Anatomy and Physiology for PA School: The Most-Asked-About Prereq Pair
Anatomy and Physiology I and II are required at virtually every PA program and they are the highest-leverage prereqs in the entire pre-PA curriculum because they are also the foundation of the first didactic semester. Most applicants who struggle in PA school's first semester struggle because they took A&P online, took it years ago, or took the abbreviated version.
Why every program requires both semesters
PA didactic education starts with systems-based medicine - cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, GI, neuro, endocrine, musculoskeletal. Each system requires you to already know the anatomy and the physiology, in detail, before the clinical content can be layered on.
A&P I covers cells, tissues, integumentary, skeletal, muscular, and nervous systems. A&P II covers cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, urinary, endocrine, and reproductive. The split is deliberate - you cannot fully understand respiratory physiology without first having the cellular and nervous-system foundation.
What "with lab" actually means
Almost every PA program requires both A&P courses with a lab component. The lab is where you do dissection, microscopy, and physiology experiments - work that does not transfer well to lecture format.
Online A&P with a virtual lab is accepted at most programs but increasingly contested. About 70% of programs accept online A&P with virtual lab; 20% require in-person lab; 10% have policies that have shifted post-pandemic and are worth reading carefully. The safer move, if you can manage it, is in-person.
The recency trap
A&P recency requirements are stricter than most other prereqs. Many programs require A&P to be completed within five years of application - sometimes three years. The reasoning is that the content is foundational and rapidly forgotten if not reinforced.
If your A&P is more than five years old, plan to either retake A&P or take an upper-level human physiology or pathophysiology course as a recency-resetter. Some programs accept the upper-level course; others require the full retake.
Where to take A&P
Community college A&P is accepted at most programs and is significantly cheaper than four-year-institution A&P. The course content is similar across institutions. The main differences are lab quality and class size.
Some programs do not accept community college A&P, but the count is small and getting smaller. Check program-by-program rather than assuming. The list is in the spreadsheet.
How to study A&P so it sticks for PA school
A&P is a memorization-heavy course but the high-leverage strategy is to learn it as systems rather than as isolated facts. Cardiovascular A&P should be learned as the heart, the vessels, the blood, the regulatory mechanisms, and the integration with other systems - not as a list of arteries.
Anki and similar spaced-repetition tools work for the vocabulary. The systems integration requires actually drawing flow diagrams and explaining the system to yourself out loud. The applicants who succeed in PA school's first semester are usually the ones who learned A&P as integrated systems the first time.
The "abbreviated" A&P trap
Some institutions offer a one-semester combined A&P course aimed at allied health programs. This single course rarely satisfies PA program prereqs because PA programs require two separate semesters.
If your only A&P option is the combined course, take it as a placeholder for clinical exposure but plan to also take the full A&P I and A&P II sequence. Some programs will let you substitute the combined course plus an upper-level pathophysiology course; check before assuming.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need both A&P I and A&P II for PA school?
Yes, virtually all PA programs require both semesters. A handful accept a combined one-semester A&P plus an upper-level course, but the two-semester sequence is the safer default.
Can I take A&P online?
About 70% of PA programs accept online A&P with virtual lab. 20% require in-person lab. Verify per program - the policy is one of the more variable prereqs.
How recent does my A&P need to be?
Five years is the typical recency window. Some programs require three years. Old A&P can sometimes be revived by an upper-level human physiology or pathophysiology course.
Is community college A&P accepted for PA school?
At most programs, yes. A small number of programs require A&P from a four-year institution. Check program-by-program.
Can I take A&P I and A&P II at the same time?
Some institutions allow it; the courses are designed to be sequential. Taking them concurrently usually compresses the workload to the point that it pulls grades down. Take them sequentially if you can.