By Laura Angus, media relations assistant
Oakland University has partnered with Wayne State University’s Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences to allow OU undergraduates the opportunity to earn an undergraduate degree in Health Sciences from Oakland University and a graduate degree in Physician Assistant Studies from Wayne State University.
OU currently offers students a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Sciences with a Pre-Health Professional concentration, designed to prepare students for application to medical, dental, optometric, physician assistant and other professional schools.
Graduates with a physician assistant degree can see patients, write prescriptions and perform minor surgeries under the supervision of a licensed physician, said Tamra Bays, assistant dean for the School of Health Sciences.
Under this agreement, up to five incoming freshmen from the School of Health Sciences at OU who meet admission requirements and are accepted into the program will have guaranteed admission into the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies program at Wayne State University, as long as continuing criteria are met.
The program will begin inviting applications from incoming students for the fall 2009 semester. It will offer invitations to apply to high school students with certain grade point averages and ACT scores. Part of the application process will include an interview with someone from the WSU program.
The WSU program only accepts 48 students per year, and is offering OU students more than 10 percent of those seats, Bays said.
“I think this will be more popular than our pharmacy program,” Bays said. “It’s a more competitive program and many students want to go into physician assistant studies programs.”
For more information on OU’s health sciences program, visit the School of Health Sciences Web site or call (248) 370-3562.