UND PA Program Interview: Timeline, Questions and Requirements

What UND evaluates: mission, regional preferences, and the hybrid model

To rehearse out loud before your date arrives, Confetto lets you run PA school mock interviews with follow-up questions on rural primary care and your own clinical background. Start your free week.

UND's primary mission is "to prepare selected students to become competent physician assistants working collaboratively within the health care team, emphasizing primary care in rural communities." Its core philosophy is that faculty and preceptors serve as catalysts, while "learning is the responsibility of the student." Its core values are Education, Innovation, Commitment, and Professionalism (including acknowledging personal and professional limitations and knowing when to refer).

In your interview, show that you understand how UND teaches and places students. You do not have to relocate permanently to North Dakota. You complete online synchronous and asynchronous classes from home, travel to Grand Forks for 15 total weeks of on-campus instruction across the 24 months, and complete 32 to 35 weeks of supervised clinical practice experiences in primary care settings. All 100% of students complete rotations in rural or underserved settings. Under ARC-PA standards, you are not permitted to solicit your own preceptors or clinical sites. UND assigns all rotations, requires you to travel and temporarily relocate at your own expense, and strongly advises against working during the program.

While UND's more than 2,000 graduates practice throughout the U.S. and abroad, admission preference follows a tier list: North Dakota residents first, then bordering states (MN, MT, SD), then regional states (IA, NE, WI, WY), plus WICHE-certified applicants from Alaska, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, and Wyoming. UND also gives preference to applicants who live in rural areas or have clinical experience with rural populations.

UND PA interview questions with example answers

We wrote these 12 practice questions and short sample responses around UND's mission, adult-learner philosophy, hybrid schedule, and program competencies. All short sample responses below are written by our team and the applicants are invented. Compare them with our list of PA program interview questions and our Xavier University of Louisiana PA interview guide as you build your own stories.

• 1. Why the University of North Dakota PA program over a traditional on-campus program? Short sample response written by our team. The applicant is invented: "I want to practice primary care in my home county in western Minnesota, and UND's hybrid format lets me stay rooted in my community while I train. For three years I have worked full-time as a paramedic covering three rural towns. UND's structure, combining online synchronous classes with 15 weeks of on-campus labs in Grand Forks and 32 to 35 weeks of primary care clinical experiences, matches how I learn best. I want a program where 100% of students train in rural or underserved clinics."
• 2. Our educational philosophy states that while faculty and preceptors serve as catalysts, learning is the responsibility of the student. Tell us about a time you had to master difficult material on your own. Short sample response written by our team. The applicant is invented: "When I moved from a medical-surgical floor to a 10-bed critical access ICU as an RN, we did not have a classroom orientation. I had to learn ventilator modes and vasoactive drips on my own time. I built a study schedule for my days off, broke the material into weekly topics, and asked our respiratory therapists to walk me through waveform changes at the bedside. Within two months I passed our critical care competency check on the first try. I will bring that same structure to UND's online didactic blocks."
• 3. UND requires at least 1,000 paid hours of direct patient care and values roles with clinical decision-making. Walk us through a moment where your assessment changed a patient's outcome. Short sample response written by our team. The applicant is invented: "Last winter in our outpatient ortho clinic, where I work as an athletic trainer, a 62-year-old farmer came in for a two-week follow-up after a minor knee arthroscopy. He brushed off new calf tightness as stiffness from his tractor. His incision looked clean, but his right calf measured two centimeters larger than the left and felt warm. I held physical therapy, took vitals, and paged the supervising PA with my concern for a deep vein thrombosis. An urgent ultrasound confirmed a clot, and he started anticoagulation that afternoon."
• 4. You do not have to move to Grand Forks, but you must come to campus for 15 weeks and may have to relocate temporarily for clinical rotations. How have you planned for that practically and financially? Short sample response written by our team. The applicant is invented: "My partner and I budgeted from UND's published cost-of-attendance sheet before I submitted CASPA. We set aside savings for the $4,200 to $6,000 in Grand Forks didactic lodging and up to $9,000 for clinical rotation housing. I also spoke with my supervisor where I work as a respiratory therapist, and I will step down before orientation since UND advises against working during the program."
• 5. One of our program competencies is recognizing when to refer patients and acknowledging personal and professional limitations. Tell us about a time you hit the limit of your scope or knowledge. Short sample response written by our team. The applicant is invented: "While working as a paramedic on a 45-minute rural transport, I was caring for a patient with severe COPD who became lethargic on BiPAP as his blood pressure drifted down. Given his heart failure history, I was unsure whether to adjust his pressure settings or start a fluid bolus first. Rather than guessing, I called online medical control at the receiving emergency department and walked through my two concerns with the attending physician. Together we lowered the pressure slightly and ran a small monitored fluid challenge."
• 6. How will you manage the transition from online synchronous and asynchronous coursework to hands-on campus intensives and alternating clinical experiences? Short sample response written by our team. The applicant is invented: "Over the past two years, I completed upper-level genetics and cell biology online while working full-time as a physical therapist assistant in a rural clinic. I block off dedicated morning hours at a desk for synchronous sessions and active recall, and I review physical exam checklists before every skills lab. Because I will not be working during the 24-month MPAS program, I will treat my home study days as an eight-to-five job so I arrive in Grand Forks ready for hands-on testing."
• 7. Tell us about a health care barrier you have seen in a rural community, and how a primary care PA can help address it. Short sample response written by our team. The applicant is invented: "In the rural South Dakota clinic where I work as a medical assistant, distance and winter roads regularly keep elderly patients from making separate trips for lab draws and chronic care visits. Our primary care PA solved this for diabetic patients by coordinating with nursing staff to run point-of-care A1c checks, foot exams, and medication reconciliations in a single consolidated appointment before winter hit. As a rural PA, I will look for practical care-coordination fixes like that."
• 8. Describe a time you cared for a patient whose cultural beliefs, traditions, or background differed from yours. Short sample response written by our team. The applicant is invented: "As a clinic dietitian in North Dakota, I worked with an older Indigenous patient with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes who felt previous providers had dismissed his traditional foods. Instead of handing him a standard meal sheet, I asked him to tell me about the meals he cooked with his family. Together we built a glucose management plan around traditional proteins and portion adjustments rather than cutting out cultural staples, and his A1c dropped two points over six months."
• 9. Tell us about a conflict or miscommunication on a health care team and your role in resolving it. Short sample response written by our team. The applicant is invented: "When I worked as an emergency department technician, triage nurses and radiology techs kept clashing over who was responsible for transporting stable patients for portable chest X-rays during busy evening shifts. After a delayed film held up an admission, I asked the charge nurse and lead radiology tech if we could spend five minutes after shift huddling on the workflow. We mapped out a simple rule based on patient acuity and posted it at the desk."
• 10. In this program, you must earn at least a B in every course, and no more than three total remediations are allowed across the 24 months. How do you respond when you fall short? Short sample response written by our team. The applicant is invented: "On my first exam in upper-level biochemistry, I earned a low B because I was memorizing pathways passively instead of testing myself on enzyme regulation. That same afternoon, I met with the professor during office hours to review my missed questions and switched to drawing out pathways from memory on a blank whiteboard every morning. I finished the course with an A, and at UND I will reach out to my instructor and advisor at the first sign of a gap."
• 11. A patient in a small town asks you in the grocery store about their spouse's lab results. What do you do? Short sample response written by our team. The applicant is invented: "Working as a phlebotomist in a town of 3,000 people, I ran into neighbors in the grocery store every week. If a patient asked about their spouse's labs in the aisle, I would smile warmly and explain that I want to respect their spouse's privacy and have the full chart in front of us before discussing any results. Then I would offer to have the clinic call their spouse first thing in the morning."
• 12. UND embeds AAPA and NDAPA membership and the Spring Primary Care Conference into the curriculum. Why does professional involvement matter to you? Short sample response written by our team. The applicant is invented: "Practicing in a rural clinic means you are often one of only two or three providers in town, so staying connected to state and national PA organizations keeps you from practicing in a silo. Through NDAPA and AAPA, rural PAs share continuing medical education and advocate for state practice laws that keep rural clinics open."

UND PA requirements, PANCE outcomes, and tuition

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Every prerequisite and patient care hour must be completed and posted on official transcripts by the August 1 application deadline. Compare these standards with other schools in our guide to PA school requirements, or if you are also comparing MD pathways at UND, see the UND Medical School acceptance rate and our guide to the UND School of Medicine interview.

Degree, GPA, and prerequisites: You need a bachelor's or graduate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution completed by December 31 of the application year (foreign degrees or coursework obtained outside the United States are not accepted, regardless of equivalency evaluations, CLEP/test-out credits are not accepted, preference is given to upper-level science courses completed within 7 years of the deadline, and the GRE is not required). Non-provisional admission requires a minimum 3.0 undergraduate GPA, though applicants below 3.0 are considered if their last 60 semester credits show a 3.0+ GPA with an upward/stable trend, and provisional admission is possible for cumulative GPAs of at least 2.75 overall or 3.00 in junior and senior years. Prerequisite courses require a grade of B or higher (except a C is acceptable in Organic Chemistry I/II and Biochemistry courses): Human Anatomy (3+ credits), Human Physiology (3+ credits) or A&P I and II (2 courses of 3+ credits each), Microbiology (2+ credits), Statistics (3+ credits), and at least 6 credits of approved upper-level science.

Patient care experience (PCE): A minimum of 1,000 paid hours of direct, hands-on, supervised patient care in the U.S. is required by application time. Preferred roles include RN, Paramedic, RT, MLS, PT, Pharmacist, Athletic Trainer, Dietitian, and Radiology Tech. Eligible roles include CNA, PTA, OTA, Phlebotomist, EMT, Pharm Tech, MA, LPN, and Surgical Tech. Not Considered roles include Medical Scribe, Volunteer Hours, Student Intern, Administrative Assistant, HUC, Chaplain, ACLS/CPR Instructor, Pharm Rep, and Veterinarian.

Workforce outcomes and tuition: Historically, 63% of UND PA graduates work in primary care, and 2021 to 2025 graduate surveys show 42.2% practicing in primary care, 28.9% in rural areas, and 43.7% in underserved areas. For the cohort entering Summer 2027 (Class of 2029), 2-year tuition and mandatory fees are $55,621.32 for ND/MN residents, $69,148.94 for MT/SD residents, and $80,805.42 for all other non-residents. Required program fees, books, equipment, and certification add $5,690, plus a $500 acceptance acknowledgment fee and a $185 Graduate School matriculation fee.

A step-by-step preparation plan once your UND invitation arrives

Because UND sends interview offers within 3 to 6 weeks following the August 1 application deadline, use this plan as soon as your invitation lands in your inbox.

• Step 1: Read your invitation email twice, note the schedule and format instructions, and reply the same day.
• Step 2: Write down three clinical moments from your 1,000+ paid hours where you used clinical judgment, worked on a team, or recognized a limitation.
• Step 3: Map your rural ties into a concrete explanation of your rural health care experience and why primary care is your goal.
• Step 4: Rehearse your hybrid-learning answer, covering how you structure independent online study, how you budgeted for the 15 weeks in Grand Forks and clinical rotation travel, and why you will not work during the program.
• Step 5: Run a full simulated interview with follow-up questions on Confetto and review your transcript for filler words and missing clinical details. Start your free week.

Practice question

In UND's hybrid curriculum, you will complete online synchronous and asynchronous coursework followed by alternating online and on-campus experiences in Grand Forks and supervised clinical rotations. Walk us through how you will handle a week where your online coursework, exam prep, and life responsibilities collide.

See an example answer

Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: "During the past two years, I took upper-level biochemistry and genetics online while working 36 hours a week of 12-hour night shifts as an emergency department RN. The only way that worked was treating study blocks like hospital shifts on my calendar. Before the semester started, I mapped every exam and syllabus deadline into weekly blocks and told my family that Monday through Thursday mornings were closed-door class time. In UND's program, I will not be working at all, which gives me full days to dedicate to the synchronous and asynchronous lectures. When a heavy week hits, I prioritize active recall and practice questions over passive reading, and I do a 20-minute check-in with two study partners on Zoom every Thursday afternoon to quiz each other on pathophysiology and pharmacology. If I notice on Tuesday that I am struggling to connect a diagnostic concept, I will email the course instructor right away rather than letting it snowball into the weekend."

It directly addresses UND's adult-learner philosophy ('learning is the responsibility of the student'), proves the applicant has already succeeded with online upper-level science coursework, confirms they are following UND's policy against working during the program, and names concrete study habits rather than generic promises to work hard.

Frequently asked questions

Does the University of North Dakota PA program use rolling admissions?

No. UND does not use rolling admissions. The program evaluates verified CASPA applications after the August 1 deadline and contacts the most qualified applicants within 3 to 6 weeks to offer an interview.

How many patient care hours are required for the UND PA program, and do medical scribe hours count?

You must complete a minimum of 1,000 paid hours of direct, hands-on, supervised patient care in the United States by the time you apply. Medical scribe hours, volunteer hours, and student/learner hours are explicitly listed as not considered.

What is the minimum GPA and is the GRE required for UND's PA program?

The GRE is not required. A minimum 3.0 undergraduate GPA on a 4.0 scale is required for non-provisional admission, though applicants below 3.0 may be considered if their last 60 semester credits show a 3.0 or higher with an upward or stable trend.

Do I have to move to Grand Forks to attend the UND PA program?

No, you do not have to permanently relocate to North Dakota. The 24-month hybrid program combines online coursework with a total of 15 weeks of required on-campus instruction in Grand Forks, plus clinical rotations that require travel and temporary relocation.

What is the UND PA program's PANCE pass rate and class size?

UND has an ARC-PA maximum entering class size of 35 students. First-time PANCE pass rates were 93% for the Class of 2026 and 94% for the Class of 2025, with a 98% five-year aggregate pass rate reported on the program overview page.

Can I apply to the UND PA program with prerequisites still in progress?

No. All prerequisite courses must be completed and posted on official transcripts by the application deadline, with a grade of B or higher (except specific upper-level chemistry and biochemistry courses where a C is permitted). If you are finishing your bachelor's degree in the fall, the degree must be completed by December 31 and the final conferred transcript postmarked by February 1.

Sources

• UND Department of Physician Assistant Studies Overview
• UND PA Program Prospective Student FAQ
• UND PA Program: How to Apply
• UND PA Program Prerequisites and Health Care Experience
• UND PA Program Mission, History, Goals, and Competencies
• UND PA Program Attrition, Graduation, and PANCE Pass Rates
• UND PA Program Student Policies and Procedures
• UND PA Program Tuition and Other Expenses (Class of 2029)
• UND MPAS Program Requirements and Course Catalog