Principles of Statistics
Self-paced online Principles of Statistics course (Statistics 101). ACE and NCCRS recommend 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →FloridaNursing
IMG without a residency: nursing, PA, public health and health administration compared
By the team. Checked 15 Nov 2026.
The short answer
An IMG without a residency in Florida has four common routes: nursing, physician assistant, public health and health administration. They differ in prerequisites, clinical work and time. In nursing, FIU's physician track lists six science and social science prerequisites. For the others, read each programme's own admission page and ask in writing what your record covers.
What the four routes have in common
Each route starts with a US degree programme, and each programme sets its own admission rules. Your medical degree is the starting point, but every school will ask for a credential evaluation and decide what it covers. None of them is a shortcut back to practising medicine; each leads to a different job.
Before you choose, write down what you want the job to look like in five years: direct patient care, research and population health, or running services. That answer narrows the field quickly, and it helps when you explain your plan to an admissions advisor.
Nursing: the route with a Florida physician track
FIU's Foreign-Educated Physician BSN/MSN track is built for this group. It lists six prerequisites within 10 years, the TEAS at 70% total and 62% science, a 2.5 GPA and a Fall start. Clinical training is part of the degree, and licensing is with the Florida Board of Nursing afterwards.
The prerequisite list is the main cost of this route for doctors. Your medical knowledge is deep, but FIU still asks for US courses taken within 10 years, with sciences complete before you apply. Count the courses you need and the months they take, then decide whether the Fall start you are aiming for is realistic.
Physician assistant, public health and health administration
Physician assistant programmes usually ask for science prerequisites and patient-care experience, and many want recent US coursework. Public health and health administration programmes are graduate degrees that tend to focus on a bachelor's-level record, statistics and sometimes work experience rather than lab sciences. These are general patterns; each programme's own page is the rule for you.
For each of these routes, ask the programme three questions in writing: what my credential evaluation covers, which prerequisites I still need, and whether online courses arriving via a college transcript can meet them. The answers make the comparison real.
- Physician assistant: read each programme's prerequisite list and experience rule
- Public health: check whether statistics or a social science is listed
- Health administration: check for statistics, finance or management prerequisites
Side by side
Use this as a checklist of questions, not as a rule. The nursing column is FIU's published rule; the others are what to look for on each programme's own page.
| Route | Where the rule is | What to look for first |
|---|---|---|
| Nursing (FIU FEP) | FIU FEP admissions page | Six prerequisites, 10-year limit, TEAS, Fall start |
| Physician assistant | Each programme's admission page | Sciences, recency, patient-care hours |
| Public health | Each programme's admission page | Statistics, bachelor's equivalence |
| Health administration | Each programme's admission page | Statistics, finance, work experience |
Where online courses fit, and where they do not
Statistics appears in many of these routes. UPI Study's Principles of Statistics is ACE-recommended and NCCRS-recommended, and its credit reaches a programme via a college transcript. Chemistry I and its lab may help with a nursing chemistry prerequisite if the programme agrees.
UPI Study is not a college and is not accredited. We do not offer microbiology with lab, nutrition or human growth and development. Every programme decides for itself, so ask it in writing before you enrol.
What to ask in writing
Before you enrol
Ask FIU's Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing Student Services in writing whether statistics and chemistry with lab arriving via a college transcript meet the FEP prerequisites before you enrol.
UPI Study is not a college and is not accredited. ACE and NCCRS review our courses and recommend credit; a college decides whether to give that credit and records it on its own transcript.
ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
Questions people ask
Which route is quickest for an IMG?
It depends on what your record already covers and the programme's own rules. Ask two or three programmes for a written review of your credential evaluation, then compare the courses each still wants. The shortest list is often the quickest start.
Is statistics useful in every route?
Often. FIU's nursing track lists it, and many public health and health administration programmes ask for it too. Check each programme's list; a single statistics course may serve more than one application if both programmes count it.
Does a credential evaluation replace prerequisites?
Usually not on its own. It tells a programme what your foreign record equals in US terms. FIU still wants its six prerequisites within 10 years. Ask each programme what the evaluation changes for you.
Courses that fit
ACE-recommended or NCCRS-recommended courses, studied online at your own pace.
Chemistry I
Self-paced online Chemistry I course (Chemistry 111). ACE and NCCRS recommend 3 semester credits; each college decides how it applies them.
See the course →Start when you have it in writing
Statistics, Chemistry I and Chemistry Lab are on PRO. Ask FIU in writing first.
Sources
- FIU Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences: Foreign-Educated Physician BSN/MSN admissions (official)Non-US medical degree; NursingCAS and FIU applications; Fall entry, rolling review; in-person ATI TEAS with 70% total and 62% science; 2.5 GPA; six prerequisites with minimum C, within 10 years, from a regionally accredited US institution; sciences complete at application; CLEP can meet Human Growth and Development; NACES course-by-course evaluation. Checked on 15 Nov 2026.