Program overview

Program length: Varies
Class size: 30-60 students a year
Location: Phoenix, Arizona

This clinical rotation gives physician assistant students the hands-on clinical experience they need in a healthcare setting with a diverse patient population.

Graduation and certification

After completing your clinical rotation(s) and the summative examination provided by your school, you graduate from your college or university, receiving your degree in physician assistant studies. Graduates are eligible to take the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.

Application process

If you are enrolled in an affiliated physician assistant baccalaureate or master's degree program, you are eligible to participate in the clinical rotation by making arrangements through your college program director.

Our affiliated schools process the admissions and applications for their physician assistant programs and work with students to plan their clinical rotations.

Mayo's clinical rotation application deadlines:

• Applications received between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28 are for clinical rotation placement in July through December of the same year.
• Applications received between June 1 and July 30 are for clinical rotation placement in January through June of the following year.

Prerequisites

You must successfully complete the required pre-professional and professional college course work, as stipulated by your college or university before you are eligible to complete the clinical rotation. All students must be in good academic standing and have a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

Non-U.S. citizen applicants

Admission to Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences is open to U.S. workers in the four categories below. Therefore, visa sponsorship is not available.

1. U.S. citizens
2. U.S. nationals
3. Lawful permanent residents
4. Asylees and refugees

Applicants whose primary language is not English must submit results from the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-based test (TOEFL iBT). Scores from the speaking portion of the exam are given particular consideration in admission decisions. Learn more about the exam and register online at the Educational Testing Service.

The Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences code for the TOEFL iBT is 5784.

Educational transcripts from schools outside the U.S. must be translated (if they are not already in English) and evaluated for U.S. equivalence by an accredited credential evaluation service company prior to submission. Please refer to the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services for a list of qualified companies. The applicant pays for the examination and credential-evaluation services.

How to apply

Complete the following steps to apply:

1. Create an account to begin the online Application for Admission
   • Select - Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences
   • Select - Physician Assistant Clinical Rotation (ARZ)
   • Select your preferred rotation from the drop-down menu, as well as your preferred start/end date. If you are applying for more than one rotation, list any additional requests, along with the start/end dates, in your essay.
2. Complete each section of the application and submit
3. After submission, view the required Supplemental Items and Documents
• Upload each required item in the Supplemental Items section

Additional required items:

• CV/resume.
• Letter of Good Standing signed by an authorized representative from your school, that includes your current GPA.
• Unofficial Physician Assistant school transcripts.
• Essay is to include the following and to be uploaded in the Supplemental Items section:
  1. How did you become interested in the field you have chosen to study? Describe any observational or training experience(s) you have had and what you learned about the career from the experience(s).
  2. What are your career objectives within the field? 
  3. How has your previous education or training prepared you for your career choice? What awards, academic honors, or scholarships have you received that might apply to your chosen field? What school or community activities have you participated in?
  4. Describe any personal qualities or experiences that make you a competitive candidate for the program.
  5. List the rotation blocks (start and end dates) that you're available. If you list multiple blocks, please note the ones that you would prefer to fill by prioritizing/adding a 1, 2, 3, etc. alongside each block.

All applications are reviewed at the end of the application cycle. Students are notified approximately four to eight weeks after the deadline regarding their status.

Tuition and financial aid

Tuition rates are determined by and paid to the college or university at which you are enrolled. Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences participates in a clinical rotation tuition sharing process, which is billed directly to the affiliate school. Contact Judy Cimochowski, Education Coordinator, for details regarding this process.

You are responsible for your living accommodations and transportation.

Curriculum

The clinical rotation is offered by the affiliated college or university providing your degree program. Your college or university program director determines and develops the course work and laboratory experiences for the program and makes arrangements for clinical rotations.

At Mayo Clinic's campuses in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona, we offer these physician assistant experiences:

• Allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology (prior family medicine or internal medicine rotation preferred)
• Cardiology (*1)
• Cardiothoracic surgery (*3)
• Community internal medicine (outpatient)
• Critical care (CC) and hospital internal medicine (HIM) (This rotation will consist of two weeks in CC, and any additional weeks in HIM. No rotations offered during the months of October, November, or December.) (*1)
• Family medicine
• Gynecology (no rotations offered during the month of October, November and December)
• Hematology/oncology and bone marrow transplant
• Hospital internal medicine — inpatient (no rotations offered during the months of October, November, or December.) (*1)
• Interventional radiology (No rotations offered in July. Prior surgical rotation preferred but not required.)
• Neurology (inpatient)
• Neurosurgery (*2)
• Orthopedic surgery
• Otolaryngology (ENT)/head and neck surgery
• Palliative care (inpatient and outpatient)
• Plastic surgery (this elective cannot be a first rotation in your PA training program)
• Pulmonology (Unavailable until first half of 2026)
• Rheumatology (Unavailable until first half of 2026)
• Transplant medicine and surgery (*2)
• Urology (outpatient) 

(*1) Rotation dates applied for must be in the second half of your clinical rotation year.

(*2) Requires a prior surgical rotation.

(*3) Students must have completed a surgical rotation and inpatient hospital rotation. ICU rotation is preferred to have, but not mandatory. Preferably, this elective will be toward the end of clinical rotations.

Schedule

For the majority of the clinical rotation, your learning schedule includes eight-hour days, five days a week.

Accreditation information

See accreditation information for Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.