Berry College Physician Associate (PA) program applications open Thursday

Applications open Thursday for the Berry College Physician Associate (PA) program that is scheduled to begin in August 2025, pending accreditation.

Berry’s new two-year Master of Medical Science – physician associate (PA) degree will enroll up to 40 new students every year.

The Physician Associate Program will emphasize rural health medicine and is the first of its kind in Northwest Georgia. Berry educators aim to recruit future PAs with a specific interest in the region.  Partnerships with two area hospitals and the largest private medical clinic in Georgia will support many supervised clinical practice experiences for students in their second year.

The degree program coincides with the construction of the new Morgan-Bailey Hall. Slated for completion in 2025, the 36,000-square-feet of academic space will include simulation suites, skills and physical assessment labs, active learning classrooms as well as mock operating and exam rooms. The design of the new building, located near the heart of campus, will create immersive learning experiences that combine practical skills with traditional education.

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Additional information: Berry College has applied for Accreditation-Provisional from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). Berry anticipates matriculating its first class in August 2025, pending achieving Accreditation-Provisional status at the March 2025 ARC-PA meeting. Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards or when a program holding accreditation-provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students.