A total of 96 students have entered the Physician Assistant Program at Lincoln Memorial University-School of Medical Sciences this year at LMU’s main campus in Harrogate.

The class of 2024 will pursue a full-time, 27-month program that leads to the Masters of Medical Science degree in Physician Assistant Studies. The PA program boasts one of the largest class sizes of PA programs in the Southeast. The entering class of 2024 is 74 percent female and 26 percent male. The average age is 26 and the average GPA is 3.4. Approximately 49 percent of the class hails from the Appalachian region, with the majority of those coming from Tennessee, Kentucky or Virginia.

A PA serves as a patient’s principal health care provider and is educated in the medical model. They diagnose illnesses, develop, and manage treatment plans and prescribe medications when indicated. PAs also order and interpret medical tests and provide counseling on preventive health care. They are nationally certified and work side by side with both osteopathic and allopathic physicians in every medical specialty. Today there are more than 140,000 PAs in the U.S., practicing in every state and in every medical setting and specialty.

LMU’s PA program was established in 2009. In 2016, LMU launched a unique postgraduate training program for PAs with the Doctor of Medical Science (DMS) program, and in 2020 the university opened its second PA program with an expanded surgical sciences curriculum at LMU-Knoxville.