Updated Nov 4, 2026

University of Dayton PA Program Interview: Format & Questions

Key facts (2026-27)

Format: Interview evaluating written communication, oral communication, interpersonal skills, maturity and mission fit

Dates for 2026-27

Late June through mid-October
Interviews
Sent in writing on a rolling basis after interviews, with a $1,000 non-refundable deposit
Offers and decisions

Checked November 2026 against UD Physician Assistant Practice (MPAP) Admissions & Overview and UD Department of Physician Assistant Education. Confirm details in your invitation.

The University of Dayton Master of Physician Assistant Practice (MPAP) interview runs on a rolling basis from late June through mid-October. It evaluates both written and oral communication, interpersonal skills, maturity, motivation, knowledge of the PA profession, and alignment with the program's Catholic, Marianist mission. Per the University of Dayton PA Program admission requirements page, neither the GRE nor CASPer is required, and CASPA applications must be verified by October 1 for the cohort starting the following August. Sources: University of Dayton: Physician Assistant Practice (MPAP) Program and Admission Requirements, University of Dayton: Department of Physician Assistant Education Overview and Clinical Experience, University of Dayton: MPAP Admission Requirements (Department Page). Last checked November 3, 2026.

What the University of Dayton PA interview evaluates

The University of Dayton Department of Physician Assistant Education selects candidates for interviews after evaluating completed, CASPA-verified applications. Interviews are scheduled from late June through mid-October, and admission offers can go out at any time after your interview day.

Unlike programs that rely only on spoken conversations, Dayton's official admission requirements page states that interviewees are assessed on both written and oral communication abilities, as well as interpersonal skills. In the final selection step, the Admission Committee votes on candidates based on GPAs (science, cumulative, and prerequisite), knowledge of the PA profession, and a successful interview that demonstrates maturity, motivation, and interest in the University of Dayton and PA Department mission.

If you are applying as an international candidate and are selected for further consideration, the program states that you will be asked to participate in an on-campus interview. For domestic applicants, check your invitation email for your exact session schedule and room or video instructions.

Because the University of Dayton explicitly scores both written and oral communication during the interview process, prepare for two modes of expression on interview day. Keep your spoken answers concise so you leave room for follow-up questions. For the written portion, the program's technical standards note that candidates must communicate in writing with accuracy, clarity, and efficiency. State your main point in the first sentence, support it with one or two short paragraphs that weigh different viewpoints or give a concrete clinical or service example, and leave two minutes at the end to check spelling and clarity.

To rehearse spoken answers and follow-up questions out loud before your date, Confetto offers AI mock interviews for PA school applicants with rubric-based feedback on your delivery and structure. Start your free week on our PA School Interview Questions and Mock Interviews page.

University of Dayton MPAP interview and selection overview
Item	What the University of Dayton PA Program says
Interview season	Late June through mid-October (rolling)
Communication assessed	Both written and oral communication skills, plus interpersonal skills
Selection factors	Science, cumulative, and prerequisite GPAs, maturity, motivation, interest in the UD and PA Department mission, knowledge of the PA profession, and Admission Committee vote
Standardized tests	Neither the GRE nor CASPer is required
Post-interview outcomes	Complete Acceptance, Provisional Acceptance, Waiting List, or Not Accepted (notified in writing)
Seat deposit	$1,000 non-refundable deposit, applied to first-semester tuition

The Catholic, Marianist mission and curriculum specifics to know

Interest in the University of Dayton and PA Department mission is an official selection requirement. On its program overview page, the department states its mission clearly: to produce physician assistants who are committed to the service of the human person through the skillful, compassionate, and ethical provision of health care within the context of the Catholic, Marianist tradition.

Three phrases from that mission statement should guide which stories you tell in your interview: generalist care for the whole person, upholding dignity for society's most vulnerable, and a learning environment focused on leadership, life-long learning, and service. You do not need to be Catholic to fit this mission, but you do need real examples of serving vulnerable patients and treating the whole person rather than just a diagnosis.

When interviewers ask why you chose the University of Dayton MPAP program, connect your background to specific facts from the department's pages:

Structure and length: A 27-month, seven-semester, modular-based curriculum that starts each August.
Clinical year setup: Nine clinical experiences, per the department's Clinical Experience page, which lists eight four-week core rotations in orthopedics, family medicine, pediatrics, adult medicine, women's health, emergency medicine, mental health, and general surgery, plus one 10-week elective that can be broken into shorter blocks.
Preceptor support: The department offers a monetary stipend to clinical preceptors proportional to the time a student spends at the site, which shows institutional investment in securing clinical placements.
Community engagement in Dayton: The department highlights student participation in the Reach Out clinic alliance providing safety-net care in Dayton, as well as student outreach with high school students at the Dayton Early College Academy.
Six program competencies: Medical Knowledge, Clinical and Technical Skills, Interpersonal and Communication Skills, Professionalism, Practice-Based Learning and Improvement, and Systems-Based Practice.

12 practice questions for the University of Dayton PA interview

Our team wrote the 12 practice questions below around the selection criteria, mission, and six competencies on the program's official pages. Use them to practice both spoken answers and timed written responses. For broader practice across common PA prompts, see our guide to PA School Interview Questions: Top 40 for 2026-27.

1. Mission and fit: Why do you want to train in the University of Dayton MPAP program, and how does our Catholic, Marianist tradition of serving the whole person connect to your own experiences?
2. Vulnerable populations: Our mission emphasizes upholding dignity for society's most vulnerable. Tell us about a time you cared for or served someone who felt overlooked by the healthcare system.
3. Knowledge of the PA profession: Walk us through a moment from your health care experience that showed you how a PA collaborates with physicians and the wider care team.
4. Generalist care: We train PAs for generalist care across eight core rotations and a 10-week elective. Why does generalist training appeal to you, and how might you use the 10-week elective?
5. Community service: You completed at least 20 hours of unpaid community service to apply here. What did that work teach you about the community you served that you could not have learned in a clinic?
6. Interpersonal communication: Tell us about a time you had to build rapport with a patient, client, or coworker whose background or beliefs were very different from yours.
7. Maturity and accountability: Describe a mistake you made in a clinical, academic, or work setting. How did you handle it, and what did you change afterward?
8. Modular curriculum and stamina: Our 27-month, seven-semester modular curriculum is demanding, and we discourage outside employment while enrolled. How have you prepared yourself to handle the workload and stress?
9. Noncompetitive teamwork: Our technical standards require students to sustain a noncompetitive learning atmosphere with classmates. Tell us about a time you helped a peer succeed when you were both under pressure.
10. Constructive criticism: Tell us about a piece of constructive criticism from a supervisor or professor that was difficult to hear. How did you respond?
11. Systems-based practice: Describe a barrier to care, such as cost, transportation, or health literacy, that you witnessed during your clinical hours. How can a PA advocate for a patient facing that barrier?
12. Written prompt practice: Write a short response explaining what 'upholding dignity for society's most vulnerable' looks like in a busy primary care visit.

Example answers and two-week preparation plan

Below are two example answers written by our team to show how to tie your clinical and service stories to Dayton's selection criteria. Do not memorize them. Use them to see how a concrete story beats a general statement.

Prompt 1: 'Why do you want to attend the University of Dayton PA program?'

Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: 'I want to train at the University of Dayton because the MPAP curriculum pairs strong generalist preparation with a mission that matches how I have spent the last three years working. As a medical assistant in an urban family medicine clinic, I saw how often patients needed a provider who looked past a single chief complaint to ask about housing, food, and family stress. Dayton's mission within the Catholic, Marianist tradition talks explicitly about generalist care for the whole person and upholding dignity for society's most vulnerable. I also like the structure of the 27-month modular curriculum and the clinical year. Having eight four-week core rotations plus a 10-week elective that can be split into shorter blocks would let me build a broad foundation and then spend extra time in both community primary care and inpatient internal medicine. Seeing how UD students work with the Reach Out clinic in Dayton tells me I would be training alongside classmates and faculty who take community service seriously.'

Prompt 2: 'Tell us about a time you received constructive criticism and how you handled it.'

Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: 'During my first two months as a physical therapy aide, my supervising therapist pulled me aside after a busy afternoon and told me that when the clinic got behind schedule, my tone with older patients became rushed and transactional. It stung because I prided myself on being efficient and helpful. After I thought about it, I realized she was right: I was treating the room turnover checklist as the goal instead of the patient in front of me. The next day, I thanked her for pointing it out and changed my routine. Before walking up to a patient, I made myself pause, sit or kneel at eye level, and ask one unhurried question before touching any equipment. Within a few weeks, she noted on my six-month review that patients were asking for me by name. That experience taught me that efficiency without warmth makes patients feel like a task, and it made me much quicker to ask supervisors for direct feedback.'

Once your interview invitation arrives, use this two-week checklist to prepare for both the spoken and written evaluations:

Audit your CASPA file and UD forms: Re-read your CASPA personal statement, your uploaded UD Clinical Observation Form (250+ hours), and your UD Community Service Form (20+ hours). Pick five specific patient or service moments you can tell concisely.
Map stories to UD's selection criteria: Match at least one real story to each item UD scores: maturity, motivation, knowledge of the PA profession, whole-person generalist care, serving vulnerable populations, and working in a noncompetitive team.
Practice out loud: Record yourself answering questions 1 through 11 from this guide. Watch the recordings to check your pacing, eye contact, and whether you actually answered the question asked.
Drill two timed written responses: Practice writing a clear, three-paragraph response to question 12 and one ethical prompt without spellcheck.
Prepare your questions for faculty: Write down two thoughtful questions about the modular curriculum, clinical site mentorship, or service opportunities like the Reach Out clinic.

University of Dayton PA program admissions, prerequisites and outcomes

Show details

Per the University of Dayton MPAP Admission Requirements page and ARC-PA reports, the program holds ARC-PA Accreditation-Continued status (granted March 2021, next validation review March/April 2029) and reports a 94% five-year first-time PANCE pass rate and a 92% graduation rate for the Class of 2024 (a figure that is two years old). To apply via CASPA by the October 1 verification deadline, you need a bachelor's degree with 3.00 minimum GPAs (cumulative, natural science prerequisite, and non-natural science prerequisite, with grades of C or above and no C- accepted), three letters of recommendation from people who have known you at least 6 months (a healthcare supervisor/manager, a recent college professor or advisor, and a physician or PA worked with for at least 6 months), at least 250 health care hours on the UD Clinical Observation Form, and at least 20 unpaid community service hours on the UD Community Service Form. Required prerequisites are Human Anatomy with lab, Human Physiology with lab, Organic Chemistry I with lab, and Organic Chemistry II with lab (4 semester hours each), Microbiology with lab, Biochemistry (lab preferred), and Statistics (3-4 semester hours each), General Psychology and a second psychology course (3 semester hours each), and Medical Terminology (1-3 semester hours), with Anatomy and Physiology completed within 7 years and other science prerequisites within 10 years. Special consideration is given to current students and alumni of UD and other Marianist universities and military members. For a broader look at how PA requirements compare across programs, see our guide to PA School Requirements: GPA, Prerequisites, Tests, Hours.

Practice the University of Dayton PA interview out loud

Walking into your interview with clear, tested stories about your clinical hours, your community service, and why the Catholic, Marianist mission fits your goals makes a noticeable difference. With Confetto, you can practice PA interview questions out loud, answer realistic follow-ups, and review rubric-based feedback on your clarity and structure.

Start your free week on our PA School Interview Questions and Mock Interviews page to run a mock interview before your University of Dayton interview date.

Practice question

Our mission within the Catholic, Marianist tradition emphasizes excellent generalist care for the whole person, particularly upholding dignity for society's most vulnerable. Tell us about a time you cared for or served someone in a vulnerable situation and what you did to uphold their dignity.

See an example answer

Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented. 'While working as a patient care technician on a medical-surgical unit, I cared for an older man who had been admitted from a shelter with cellulitis in both legs. When I came in to help him with a bed bath and dressing change, he refused to let me pull back the blanket and kept apologizing for the state of his clothes and shoes. Instead of rushing through my task list, I pulled up a chair, introduced myself, and asked him how he liked to be addressed. I told him that my job was to make sure he was comfortable and that he was in charge of the pace. I brought warm towels, let him wash the areas he could reach himself so he kept his independence, and asked a social worker to help me find clean hospital clothes and replacement shoes before discharge so his belongings did not have to be thrown out without a plan. Once he realized I was not judging him, he opened up about how he had been rationing his diabetes medications. Upholding dignity in that room meant giving him back control over small choices first, which then made it possible for the team to treat his whole health picture.'

It names one specific patient encounter rather than speaking in generalizations about compassion. It shows concrete actions that protected the patient's autonomy and dignity, and it connects interpersonal respect directly to better generalist clinical care.

Frequently asked questions

When does the University of Dayton PA program interview applicants?

Interviews are scheduled on a rolling basis from late June through mid-October after CASPA verification. Because admission offers can be made at any time after an interview, applying early in the CASPA cycle (which opens in late April ahead of the October 1 verification deadline) gives you the best chance at an interview slot.

What does the University of Dayton PA interview evaluate?

The program assesses both written and oral communication abilities, interpersonal skills, maturity, motivation, knowledge of the PA profession, and interest in the University of Dayton and PA Department mission. Final admission decisions also weigh your cumulative, science, and prerequisite GPAs and require a vote of acceptance by the Admission Committee.

Does the University of Dayton PA program require the GRE or CASPer?

No. The University of Dayton PA program explicitly states on its admission requirements page that neither the GRE nor the CASPer exam is required.

What are the minimum GPA and patient care hour requirements for the UD PA program?

You need a bachelor's degree with a minimum 3.00 cumulative undergraduate GPA, 3.00 prerequisite natural science GPA, and 3.00 prerequisite non-natural science GPA, with all prerequisite grades at C or above (C- does not qualify). You also need at least 250 hours of health care experience (direct patient contact preferred, shadowing and volunteering accepted) and 20 hours of supervisor-verified unpaid community service submitted on UD's official forms.

What is the University of Dayton PA program PANCE pass rate?

On its official MPAP program page, the University of Dayton publishes a 94% five-year first-time PANCE pass rate and a 92% graduation rate for the Class of 2024 (a figure that is two years old).

Sources

More on Dayton PA

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