Overview for University of Manitoba's Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS)

General Program Description, Requirements, Application Process
MPAS Admissions follow the Faculty of Graduate Studies. 

General Program Description
  • 2-year (96 weeks) program, September intake for each class
  • 1st year (late August to mid-July): Academic year
                 - In-class lectures taught by specialists
                 - Small group tutorials
                 - Flipped classroom approach (self-study prior to class, in-class discussion)
  • 2nd year (13 months): Clinical rotations
                 - Medical and surgical rotations in Manitoba, plus two elective rotations
                 - 25% of clinical rotations in rural medicine
                 - Capstone research project 
  • Only PA program in Canada at the graduate level
  • To date, MPAS graduates have demonstrated 100% success rate on the Canadian National PA Certification Examination​
Didactic Year follows a spiral curriculum where material is presented with repetition and increasing difficulty. For example, the image above shows how students start the year by learning the basics of heart anatomy and physiology and end by learning different specialties pertaining to cardiac medicine and surgery as well as their procedures and techniques.
Eligibility requirements 
  1. Be a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada.
  2. As a minimum, graduates of four-year bachelor's degree or equivalent programs from recognized colleges and universities are eligible for admission. Applications are accepted from students in their fourth year of study.
  3. Have achieved a minimum GPA of 3.0 in the most recent 60 credit hours of study (full time or part time study). For questions on how exactly the GPA is calculated please contact: Graduate_Admissions@umanitoba.ca
  4. Required courses are Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, and Biochemistry taken at the undergraduate level. Asset courses that help applicants include Microbiology and Psychology. All courses require at least three credit hours each for consideration.​
          Competitive grade is B-level or higher for each required course.

Application Process 
1. Online Application through the Faculty of Graduate Studies "Self Service Center"
    Deadline January of each year
2. Interview invites sent out February 
3. Interview: Panel interview, Multiple Mini Interview (MMI), Written essay
    Takes place mid-April

Additional resources:
University of Manitoba - Admission Requirements
Canadianpa.ca - Do I meet Admission Criteria for Canadian Physician Assistant Programs?
                            - University of Manitoba Physician Assistant Program Overview
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Last updated: April 24, 2018