SUNY Downstate PA Program: Prerequisites, Hours & Deadlines

SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University runs a 27-month, full-time Master of Science Physician Assistant program at Brooklyn's only academic medical center, serving a borough of 2.3 million people. The curriculum focuses on primary care and urban health disparities, and includes 10 supervised clinical rotation experiences with faculty from SUNY Downstate University Hospital and Kings County Hospital.

Unlike most PA programs, SUNY Downstate does not participate in CASPA. It does not appear in the PAEA CASPA Program Directory, and the School of Health Professions application instructions state that only the Physical Therapy (DPT) program uses a centralized application service. You submit your PA application, transcripts, hour verifications, and $75.00 application fee directly through SUNY Downstate's central application system (AMP).

The entry-level Physician Assistant (MS) program matriculates only in the summer. SUNY Downstate also offers a separate Post-Professional PA Master's Completion (MS) degree in the spring, summer, and fall terms for licensed, practicing PAs who already hold a bachelor's degree in PA education.

If you are preparing for your interview or working through your application timeline, Confetto is an AI mock interviewer for PA, medical, and healthcare program interviews. Start your free week to practice virtual interview questions out loud with rubric-based feedback.

You need a bachelor's degree in any discipline from a college or university accredited by a CHEA-recognized regional accreditor (MSCHE, NECHE, HLC, NWCCU, SACSCOC, WSCUC, or ACCJC/USDE) and a minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

SUNY Downstate's grade rule is stricter than the standard C minimum at many PA schools. You must earn a grade of B or better in every prerequisite course. According to the program's requirements page, competitive applicants earn a B+ or higher in prerequisite science courses with labs, and have completed more than four courses from the program's recommended list: Organic Chemistry, Genetics, Biochemistry, Neuroanatomy, Nutrition, Pathophysiology, Pharmacology, Statistics, or other 300 to 400 level biology courses.

Before you register for post-baccalaureate classes or submit your transcript, check your coursework against SUNY Downstate's technical rules. Prerequisite courses are not taught at SUNY Downstate and must be taken at another regionally accredited institution.

• No online science courses or virtual labs. Every core science course with a laboratory requirement must be designated for science majors and include an in-person, on-site lab component. Online courses and virtual labs are not accepted toward science prerequisites. (While the general School of Health Professions COVID-19 policy mentions flexibility for online science courses and Pass/Fail non-science courses with institutional letters, the PA program's specific requirements explicitly state that online science courses and virtual labs are not accepted.)
• 8-year recency window. All prerequisite coursework must be completed within 8 years prior to your planned date of matriculation. Any exceptions are reviewed case-by-case by PA program faculty.
• Upper-division proof for community colleges. Upper-division science courses are typically 300-level or higher courses requiring prerequisites at four-year schools. Courses taken at a community college are accepted if you can submit proof from the registrar of the course's upper-division status.
• Pending courses when you apply. To be a viable candidate, you should have no more than 1 science prerequisite and 2 other prerequisite courses remaining in the final spring term before summer matriculation.
• Credit by exam limits. You can use CLEP, DANTES, or Excelsior College exams for non-science prerequisites. Credit by exam is never accepted for physical science courses.
• Free transcript pre-evaluation. You can have SUNY Downstate determine how many prerequisites you are missing before you apply by attending an Information Session with copies of your transcripts, or by emailing (admissions@downstate.edu), faxing (718-270-4775), or mailing your unofficial transcripts with your contact info and intended entry year.

SUNY Downstate separates clinical experience from community service and requires both. By our calculation from the official requirements, you need at least 750 combined hours of verified experience, and two-thirds of that minimum (500 of 750 hours) must be health-related clinical experience while one-third (250 of 750 hours) must be non-clinical volunteer work.

Both sets of hours must be completed within 5 years of your date of matriculation into the program, and both require formal verification uploaded as PDF attachments in the AMP Document Upload portal.

• 500 hours of health-related experience. Must be obtained in the United States over a period of time in a hospital or clinical setting where you interact with patients, physicians, or other healthcare professionals (such as a nurse, nurse's aide, corpsman, medical laboratory technologist, respiratory therapist, EMT, or counselor). Volunteer direct patient care and shadowing count toward the 500 hours. Hospital candy striper activities do not count.
• 250 hours of non-clinical volunteer work (community service). Must be unpaid, altruistic work addressing human needs that is not completed in a clinical setting and does not involve interaction with patients, physicians, or any healthcare professionals regardless of duties performed. Examples listed by Downstate include working in a soup kitchen, working in a homeless shelter, or tutoring disadvantaged children, as well as placements through New York Cares, VolunteerNYC.org, NYC.gov, or Volunteer Match. The PA program reserves the right to reject experiences it deems of little value.
• Letterhead verification rules. Both the 500 clinical hours and the 250 non-clinical hours must be documented by your site supervisor on official institutional or departmental letterhead, dated, and signed with an actual signature. The letter must state your total hours, the dates and length of the activity, your responsibilities, how you function in your role, and (for non-clinical service) your leadership skills.

For the June 2027 PA program start, the online application deadline and the deadline to have a complete application with all supporting documents on file is January 4, 2027. International applicants have a summer/fall deadline of April 1, 2027. Because early applications are strongly encouraged, the PA program's sample timeline recommends applying in August and having supporting documents uploaded by November.

Along with unofficial transcripts from all U.S. colleges attended (including college credits earned in high school) and your $75.00 fee, your AMP application requires three electronic letters of recommendation, a personal statement, and a six-part supplemental questionnaire.

• Three electronic letters of recommendation. One must be from a current or former College Science Professor, and one must be from a clinician (PA, MD, Nurse Practitioner, PT, or OT). You also include letters from your clinical and non-clinical site supervisors. If you re-apply to the PA program within 1 year of a previous application, you must submit two new letters of recommendation.
• Personal statement (500 to 750 words). Explain why you chose to pursue the PA profession and why the SUNY Downstate PA program is a good match for your educational goals.
• Supplemental Question 1 (Patient care). Describe your patient care/contact experience and discuss its specific relevance to your goal of becoming a PA.
• Supplemental Question 2 (Time and attendance). Because the program provides minimal vacation and does not adjust curriculum sequencing for individual students, describe your plan to meet all time and attendance requirements and manage the impact on you and your family.
• Supplemental Question 3 (Rigorous study). Describe your specific past experiences with long hours of dedicated study, independent work, and group work.
• Supplemental Question 4 (Financial support without working). Because students are strongly discouraged from holding any jobs due to the heavy academic load, describe how you will support yourself and meet family or financial obligations during enrollment.
• Supplemental Question 5 (Commuting and parking). Because parking near Clarkson Avenue is limited while public transit is accessible, describe your plan to ensure reliable, timely attendance at classes and clerkships.
• Supplemental Question 6 (Prior medical or PA programs). If you have ever attended a PA or medical program, state the program name, dates, and circumstances of your departure, especially if you did not graduate.

Once the Office of Admissions marks your application complete, it forwards your file to the Program Admissions Committee. In some cases, applicants are invited to interview while minor requirements, such as one remaining recommendation letter or spring prerequisite coursework, are still pending. Program faculty contact selected applicants directly by email.

The committee reviews files holistically based on five listed factors: prior academic performance, prerequisite completion and grades, letters of recommendation (along with communication skills and motivation), clinical and non-clinical experience, and leadership or membership in professional organizations. Admissions priority is given to U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, and New York State residents. In addition, the PA program awards interview preference under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to qualifying undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students of Temple University who meet selection factors and the program's mission.

According to SUNY Downstate's Admissions Policies, virtual interviews are conducted for School of Health Professions programs, and the interview process for qualified applicants may include three components: an individual interview, a writing assessment, and a standardized reasoning test. Check your faculty invitation email for the exact schedule and test instructions for your interview day.

To prepare for common questions and scenario prompts across PA and medical programs, read our guide to medical school interview questions or review our MMI practice questions with answers.

We built this checklist from SUNY Downstate's Before You Apply and Application Instructions pages so your file does not get held up in processing.

• 1. Audit your labs and math course before fall registration. Confirm that every biology, chemistry, A&P, and microbiology course was for science majors with an in-person lab, that your math course is not Statistics, and that no prerequisite will be more than 8 years old at June matriculation.
• 2. Get wet signatures on both letterhead verifications early. Separate your 500 U.S. clinical hours from your 250 non-clinical volunteer hours so there is zero overlap. Have each supervisor sign and date institutional letterhead listing your exact hours, dates, and duties.
• 3. Draft all 7 writing pieces in a document first. Write your 500 to 750 word personal statement and all 6 supplemental questionnaire responses offline before pasting them into the AMP portal.
• 4. Submit fall grades and spring registration proof in December or January. If you take fall prerequisites, upload your fall grade report (or signed instructor grade notes if grades post after December 30) and your spring registration schedule via the AMP Document Upload tab before the January 4, 2027 deadline.

SUNY Downstate requires both 500 clinical hours and 250 non-clinical community service hours, and we train PAs at Brooklyn's only academic medical center. Tell us how one of your clinical experiences and one of your non-clinical volunteer experiences shaped why you want to train here.

• SUNY Downstate PA Program: MS Admissions Requirements
• SUNY Downstate PA Program: Before You Apply
• SUNY Downstate PA Program: Timeline to Apply
• SUNY Downstate Admissions: Application Deadlines
• SUNY Downstate School of Health Professions: Application Instructions (PDF)
• SUNY Downstate Admissions: Policies
• SUNY Downstate Admissions: FAQ
• SUNY Downstate PA Program: Master of Science Overview
• PAEA: CASPA Program Directory