About

Do you have a genuine desire to help people? Are you interested in working as a front-line primary-care provider in an evolving profession?

The goal of the physician assistant program is to provide a primary care-oriented, rural-based training program for entry-level health-care professionals. You must have a bachelor's degree before entering the intensive 27-month PA professional track which begins in August of each year.

As a physician assistant (PA), you will provide health-care services under the supervision of physicians. PAs take medical histories, examine and treat patients, order and interpret laboratory tests and X-rays, make diagnoses, and prescribe medications. They also treat minor injuries by suturing, splinting, and casting.

In most states, including North Carolina, PAs have the delegated authority to write prescriptions. Physician assistants' job descriptions may also include patient education, medical education, health administration, and research.

You will study a wide variety of topics related to the profession to prepare you for a hands-on career. Physician assistants do not have to complete a residency or internship.

ECU Advantage

ECU offers the only state-supported physician assistant program in North Carolina. The College of Allied Health Sciences is the largest university-based allied-health provider in the state. The college has eight departments: Addictions and Rehabilitation Studies, Biostatistics, Clinical Laboratory Science, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Health Services and Information Management, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Physician Assistant , and offers degrees on the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels.


Delivering a comprehensive professional education that will prepare allied-health graduates to make a difference in the health of the region, state, and nation was the primary reason for the creation of the College of Allied Health Sciences and its departments. Fueled by the growth and aging of our population, the demand for these highly skilled specialists is expected to greatly increase as health care continues to be a priority for our citizens.

As an ECU student, you can research your future career in Steppingblocks. Explore real-world stats about your major, your interests, and your dream job title with data-powered career exploration tools designed for doers like you.

What You Will Study

Program Director: Jane Trapp (4310 Health Sciences Building; 252-744-1107; trappj@ecu.edu)

The Department of Physician Assistant Studies in the College of Allied Health Sciences at East Carolina University (ECU) has held continued accreditation since 1996 with students graduating from the program receiving a master of science in physician assistant studies. The Physician Assistant master's degree program takes pride in developing leaders who inspire, empower and influence positive change. The mission of the Department of Physician Assistant Studies is to prepare physician assistant graduates through educational and clinical experiences to improve the health and well-being of patients while increasing access to primary medical care in eastern North Carolina and the state. We seek to achieve this mission in an educational community where faculty, staff, clinical instructors, students, and other health care providers work together in an atmosphere of mutual respect, cooperation, compassion, and commitment.

The highly structured rigorous curriculum is divided into 2 phases, the didactic phase and clinical phase. The didactic phase consists of traditional lectures, small group teaching, hands on and skills labs, simulation, team and case-based learning. The didactic phase is 15 months in length and consists of 59 semester hours conducted on ECU's Health Science campus. The clinical phase is delivered over a 12-month period and consists of 46 semester hours of clinical related courses and rotations (8 required and 2 elective).  During clinical rotations students spend 4-8 weeks in family medicine, woman's health and prenatal care, pediatrics, emergency medicine, surgery, hospital and clinic based internal medicine, psychiatry and geriatrics where they are mentored by licensed health-care professionals (physicians, physician assistants, and other health care providers) to develop competence in professionalism, performing history and physicals, ordering and interpreting lab studies and imaging modalities, critical thinking and differential diagnosis generation; and developing management plans which are required to graduate and enter clinical practice.

Admission Prerequisite Requirements

The following courses are to be completed prior to entering the program and require at least a 3.0 GPA. 

  • Human anatomy and physiology (lecture) - minimum 6 credit hours
  • Human anatomy and physiology (lab) - minimum 2 credit hours
  • Genetics - minimum 3 credit hours
  • General chemistry or higher (lecture) - minimum 6 credit hours
  • General chemistry or higher (lab) - minimum 2 credit hours
  • Microbiology - minimum 3 credit hours
  • Introductory psychology or higher - minimum 3 credit hours
  • Statistics - minimum 3 credit hours
    Degree Requirements

    The degree requires a minimum of 105 s.h. as follows:

      Core courses - 59 s.h.
      • PADP 6001 - Principles of PA Practice I
      • PADP 6002 - Principles of PA Practice II
      • PADP 6003 - Principles of PA Practice III
      • PADP 6004 - Principles of PA Practice IV
      • PADP 6010 - Diagnostic Methods I
      • PADP 6020 - Diagnostic Methods II
      • PADP 6030 - Clinical Gross Anatomy
      • PADP 6040 - Human Physiology
      • PADP 6050 - Introduction to Clinical Medicine
      • PADP 6150 - Clinical Medicine I
      • PADP 6200 - History and Physical Exam I
      • PADP 6210 - History and Physical Examination II
      • PADP 6220 - History and Physical Examination III
      • PADP 6250 - Clinical Medicine II
      • PADP 6510 - Pharmacology and Therapeutics I
      • PADP 6520 - Pharmacology and Therapeutics II
      • PADP 6530 - Pharmacology and Therapeutics III
      • PADP 6640 - Evidence-Based Medicine
      • PADP 6650 - Surgery and Emergency Medicine Skills
      • PADP 6690 - Introduction to Clinical Practice
      • PADP 6800 - Behavioral Medicine and Psychosocial Issues in Health Care
        • Note:

        To continue to the clinical portion of the curriculum, the student must successfully pass all didactic courses listed above with an overall 3.0 GPA and no more than 6 s.h. of Cs.

        Clinical courses - 46 s.h.
        • PADP 6310 - Behavioral Medicine Clinical Practicum
        • PADP 6325 - Family Medicine Practicum I
        • PADP 6326 - Family Medicine Practicum II
        • PADP 6335 - Internal Medicine Practicum I
        • PADP 6336 - Internal Medicine Practicum II
        • PADP 6340 - General Surgery Clinical Practicum
        • PADP 6350 - Emergency Medicine Clinical Practicum
        • PADP 6360 - Pediatrics Clinical Practicum
        • PADP 6370 - Women's Health and Prenatal Care Clinical Practicum
        • PADP 6380 - Geriatrics Clinical Practicum
        • PADP 6390 - International Medicine Clinical Practicum
        • PADP 6395 - Physician Assistant Studies Clinical Practicum
        • PADP 6501 - Bridge to Professional Practice I
        • PADP 6502 - Bridge to Professional Practice II
      Comprehensive Assessment Requirement

      All ECU graduate programs require students to successfully complete a comprehensive assessment. The assessment for this program is a Physician Assistant Summative Examination. 

        For more information about this degree visit the university's academic catalogs.
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