Applying · Guide

How to describe your experience on CASPA

By The Prereq Club, a pre-PA student and her mom (not PAs or admissions advisers). Every program rule below names its source and the month we checked it: October 2026.

Short answer

Describe what you actually did with patients, in the right category, with hours you can back up. Some programs, such as UW MEDEX, read these entries to decide whether your hours count. UW MEDEX says job descriptions "are required in CASPA application to qualify an experience." CASPA asks for your dates, average weekly hours, organization, a supervisor who can verify the work, and a description of your key responsibilities.

What CASPA asks for in each experience

  1. Experience type (one of nine, such as Patient Care Experience or Healthcare Experience).
  2. A title.
  3. Whether it's current, and the dates.
  4. A description or key responsibilities, and the time commitment. CASPA asks for the average weekly hours you completed during those dates.
  5. The organization.
  6. A supervisor, "a person that programs can contact to verify that this experience occurred."
  7. Yes or No on letting your programs contact the organization.

CASPA says not to enter planned experiences: enter only ones you have done or are doing now.

Why the description matters

  • UW MEDEX: "MEDEX evaluates the job descriptions entered into CASPA to determine the qualifications and strength of the clinical experiences of all applicants."
  • Charleston Southern: "Applicants must maintain a detailed record of their clinical duties, procedures, and the types of patients they serve to support accurate documentation of direct PCE hours."
  • CASPA: your job description and responsibilities "should determine the category you select," but there's no guarantee every program will accept an experience the way you categorize it.

Some programs ask for proof

  • UNC Chapel Hill requires verification forms for at least 1,000 hours, signed by a supervisor or, if your supervisor has left, human resources.
  • Notre Dame of Maryland requires an hours form completed and signed by the health care professional who supervised your patient care (or observed your PA shadowing), which you upload with your CASPA application.

How to write a strong entry

  1. Lead with the hands-on patient tasks you personally did. Use your job's real duties and don't list skills outside your role. Albany, for example, asks whether your experience includes skills like taking vitals, getting a chief complaint and medical history, preparing a patient for surgery, drawing blood and basic lifesaving.
  2. Be specific about the setting and the kinds of patients you cared for. Only give patient numbers you can back up, and never include identifying patient details.
  3. Split mixed jobs. CASPA's example is a 40-hour-a-week job with 10 hours of research and 30 of patient care, entered under both types with the hours divided.
  4. Keep your hours honest. Enter the average weekly hours you actually completed (pay stubs or timesheets help), not planned or estimated hours. Keep your own log so the numbers hold up if a program contacts your supervisor.
  5. Write it yourself. When you apply, you certify that all written content, including your experience descriptions, is your own work. CASPA says using outside resources, including AI, for non-substantive changes such as spelling and grammar is acceptable.

Keep a running log of your dates, weekly hours, supervisor and duties as you go, instead of reconstructing it years later. Our free starter kit includes an hours log to start from.

Related guides

All guides →

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 does CASPA ask for in the experiences section?

For each experience: the type, a title, whether it's current and the dates, a description or key responsibilities, the average weekly hours you completed, the organization, a supervisor who can verify it, and whether programs may contact the organization.

Do PA programs read CASPA job descriptions?

At least some do. UW MEDEX says it evaluates the job descriptions entered into CASPA to decide whether clinical experience qualifies, and Charleston Southern requires applicants to keep a detailed record of duties, procedures and the types of patients served.

Sources (all opened October 2026)

Rules can change from one cycle to the next. Before you count on any of this, check each program's own admissions page or email the program. This guide is educational only and isn't admissions advice.