities
Your Physician Assistant training is enhanced by our state-of-the-art educational resources. You receive instruction in an interactive classroom equipped with the latest media and medical instruction technology. You work and learn in the 51°µÍř College of Osteopathic Medicine's gross anatomy laboratory, and utilize high-fidelity patient simulators and patient actors in scenarios that mimic real life.