Your journey to becoming a compassionate, competent, and confident Physician Assistant begins here. Our 24-month program is designed to challenge, inspire, and prepare you for real-world practice through a carefully structured sequence of learning experiences.
Each January, a cohort of 100 students begins this transformative journey, graduating in December two years later. The program is full-time and year-round, and all students move through the curriculum together in lockstep, building lifelong professional relationships and teamwork skills along the way.
Didactic instruction is delivered at the LMU–Chattanooga campus, except for donor-based (human) dissection, which will occur at the LMU–West Knoxville campus. Transportation will be provided by the program. Clinical phase instruction will occur at sites across the nation.
Be ready to dive in. During the didactic phase, you’ll spend an average of 22 hours each week in the classroom and dedicate an additional 30 hours to studying, collaborating, and mastering material. The pace is fast and the expectations are high—just like the PA profession itself.
From the very start, you’ll connect classroom learning with real patient experiences. You’ll practice your skills through:
These early patient encounters help you apply your knowledge, sharpen your clinical reasoning, and develop the confidence needed to care for patients with empathy and precision.
The clinical year takes you from the classroom to the clinic—where knowledge becomes experience. You’ll complete eleven four-week clinical rotations across a variety of specialties, gaining exposure to diverse patient populations and healthcare settings.
Clinical sites are located across the nation, and students should expect to travel more than 50 miles from campus for some experiences. These rotations are a vital step in preparing you to deliver high-quality, patient-centered care anywhere your career takes you.
