PCE vs. HCE: what’s the difference?
Patient care experience (PCE) is when you are directly responsible for a patient's care. Healthcare experience (HCE) is work in health care where you aren't. Those are CASPA's definitions. But each PA program decides what counts toward its own requirement, so the same job can be PCE at one school and not count at another.
CASPA's definitions
- Patient Care Experience: "Experiences in which you are directly responsible for a patient's care." Examples include "actively working on patients as a nurse, paramedic, EMT, CNA, phlebotomist, physical therapist, dental hygienist, etc."
- Healthcare Experience: "Both paid and unpaid work in a health or health-related field where you are not directly responsible for a patient's care, but may still have patient interaction." Examples include filling prescriptions, clerical work, taking vitals, "working as a scribe, CNA (depending on job description), medical assistant."
CASPA also says it "has no specific preference as to which category you choose," and that an hour can only go in one category. If a job mixes both, you split the hours.
How one program draws the line
Charleston Southern's admissions page gives one of the clearest definitions we found. Direct patient care "involves actively providing health care services to patients," and "not all hands-on work qualifies—what matters is the direct provision of medical care or treatment." Its examples include taking vital signs, helping patients with bathing, mobility or transfers, drawing blood, performing diagnostic tests and giving prescribed treatments. Shadowing, transporting patients, records and clerical work are "health-related" instead (though shadowing can count for up to 200 of its PCE hours).
Albany Medical College asks applicants to check whether their experience includes skills like taking vitals, getting a medical history, preparing a patient for surgery, drawing blood and basic lifesaving.
The same job, different answers
| Job | Counts at | Doesn't count at |
|---|---|---|
| Scribe | UNC Chapel Hill (incl. virtual), Duke (in person) | Duke (virtual), UW MEDEX (telemedicine) |
| Pharmacy tech | Quinnipiac, UW MEDEX, Charleston Southern | UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, USC Keck |
| Volunteer hours | Albany (licensed setting) | UNC Chapel Hill (paid only) |
| Shadowing | Charleston Southern (up to 200 hours, shared with telehealth) | Albany, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill |
From each program's admissions page or catalog, checked October 2026. See the full guides for each job, linked below.
What to do
- Choose the CASPA category by CASPA's definitions, based on your actual duties.
- Write duties that show responsibility, such as vitals, transfers and blood draws. UW MEDEX, for one, says it reads your CASPA job descriptions to decide what qualifies.
- Check each program's own list of accepted and excluded jobs, and note the cycle and date.
More guides: CNA · volunteer EMT · scribing · phlebotomy · medical assistant · pharmacy tech · hospital volunteering · shadowing · how many hours
Free: the Patient Care Hours Starter Kit. A 3-step check for whether a job counts at your schools, CASPA's categories on one page, and a simple hours log. Built from the same program pages as this guide.
Get the free kit →Quick answers
What is the difference between PCE and HCE?
On CASPA, patient care experience (PCE) is work where you are directly responsible for a patient's care; healthcare experience (HCE) is paid or unpaid work in health care where you are not, though you may still interact with patients. Each PA program decides what counts toward its own requirement.
Can the same job be PCE at one program and not at another?
Yes. For example, pharmacy technician work counts at Quinnipiac, UW MEDEX and Charleston Southern but not at UNC Chapel Hill, Duke or USC Keck.
Sources (all opened October 2026)
- CASPA Applicant Help Center: Experiences: https://help.liaisonedu.com/CASPA_Applicant_Help_Center/Filling_Out_Your_CASPA_Application/CASPA_Supporting_Information/2_Experiences
- Charleston Southern University PA Program: Application requirements: https://www.charlestonsouthern.edu/programs/master-of-medical-science-in-pa-studies-mmspas/admissions/application-requirements
- Albany Medical College PA Program: Admissions: https://www.amc.edu/admissions/pa-program-admissions
- UNC Chapel Hill PA Program: FAQ: https://www.med.unc.edu/healthsciences/unc-pa/admissions/frequently-asked-questions
- Duke PA Program: Admissions (2026–27): https://medschool.duke.edu/education/health-professions-education-programs/physician-assistant-program/admissions
- UW MEDEX Northwest: Clinical experience prerequisites (2026–27): https://familymedicine.uw.edu/medex/applicants/clinical-prerequisites
- Quinnipiac University: Physician Assistant (MHS), graduate catalog: https://catalog.qu.edu/graduate-studies/health-sciences/physician-assistant-mhs
- USC Keck PA Program: Application procedure (2026–27 and 2027–28 updates): https://keck.usc.edu/physician-assistant-program/admission/application/