What’s the #1 mistake that potential PAs and pre-physician assistant students make while drafting their PA school personal statement? A failure to outline and plan! Outlining your personal statement is like following a proven recipe. Although strong personal statements do not all follow the same format (nor should they), there is a certain formula for success that will […]
Pre-Physician Assistant
The Pre-PA Advisor Series: Patient Contact Hours and Healthcare Experience
The Pre-PA Advisor Series Welcome to the PA Advisors Series – a special series of posts where PA school applicants like yourself ask the tough questions and admissions directors from top-ranking PA schools provide the answers. Today We Will Discuss: Patient Contact Hours and Healthcare Experience Requirements for PA School Here are some of the questions […]
Made by PA: The Applicant’s Manual of Physician Assistant Programs
The 2018 Applicant’s Manual of Physician Assistant Programs The Applicant’s Manual of Physician Assistant Programs written by Mark Volpe, MPH, MMSc, PA-C and Brittany Hogan PA-S, provides prospective PA program applicants with detailed information regarding all accredited PA programs in the United States. The book also provides helpful tips for applicants to improve their chances at success during […]
PA School Prerequisites: Admissions Directors Answer Your Burning Questions
As you probably know by now, if you want to get into PA school, you must complete the necessary prerequisite coursework. I have discussed this in detail in a previous post Prerequisite Coursework: How to Design the Perfect Pre-PA School Curriculum. Today, we are going a step further by giving you answers to some of the […]
How to Pay for Medical Mission Trips as a Broke Pre-PA
I have always found the dichotomy of time and money interesting. Either you have all the time in the world to do things like when you’re a student and have summer break, or you’re working and have a paycheck but no longer have the time to take off. If you’re the former and are interested in […]
Going Midlevel Midlife: Michelle’s Story of Becoming a Physician Assistant in her 40’s
After 16 years of teaching high school wellness, Michelle Roush felt ready for a greater challenge to leverage her interest in health. After much planning and preparation, she is now studying to become a physician assistant, and loving the journey. Tell us a little about your background… I am a married, 41-year-old mother of two […]
20 Answers to The Question: Why Do You Want to be a Physician Assistant?
Why Do You Want to be a Physician Assistant? You will be asked many different times: “Why?” “Why do you want to become a physician assistant?” “Why don’t you just go to medical school or NP school?” “You will make more money as a physician; you will have more prestige and recognition as a physician.” […]
PA School Mock Interviews: Prepare with a LIVE, Recorded Video Interview
A 60-minute live mock interview with a practicing PA-C — recorded so you can rewatch every answer, with honest feedback and a plan to improve. $125 flat, and your first 20 minutes of AI voice practice with Maya are included. Why do you want to be a PA? When you book with The PA Life, […]
300+ PA School Interview Questions You Should Be Ready to Answer
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 […]
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 […]
7 Tips for Addressing Shortcomings in Your PA School Personal Statement
What makes the perfect PA school candidate? Someone with stellar grades from a top university, loads of patient care experience, countless shadowing hours, and a long list of community service endeavors, right? Oh, and Ms. Perfect Candidate probably also speaks four languages fluently, has had her research findings published in peer-reviewed journals, and travels abroad […]
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. […]
Physician Assistant: Resume, CV, and Cover Letter Editing and Revision
Human, PA-specific editing Turn your résumé into the strongest version of your PA story. Work one-to-one with a professional editor who understands PA training, clinical experience and hiring. We strengthen the writing, structure and presentation without making your résumé sound generic—or unlike you. Choose an editing package → Ask a question New graduatesPracticing PAsPA students […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
How to Write “Physician Assistant” The Definitive PA Grammar Guide
Do you know the correct answer to these important questions? Do you capitalize the word physician assistant? How do you write the plural of physician assistant? What is the proper name of the PA profession? Should I write physician assistant or physician associate on my personal statement? All these questions are real — We know […]
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 […]
Your Main Goal on Your Path to PA Shouldn’t be Immediate Success or Money, But to Learn as Much as Possible
Your primary goal as a new physician assistant or as someone hoping to become one should not be immediate success or money, but to learn as much as possible. When people look for a “way in” to a particular field – an internship or first job – they often search for positions that promise the […]
How to Survive PA School as a Dad: Advice from a PA School Parent
The Life of a PA School Father My name is William Seibt, and I was a PA student and a dad. We moved out to Miami from Phoenix to attend PA school when my son was nine months old. We arrived in Miami in a Penske truck the evening before classes started and stayed with my sister-in-law […]
Married with Children in PA School: How This Mom Makes it Work
The Life of a PA School Mother My name is Anna, and I am a mother of two boys, two and six years old. I am also a PA student. For me, it was a long and arduous journey to get into PA school. I applied three consecutive years before finally getting accepted to a […]
The PA History Quiz: I Scored a 3 Out of 25, How About You?
View Poll And the answer is . . . You will have to take the quiz below to find out! “Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past.” I wish the title of this blog post were an attention grabbing exaggeration, but sadly it is true, I scored a 3 out of 25 […]
