A quarter of veterans returning from active duty return to a rural area (Dept. Veterans Affairs) which makes them good candidates to train as PAs within the rural communities. ISU is a cost effective option for military medics, corpsmen, and other professionals to pursue a career as a Physician Assistant. Developing this relationship is an effort to foster a direct link of excellent PA candidates to this program. Veterans of the United States armed forces, reservists, or active duty applicants will receive 5 points toward their admission score in our program’s CASPA application rubric.

Some considerations for potential veteran applicants or active duty individuals are as follows:

• Take advantage of the educational benefits provided to you while you are still on active duty. This may allow you to complete several prerequisite courses required by many PA programs prior to being discharged from the service.
• Ensure you understand the requirements of the graduate program of which you intend to apply before you exit the military. 
  • Many programs require community outreach hours, clinical experience/shadowing hours, and will have prerequisite courses that will need to be completed before applying to a program. 
  • Incomplete applications or low hours in experience/shadowing/community outreach may contribute to your application being less competitive.
• Ensure you know the start date of the programs you intend to apply.
  • Some start in January, others at the beginning of a fall semester. 
  • Understanding this timing will allow you to negotiate an optimal timing of your military discharge in efforts to mitigate living expense and other financial challenges.
• Utilize volunteer organizations that offer service in assisting veterans with their graduate school applications and other services located in the IN.gov website. 
  • As an example, you might try the resources at “Hiring our Heroes” or “Navy-Marine Relief Society”:

Learn more about Indiana State University's PA Program's Veteran Connection - Alison Follett >>