PA-CAT Exam: What Pre-PA Students Need to Know

Think of the PA-CAT as the MCAT of PA school. It was created by Exam Master as a knowledge test built around the science prerequisites PA programs expect you to know before you start.

The exam runs about 3 hours and includes 180 multiple choice questions pulled from 12 subject areas: anatomy (13%), physiology (13%), general biology (13%), microbiology (9%), general chemistry (11%), organic chemistry (9%), biochemistry (12%), statistics (3%), medical terminology (1%), sociology (4%), psychology (8%), and genetics (4%).

Questions are also sorted by cognitive level (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, evaluation, and synthesis), and the test includes the Jefferson Scale of Empathy for programs that want to gauge how well a student relates to patients. Two PAs in education, Johnna Yealy from the University of Tampa and Scott Massey from Central Michigan University, have been involved in the research, which is a good sign that the exam has staying power.

I have never taken the PA-CAT myself, so I asked students on Instagram who had. The feedback was mixed but useful.

Several people felt the anatomy and physiology questions were very advanced, with details like which ankle tendon is affected by a specific motion. A few were surprised by how chemistry heavy it was, and one student noted they had no access to a periodic table, which made the organic chemistry questions nearly impossible.

Because not every PA program requires the same prerequisites, a lot of students felt that whether the test was fair came down to which courses they had taken. The general consensus was that the PA-CAT is a better assessment for PA school than the GRE, since it tests real content rather than logic and strategy. Many also pointed out that it could be especially tough for non-traditional applicants who have been out of school for a while.

Not unless a program tells you to. The PA-CAT is still in an experimental phase, and at this point you cannot even sign up for it on your own.

The original study looked at a sample of at least 500 students in incoming PA classes across ten or more program sites, with the exam given at interviews (like at the University of Tampa and AT Still) or during orientation after acceptance. In those settings the test was often optional and did not affect admission.

If you do end up needing to take it, it is not really something you can study hard for yet, but your coursework should prepare you. MCAT resources will not help because the subjects are different. A quick refresher on the listed categories is plenty. For now, do not lose sleep over it.

The PA-CAT is far more specific than the GRE. The GRE is a general graduate test that measures basic skills and test-taking strategy, not the science knowledge you need to survive a fast-paced PA program. Plenty of admissions committees question how useful it really is, and the GRE is only required at a shrinking minority of programs.

The CASPer test is a completely different animal. It measures empathy and situational judgment rather than scientific knowledge. Interestingly, the PA-CAT folds in the Jefferson Scale of Empathy, so in theory a program could lean on it for both science readiness and a measure of empathy, though that is just my speculation.

Could the PA-CAT eventually replace the GRE or even the MCAT for PA school? Maybe, but that would take years of strong research outcomes and slow adoption. Schools tend to move cautiously with anything new.

[QA: spare template section - delete]

[QA: spare template section - delete]

For now, the PA-CAT is something to be aware of, not something to panic about. Keep your prerequisite grades strong and your patient care hours growing, because those are still what move the needle most. If you want help mapping out a competitive application timeline, our free application timeline is a great place to start.