What counts, for which school, this cycle.
Every PA program sets its own rules for patient care hours, prerequisites and letters. We read each program's own pages, write down what counts with the date we checked it, and turn it into simple tools.
Same job. Three programs. Three answers.
A paid CNA job counts almost everywhere. Volunteer EMT shifts and the hours inside your own course depend on the school.
| Program | Minimum | Volunteer EMT | Your own course clinicals | Page checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNC Chapel Hill | 1,000 hours, paid only | Doesn't count | Doesn't count | Oct 2026 |
| Albany Medical College | 1,000 hours | Counts | Doesn't count | Oct 2026 |
| Yale | 1,000 recommended, not required | Ask the program | Doesn't count | Oct 2026 |
From each program's admissions pages, checked October 2026. Rules change every cycle, so confirm with every program on your list.
Tools that check your plan against the rules
Patient Care Hours Starter Kit
Six printable pages and a spreadsheet: patient care vs. healthcare experience, a 3-step check on whether a job counts, a certification check, an hours log and your first 30 days.
Get it free →Hours & Shadowing Tracker
Log every hour once. It checks each one against every school on your list: counts, doesn't count, or ask. Letters, certifications and hours by year included. $15, Google Sheets or Excel.
The Pre-PA Roadmap
Freshman year to CASPA-ready, semester by semester: prerequisites, hours, shadowing, letters, money and the application year, with a source on every rule.
Every rule has a source and a date
Primary sources first
CASPA, PAEA, NCCPA, ARC-PA and each program's own admissions pages. Blogs and forums never count as proof.
Claims checked in one guide
A separate checker opened every source behind our Roadmap draft. It corrected 36 claims and softened 27 before anyone read them.
Re-checked every year
Programs change their rules each cycle. We re-check our guides every March, before CASPA opens, and send buyers a dated update.
A pre-PA student and her mom
At a pre-health club meeting in her freshman year, my daughter met two other pre-PA students who had never heard of patient care hours. PA is a path where starting early matters, and the rules are scattered across hundreds of program pages.
So we put what counts, for which school, this cycle, in one place, with sources. We're not PAs or admissions officers, and we'll never pretend to be. We tell you where every fact came from so you can check it yourself.
you don't have to know all of it. you just have to know where to check.