Post Baccalaureate Certificate in Pre-Anesthesiologist Assistant Studies

The CPAAS (Certificate in Pre-Anesthesiologist Assistant) considers the overall quality of its applicants, looking at academic achievement, and personal motivation. The applicant must also meet all admissions criteria for the AA program.

Specific criteria for admission are as follows:

1. Applicants must have previously applied to the prior CASAA application cycle of the AA program and must have a verified CASAA application on file from the prior CASAA cycle, received by the prior year application deadline.
2. Applicants must pay the required application fee of $50 (non-refundable).
3. Applicants must have previously met all CASAA application requirements listed below:
   
   • Baccalaureate degree from a nationally recognized and regionally accredited college or university, including above average performance in courses required in a premed curriculum. (Please refer to required courses below. These cannot be survey courses.)
     

     Course Prerequisite Name/Subject	Semester Hours
     English	3
     Anatomy and Physiology I and II with labs OR Human Anatomy with lab and Human Physiology with lab	8
     General Chemistry I and II with labs	8
     Organic Chemistry I with lab	4
     Biochemistry	3
     Physics I and II with labs (Trigonometry, Pre-calculus, or Calculus based)	8
     Calculus	3
     Preferred but not required
     Biology I and II with labs	8
     Cell and Molecular Biology	3
     Biochemistry Lab	1
     Organic Chemistry II with lab	4
     Microbiology with lab	4

Note: a "C" or better is required in all prerequisite classes. In order to meet pre-requisite requirements, math and science courses must include sufficient rigor and detail in the discipline (Introductory, survey, or business courses will not satisfy the requirements).

Effective January 2024, all incoming students for winter 2025 and summer 2025, must take a general Anatomy and Physiology I and II course with labs. 

• • Official transcripts of all undergraduate, graduate, and professional course work, including foreign evaluations submitted to CASAA
  • Minimum verified cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 grading scale (minimum GPA of 3.2 preferred)
  • Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) scores
    • Must have been taken within the past five years and must be taken early enough for official scores to be received by admissions office from the prior CASAA application deadline of January 15.
    • Competitive scores for both the GRE and MCAT must be in the 50th percentile or higher.
  • At least eight (8) hours of documented anesthesia exposure by observation in the operating room
  • Summary of an article (delete hyperlink, just keep verbiage) published in a current anesthesia journal
  • Resume and/or copy of national or professional certificate or license (if applicable)
  • Personal interview
  • Applicants who have graduated from a college or university of a country in which English is not the primary language, regardless of United States’ residency status, must take the computerized Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL-cBT). An official set of scores must be sent directly from the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey, to CASAA or NSU Enrollment Processing Services.
  • All applicants must show evidence of computer skills through coursework or self-study prior to the end of the first semester. Students may obtain instruction through the NSU Student Microcomputer Laboratory or other training facilities.

Application Materials

• Completion of POSTBAC CAS application
• Prior Year, 2024-2025 verified and completed CASAA application.
• Bachelor’s degree from regionally accredited college or university.
• Official transcripts from all colleges attended including undergraduate, graduate, and or professional coursework.

Note: Graduate entrance exam scores including the GRE and or the MCAT are required. Official scores must have been verified and received inside the 2024-2025 CASAA by January 15, 2025.

The following application process is required by all applicants:

1. Personal interviews are by invitation only and an integral part of the admission process. Not all applicants will be granted an interview by the program and an interview is not a guarantee of admission. 

2. For any applicant that has coursework taken at a foreign institution must be evaluated for U.S. institutional equivalence. A course by course with GPA calculation official transcript evaluation is required. Foreign coursework must be evaluated by one of the following services:

Josef Silny & Associates, Inc.
International Education Consultants
7101 SW 102nd Avenue
Miami, FL 33173
Phone: (305) 273-1616
Fax: (305) 273-1338
www.jsilny.com

Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.
P.O. Box 415070
Milwaukee, WI 53203
(414) 289-3400
www.ece.org

World Education Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 745
Old Chelsea Station
New York, NY 10113-0745
(212) 966-6311
www.wes.org