Department of Physician Assistant Studies
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More information

If you have any questions, or you wish to receive email updates, send your request to PAprog@nau.edu. If you would like to subscribe to our mailing list and receive all of the latest updates as they become available, please follow the instructions here to join.

Curriculum

What to expect from your coursework as an NAU PA student

The Physician Assistant program at Northern Arizona University encompasses a 2-year period. The first year is all academic, while the second year provides real-world experiences.

PA curriculum year to year

Year one Accordion Closed

The first year of the Physician Assistant Program consists of 44 weeks (three semesters) of courses to provide you with a solid classroom foundation through lectures, small group activity and hands-on workshops.

Year I Fall Semester (16 weeks) Credits 
PHA 500 Human Anatomy 5
PHA 520 Foundations of Clinical Practice I 3
PHA 530 History Taking and Physical Examination4
PHA 540 Ethics and Professionalism  2
PHA 511 Human Physiology2
PHA 570 Diagnostic Medicine3
Total  19 
Year I Spring Semester (16 weeks)Credits
PHA 550 Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics I3
PHA 521 Foundations of Clinical Practice II 8
PHA 560 Clinical Decision Making I 3
PHA 580 Clinical Disciplines I 3
PHA 512 Pathophysiology3
Total   20 
Year I Summer Semester (12 weeks)  Credits
PHA 551 Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics II 3
PHA 522 Foundations of Clinical Practice III  6
PHA 561 Clinical Decision Making II2
PHA 581 Clinical Disciplines II3
PHA 590 Clinical Procedures and Interventions 3
Total    17  

Year two Accordion Closed

The second year of the program consists of two year-long courses held in conjunction with on campus events following the completion of every clinical rotation and three eight-week primary care focused clinical rotations along with five four-week clinical rotations in various primary care, elective and specialty fields.

The core clinical rotations include:

  • family medicine
  • internal medicine
  • emergency medicine
  • surgery
  • mental health
  • pediatrics
  • women’s health

There is one four-week elective clinical rotation allowed.

These clinical-year experiences provide you with hands-on learning in a variety of rural and community clinics and hospitals throughout Arizona. Additionally, you will return to campus several times during the year for continuous and summative assessments, research presentations, capstone projects and reflective coursework.

Please note: the second year is an ongoing year of clinical rotations that do not fit into the semester schedule and will not have scheduled semester breaks.

Year 2Credits
PHA 698 Seminar 1
PHA 689 PA Capstone2
PHA 631 Family Medicine8
PHA 632 Internal Medicine8
PHA 634 Pediatrics8
PHA 613 Surgery4
PHA 615 Women's Health4
PHA 616 Mental Health4
PHA 617 Emergency Medicine4
PHA 620 Elective4
Total 47
Total Curriculum      103
Department of Physician Assistant Studies
Location
Building
435 N. 5th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Contact Form
Email
paprog@nau.edu
Phone
602-298-4016
Fax
602-827-2425