So, you have an upcoming PA school interview. Congratulations you’re almost there. Now, of course, there is another hurdle to cross, and that is sounding as amazing as you appear to be on your CASPA application. This isn’t hard because YOU ARE as amazing as you appear to be on your CASPA application, so the […]
Welcome to Your Virtual PA School Clinical Rotation
What if you could take a virtual tour through the NCCPA Content Blueprint? Not just mindless memorization of key terms and test-worthy pearls but matching those facts with faces. What if you could go bedside and visit patients with real conditions, even rare conditions from the comfort of your home? What if each of these […]
Applying to PA School with a Low GPA: Admissions Directors Answer Your Questions
How to Get Into PA School With a Low GPA PA school administrators from ten top-ranking PA programs answer your questions on how to get into PA school with a low GPA. A low GPA is probably the hardest area to improve. This makes sense – it was years in the making, and can’t be […]
Episode 51: The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast – Comprehensive Audio Quiz
Welcome to episode 51 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. Join me as I cover ten PANCE and PANRE Board review questions from the Academy course content following the NCCPA™ content blueprint (download the FREE cheat sheet). This week we will be covering ten general board review questions based on the NCCPA PANCE […]
Book Review: Atul Gawande The Checklist Manifesto
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right in a World of Increasing Complexity e live in an era of gratuitous inventions and negative improvements. Consider the DaVinci Robo surgeon, for example, a drool-inducing twenty-second-century $1.7 million remote-controlled machine designed to help surgeons do laparoscopic surgery with more maneuverability inside patients’ bodies and fewer complications. […]
PA State Licensing: How to Get Licensed, What It Costs, and What Your Board Decides
Find your state PA licensing board on an interactive map, then see what licensure actually involves — the four credentials you need, what it costs, how long it takes, and what happens if you let a licence lapse.
Episode 49: The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast – Comprehensive Audio Quiz
Welcome to episode 49 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. Join me as I cover ten PANCE and PANRE board review questions from the Academy course content following the NCCPA™ content blueprint (download the FREE cheat sheet). This week we will be covering 10 general board review questions based on the NCCPA PANCE […]
PANCE and PANRE Pass Rates: What the National Numbers Actually Say
The national first-time PANCE pass rate year by year from the NCCPA, the PANRE first-attempt and ultimate rates, and why your program’s published number is a different figure entirely.
PA vs. MD: Understanding the Differences [2026 Infographic]
PA vs MD in one graphic: what it takes to get in, time to practice, cost, salary, and burnout — every number updated and verified with 2026 data.
How to Create a Winning Physician Assistant Résumé (Step by Step)
No design skills, no template wrestling, no fight with Microsoft Word. Here’s the complete step-by-step walkthrough of the free PA Life Application Studio I built — from first click to print-ready document. Here’s the kicker — the hardest part of a PA résumé was never the content. You lived the content. It’s the formatting: the […]
5 Things I’ve Learned Going Into My Fourth Physician Assistant Application Cycle
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up – Thomas Edison I will be honest; this is not an article I ever thought I’d be writing. I submitted my first PA school application immediately after finishing my undergrad, and here I am, three […]
101 PA School Admissions Essays: The Book!
You’re slaving away at your personal statement but can’t help wondering if anyone will read past the first line. A troubling thought, isn’t it? A Great Personal Statement Does Matter It’s what makes you different from the millions of other applicants hoping for attention from the Admissions Committee. After all, everyone is cranking out healthcare […]
Finding a Physician Assistant Mentor: The Foolproof PA Shadowing Guide
Let’s face it, finding a PA to shadow is no easy task. When I first contemplated a career as a physician assistant, I was hard-pressed to find a PA to shadow. I was dying to connect with a PA and pick their brain, hear about everything they did, and shadow for a day or two. […]
Episode 47: The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast – Comprehensive Audio Quiz
Welcome to episode 47 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. Join me as I cover 10 PANCE and PANRE board review questions from the Academy course content following the NCCPA™ content blueprint (download the FREE cheat sheet). This week we will be covering 10 general board review questions based on the NCCPA PANCE […]
Secrets of Successful PA School Letters of Recommendation
Your essay is your voice about yourself. A recommendation letter is someone else’s voice about you. Whether we like it or not, other people’s opinions matter. A good letter of recommendation can make your day; a great letter of recommendation can change your life. Whether it is a dating review on Tinder, a restaurant recommendation […]
Physician Assistant Postgraduate Residency and Fellowship Programs: The Ultimate Guide
Postgraduate PA School Residency and Fellowship Programs Just here for the list? Every active PA residency and fellowship in the country is in one live, searchable table further down — updated continuously, never hand-typed. Jump to the residency table ↓Open the Residency Match tool → As a new or even experienced PA, it is normal […]
Murmur Madness: The Audio PANCE and PANRE Episode 45
Welcome to episode 45 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. Today we are going to take a brief detour away from 10 daily questions and instead cover the murmurs you need to know for your PANCE and PANRE exam. I have still included an 11 question exam at the end […]
Long or Short – Does Your PA Program Length Really Matter?
Exploring the Impact of PA Program Duration on PANCE Success and PA Competence In a time long, long ago, just before the release of the first iPhone, I graduated from the UMDNJ (now Rutgers) PA program. It was a three-year PA program with a nearly 100% PANCE pass rate. At the time, Rutgers was one […]
The Ultimate Physician Assistant Shopping and Gift Guide
Are you looking for the perfect gift for that special PA, PA student, or soon to be physician assistant in your life? Look no further below are my favorite, time tested, and PA approved products.
The PANCE and PANRE Content Blueprint Checklist
Your Blueprint to Success Starts Here! If you are at all like me the hardest part of studying for your PANCE or PANRE is figuring out where to begin. There is an ever-growing list of review books, podcasts, online programs, in-person review courses, and anecdotal recommendations to choose from. It’s overwhelming! So, the key to success […]
Episode 43: The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast
Welcome to episode 43 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. Join me as I cover 10 PANCE and PANRE board review questions from the Academy course content following the NCCPA™ content blueprint (download the FREE cheat sheet). This week we will continue to take a break from topic specific board review and […]
A Look Inside Two PA School Interviews
The PA school interview is daunting Be prepared, but not to the point that you sound like a robot. Be relaxed, but not too relaxed as that might give the impression you did not do your research. Inside Two PA School Interviews I interviewed at two PA schools in California in 2016, and they starkly […]
US PA Programs That Accept International Students
Most accredited US PA programs will read an application from an international applicant. Far fewer will sponsor an F-1 visa — here is the live list, and how to tell the difference.
An Open Letter to all Graduates of Foreign Medical Schools and Others Interested in PA Programs in the United States
After reading a number of questions about acceptance into PA programs a prevailing theme has emerged. Many international physicians stated that their interest in becoming PAs stems from dissatisfaction with the hours or volume of patients they are seeing in their own practices in their native countries. So, what is my advice? That you make […]
Episode 41: The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast
Welcome to episode 41 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. Join me as I cover 10 PANCE and PANRE board review questions from the Academy course content following the NCCPA™ content blueprint. This week we will be taking a break from topic specific board review and covering 10 general board review questions. […]
13 Provocative PA School Personal Statement Expressions
Highlight Your PA Shadowing Experience in your CASPA Personal Statement How do you know you’ll be a good PA unless you’ve seen one in action? By shadowing – taking the time to follow a physician assistant through her day to observe what her work is really like. When we interviewed admissions directors for our book “How to Write Your Physician […]
2017 Physician Assistant Program Tuition and Cost Comparison Table
2017 Physician Assistant Program Tuition and Cost Comparison Tuition and cost data of resident and nonresident tuition including length and duration of all US PA programs. Average Cost of PA School in 2017 Physician assistant program budgets have increased modestly over the past five years. Average cost of resident tuition for a 27-month physician assistant program is: $71,369 […]
Made by PA: Labulator is an app to help expand differential diagnoses via laboratory results
Labulator isn’t your average lab values app! It’s an intersection between medicine and technology and an educational tool to help clinicians, medical students, and healthcare professionals better interpret laboratory data. Designed by Daniel Johnson PA-C, Labulator is a tool to help expand differential diagnoses via laboratory results. I created the app while working in an […]
Reproductive System 1: The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast Topic Specific Review Episode 39
Welcome to episode 39 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. Join me as I continue to cover topic specific PANCE and PANRE review from the Academy course content following the NCCPA™ content blueprint. Click here to download my interactive content blueprint checklist This week we will be covering 10 topic specific OBGYN/reproductive board […]
How to Write Your Physician Assistant Personal Statement The Book!
Admissions Directors and faculty share their expectations for your PA school personal statement and we teach you how to write it! What Makes This Book Unique? We have worked with 1000’s of applicants through our Personal Statement and Essay Collaborative and have interviewed PA school faculty and Admissions Directors from 12 top ranking PA […]
