Welcome to episode 17 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. The Audio PANCE and PANRE is an audio board review series that includes 10 Multiple Choice PANCE and PANRE Board Review Questions in each episode. I hope you enjoy this free audio component to the examination portion of this site. The […]
The DO’S and DON’Ts of the PANCE and PANRE Examination
What do you think? While taking your PANCE or PANRE, should you change your answer if you have a good reason to do so? Click here to see the correct answer! The DO’S and DON’Ts of the PANCE and PANRE Examination Whether you’re a first-time PANCE taker or prepping for your PANRE after years in […]
Interactive Map of State Constituent Chapters of the AAPA
As part of the PA School application process, I urge all applicants to join both the AAPA and their local state constituent chapter of the AAPA. To make the research process a bit easier, I have created a clickable map of all 56 AAPA State Constituent Chapters including direct links to their websites. You can […]
The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast Episode 15
Welcome to episode 15 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. The Audio PANCE and PANRE is an audio board review series that includes 10 Multiple Choice PANCE and PANRE Board Review Questions in each episode. I hope you enjoy this free audio component to the examination portion of this site. The […]
Healthcare Experience Required for PA School: The Ultimate Guide
Patient Care and Healthcare Experience for PA School Today we are going to tackle step 2 of my 5 steps to PA school series by taking a very detailed look at healthcare experience requirements for PA school. Complete the necessary prerequisite coursework Obtain the required medical and hands-on patient care experience ← you are here Successfully […]
The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast Episode 13
Welcome to episode 13 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. The Audio PANCE and PANRE is an audio board review series that includes 10 Multiple Choice PANCE and PANRE Board Review Questions in each episode. I hope you enjoy this free audio component to the examination portion of this site. […]
The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast Episode 11
Welcome to episode 11 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. The Audio PANCE and PANRE is an audio board review series that includes 10 Multiple Choice PANCE and PANRE Board Review Questions in each episode. I hope you enjoy this free audio component to the examination portion of this site. […]
The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast Episode 9
Welcome to episode 9 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. The Audio PANCE and PANRE is an audio board review series that includes 10 Multiple Choice PANCE and PANRE Board Review Questions in each episode. I created this audio series to help you fill some downtime when you are unable to read (like in […]
PA School Prerequisites: What Programs Actually Require (and What Expires)
* To build your own prerequisite plan against every accredited PA program, free and with no sign-up, use the PA School Prerequisite Planner. Let’s start with the thing nobody tells you. There is no national prerequisite list. None. ARC-PA — the body that accredits every PA program in the country — had exactly one standard […]
The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast Episode 7
Welcome to episode 7 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. The Audio PANCE and PANRE is an audio board review series that includes 10 Multiple Choice PANCE and PANRE Board Review Questions in each episode. I created this audio series to help you fill some downtime when you are unable to read (like in […]
If You Take the Red Pill: Reflections on the Future of Medicine
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhumane.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. This blog post is an excerpt (and my PA friendly adaptation) from a speech by Dr. Paul Farmer given at Harvard Medical School, Class Day June 5, 2003. Featured in “To repair the world”. The […]
2015 Physician Assistant Program Tuition and Cost Comparison Table
Updated 2015 Physician Assistant Program tuition and cost comparison table. Tuition and cost data for resident and nonresident tuition including length/duration of the PA program. Based on this 2015 data table: Average cost of resident tuition for a two-year physician assistant program is: $65,564 Average cost of non-resident tuition for a two-year physician assistant program is: $76,134 *For […]
The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast Episode 5
Welcome to episode 5 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. The Audio PANCE and PANRE is an audio board review series that includes 10 Multiple Choice PANCE and PANRE Board Review Questions in each episode. I created this audio series to help you fill some downtime when you are unable to read (like […]
What is the Number One Regret People Have in Life?
The ward was bleak. Always eerily quiet. A clinical world where clock ticks seemed to scream and that vile smell attacked more than the air, the walls, and the floors. It attached itself to the people themselves as if they, too, had been harshly scrubbed down with disinfectant. The worst part was the uncertainty. You never […]
Physician Assistant School and Program Directory eBook
Are you Looking for a good end of the summer read? I am so happy to offer my newly compiled PA Programs eBook to you for FREE. The Physician Assistant School and Program Directory is a complete list of every accredited Physician Assistant Programs in the United States. And best of all: It’s been fully […]
The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast Episode 3
Are you bored to death in the car and worried about your upcoming PANCE or PANRE? Do you have a long, painful commute to your next OB rotation and had enough NPR? Do you have time while on a run or at the gym that is filled with tracks by Maroon 5 or Katy Perry and you know […]
The Audio PANCE and PANRE Board Review Podcast Episode 1
Welcome to episode 1 of the FREE Audio PANCE and PANRE Physician Assistant Board Review Podcast. The Audio PANCE and PANRE is an audio board review series that includes 10 Multiple Choice PANCE and PANRE Board Review Questions in each episode. This is an excellent way to learn on the go! Now you can study for […]
Do You Recognize These 7 Common Mistakes in Your Personal Statement?
You’ve written your essay. You know what you want to say. But will the admissions committee get your message? You’ve read through countless PA school essay samples. You’ve chopped and changed the order of the paragraphs. You’ve polished each sentence. After all that hard work, you’re still not sure whether your essay flows along nicely. Will readers […]
Which State Has the Largest Number of Physician Assistant Programs?
Hint, You May be Surprised (Or not) Programs in these four states make up more than one-third of all programs, roughly (34%) I am a native Californian who traveled 3,000 miles East (the day after I got married) to attend PA School at Rutgers University in New Jersey. If you are trying to make it […]
Physician Assistant Programs Offering Part-Time Options
Short answer: yes, they exist — but there are far fewer than the internet will tell you, and “part-time” does not mean what most people hope it means. Here is what I could actually verify this week, from the programs’ own pages. I first wrote this post in 2014. For years it was one of […]
The Daily Eponym: A FREE Email Series That Will Impress Your Preceptor and Save Countless Lives
What is an Eponym? f you are, or ever have been a PA student and you are not familiar with eponyms then you just may be living under a rock. “Eponyms” is best known as an app that gives a short description of more than 1,700 common and obscure medical eponyms. Why are Eponyms Important? The case […]
The Virtual PANCE and PANRE – It’s Like Having a Pearson VUE Testing Center in Your Living Room
When preparing for your PANCE or PANRE Board exam, it is hard to know what to expect on test day. Yes, you can watch the preparatory NCCPA PANCE Video or PANRE Video and you should, because they are informative. Usually, after I watch them two or maybe even three times, I feel more knowledgeable but also increasingly anxious. […]
Who is the Ideal PA School Candidate? Surprising Lessons From Olympic Ice Skating
I love Olympic figure skating. It is the ultimate test of human grit. Here are people who have spent four years and countless hours practicing for what comes down to a life-changing two-minute event. This is a lesson on life, it is a lot like preparing for your PA school interview, finally pressing submit and […]
My PA School Rejection Letters – How to Turn Your “Set Back” into a “Set Up”
If I fail more often than you, I win! I have written before about the importance of becoming an epic failure and how this is a fundamental part of becoming an epic success. I was cleaning out some of my old file cabinets today and came across my PA school application documents from 2001. I will be […]
The Meaning of a Physician Assistant Life
I was going to bed last night and powering off my iPad when something wonderful happened. I received two kind messages, one from a long-time patient of mine and one from a reader of this blog. Both were a message of kindness and gratitude. They were so unexpected and so genuine that they touched me. […]
Trying to Decide if You Want to be a Physician Assistant? Then “OOCH!”
Trying to Decide if You Want to be a Physician Assistant? Imagine a “hypothetical” student, Steve, who has decided to go to physician assistant school. What makes him think that’s a good option? Well, he spent months toying with other possibilities —medical school and even law school— and he eventually decided PA school was the best […]
Attention Procrastinators: Introducing The Daily PANCE and PANRE FAST-TRACK Email Edition!
Get a full 90 days of official board review email questions in just 30 days! Of all the things I offer here on the PALife blog, few have been as popular as the free Daily PANCE and PANRE board review email series. If you haven’t already signed up for the free series you can do […]
The Turkey Book – An Introductory Manual for The Wards
What do you get if you “Gobble” instead of Google? In honor of the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, I thought it was the perfect time to give you my combined copy of the “The Turkey Book”. Designed to assist medical students on their clinical rotations the “Turkey Book”, as it is called, is a wonderful compilation […]
A Physician Assistant’s Guide to Becoming an Epic Failure
One of the hardest parts of PA school training is that we must fail when it counts most, and often, we must fail on somebody else. Here is why failure leads to success in PA school.
Virchow’s Triad: Social Medicine, Morality and Public Health
A Moral Understanding of Public Health Virchow’s triad is named after the eminent German physician Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902). It describes the three broad categories of factors that are thought to contribute to thrombosis. Hypercoagulability Hemodynamic changes (stasis, turbulence) Endothelial injury/dysfunction But, in my opinion Virschows most important contribution to medicine had nothing to do with three […]
