Watch this introductory video to see the website in action Click Here
Are You Trying to Find The Perfect PA School to Fit Your Needs?
- Are you interested in attending PA school, but you have limited resources and no idea where to begin?
- Do you worry about the program requirements and waste countless hours going from program web site to program web site trying to find things like GPA and GRE requirements, tuition costs, CASPA participation status, application deadlines and narrowing down which programs offer a master’s degree?
- How about your budget? Are you having difficulty creating a financial plan without any concrete data on program costs, timeframes and part-time options that would allow you to work while attending PA School?
I have created paschoolfinder.com as the first free online PA Program and School directory with a goal of solving the above pain points, because they are frustrations I had years ago when I was applying to PA School, before the days of ubiquitous broadband internet.
The PA Schoolfinder directory is free and comprehensive, it is interactive and (unlike the PAEA directory) geolocation-based and combines all the necessary information in one convenient place.
It’s exactly what I wanted when I was applying to PA School.
Here are Some Highlights
The PA Schoolfinder Program Directory is Free and Comprehensive
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The PA program directory is completely free. Compare this to the PAEA directory which is set at 35 dollars per year and limited.
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The PA Program directory is comprehensive and extremely interactive. With the click of a button or the scroll of a mouse wheel you can:
- Contact the PA school and generate an email from within the page.
- Access the school's official website and social media profiles
- Get every notable feature needed to contrast and compare between programs.
- Rate, Review, and Comment on individual schools.
- Watch a video (rolling out this feature) from PA school educators and faculty that help to explain what each school has to offer.
The PA Schoolfinder Program Directory Offers Geolocation Based Search at Its Core
The Program directory uses Google maps as its core. This means you can browse schools by location, not by name.- You have the option of browsing schools based on your current location, you can even designate a radius.
- The Program Directory implements Google Street View from right within the interface. Not only you can you see where the school is but you can actually see the school! I love this!
The PA Schoolfinder Program Directory Offers Ever Improving and Better Formulated Real-Time Categorical and Keyword-Based Search
You can base your search on:
- Degree Type: Masters Vs. Bachelors Vs. Certificate Vs. Associate
- PA program accreditation status
- Application Deadline
- CASPA Participation
- Program Duration
- Minimum GPA Requirements
- School Tuition Cost
- Health Care Experience Needed
- GRE Requirements (or lack of them)
- TOEFL Requirements
- AND MORE!!!
The fully interactive search bar allows you to search by keyword as well!
The Ultimate Online, Interactive, Location-Based, Free Physician Assistant Program Directory
So in a world where access to necessary and attractive solutions tend to be exploited by traditional capitalism (i.e. the $731 DEA license, the $475 PANCE and the $850 review courses) I bring to you the free and (yes I will say it) amazing, PA School Finder - PA Program Directory.
I will be updating and improving upon the PA Schoolfinder directory constantly, adding better categorical and interactive search. If you know anybody applying to PA School, or you just want to browse around to see what is out there please share.
If you attended a school please take a moment to find it on the directory and leave a personal rating and review. This provides wonderful value to applicants looking for the right program. If you have any resources you would like to share on a page please contact me and I will add it, including photos, videos or testimonials.
And don't forget to like this post, if you have a moment and a clickable finger 😉
Now go out and make the world a better place!
Stephen
View all posts in this series
- PA Schoolfinder – The Ultimate Physician Assistant School and Program Directory
- Physician Assistant Programs Offering Part-Time Options
- Which State Has the Largest Number of Physician Assistant Programs?
- Physician Assistant School and Program Directory eBook
- 2017 Physician Assistant Program Tuition and Cost Comparison Table
- Made by PA: The Applicant’s Manual of Physician Assistant Programs
- The Perfect PA Program Picker: PA School Requirements and Admissions Tool
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Hi, I attended Samuel Merritt University in Oakland California. Just wanted to let you know that the picture of the school that was posted in PASchoolFinder.com is actually a picture of Mills College in Oakland.
Hi Stephen,
I have seen in your previous post, you have helped many pre-PA students to get in to the PA school. I am really interested to apply for Rutgers PA program. I am applying to the Physician Assistant program for the 2017-2018 cycle. If it’s possible can you please review my personal statement and I am very open to any kind of positive criticism as well as suggestions to make it stronger.
Thank You!
Stephen,
I saw on a previous post that you helped a dance instructor even get into pa school! I feel I fall into that category, I was on the path to become a Physical Therapist, but when it came to applications, I ditched and ran off to central america, then through colorado, and new england as a yoga instructor. It really hit me recently that I feel restricted in my knowledge to help people (especially my family). So while looking at applying again for PT, my heart found PA,and voila here I am. I was wondering if you had recommendations for finding schools that have a more holistic view , I do not have outstanding grades, just average, average GRE, I am going back to take a few upper sciences before I apply. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Your site has defiantly provided me with a wealth of information!
Thanks so much!
Cierra
Hi Ciera,
I find most PA programs have an integrative, patient-oriented, approach to health care in general. I believe it is at the core of who we are as PAs. That being said, I am sure there are programs out there who do indeed favor a more “holistic” approach. Sometimes you can find this mentioned in their mission statement. I wish I had a list for you, especially since I just spent the last month updating my paschoolfinder site. You may consider contacting the AAPA or PAEA and seeing if they can provide some insight. If not, I wonder if you could reach out to the Arizona Center for Integrative medicine and see if they have any recommendations.
Stephen
Hi,
I’m a second yr student at a community college in Nj (Union County college) and I’m majoring in Liberal studies but will shift over to communications when I transfer. This is because I found that you can major in anything and then apply to PA school with whatever bachelor degree. Is this still true? Also I got some very bad grades in my Science courses but I’m trying to do better. Do you think this will affect me down the road and do you think that the interviewers will allow me to explain why I got the bad grades? I really do love everything about being a PA and no matter how many people tell me I’m going after it for the money, I just wont listen because I know the true purpose. I was to be a pediatric PA by the way. That would totally be epic. Thanks.
Hi Sharon,
Yes, you can major in anything as long as you have the necessary prerequisite coursework covered. You must demonstrate an ability to excel in the sciences as well as a passion for medicine. As far as the bad grades are concerned, it is much more about the trajectory. Have you been able to show improvement and is there a good reason for the lower grades. Yes, they will ask you to explain it, if they are concerned about it.
And don’t worry about the comments from the critics, as long as you are doing what is true to your passion and purpose you will excell. There is nothing wrong with pursuing a profession that is in line with your goals and has a nice salary profile. This is simply an added benefit, I a sure they would say the same thing. P.S Working with kids rocks!!!
Cheers,
Stephen
In your experience/opinion, how much does where you get your degree from matter in terms of getting a good job? I am debating between a PA program out of state that’s ranked really highly, but costs a lot, vs an in state program that is ranked smack in the middle, but costs half as much.
Thanks for your website!!
None whatsoever, if you pass your certification exam and you have the PA-C behind your name an employer will hire you based on who you are and what you can bring to the table. They could care less about where you graduated from. That being said, all programs are not created equal. Some big name programs aren’t as good as some smaller programs and vice versa. If you have done your research and you know the programs are comparable don’t worry about the name, it will make no difference in your job opportunities later down the road.
– Stephen
First of all, I want to thank and congratulate all your work that helps simplify the processes of applying to PA school. The website http://www.paschoolfinder.com has been under construction since I’ve tried to access the site. Do you have a timeline as to when the information may become available to us? This would help tremendously for applying in the coming cycle. Again, thank you.
Hi Alex,
I wish I could tell you. I used the info aggregated from the PAEA websites database to build my pages for each PA school on the paschoolfinder website. I was annoyed that the only way one could access a good database of PA schools was to pay the PAEA 40 dollars for the priveledge of finding out how to submit a paid application to CASPA to apply for PA school. I really felt this info should be available to all for free. Hence the paschoolfinder. Well, to make a long story short, once the PAEA got wind of my website you can immagine they weren’t very happy.. Hence they requested (in not so suttle of a way) that I take the site down. So I had to temporarily shut it down. I own the site and all the geolocations based info, and the rest of the general school info is public domain, I just need to put in the work to create unique pages that display relevent info for each school. There are well over 186 entries. In fact I could really use some help. If we could rally up 90 people to each do 2 entries I could probably have the site up in a week, the other option I was toying with was making it into a databse such as wikipedia, where users could modify entries and update the info themeselves. That way we could build something truly amazing. Let me know if you have any ideas!
– Stephen
Stephen,
I can imagine the PAEA wasn’t too happy. They forget the cost of applying is over the top. It will probably cost around $1k after all is said and done with CASPA, secondaries, and GRE submissions. ETS charges you $27 PER school to send scores.
I think a wiki page sounds like a great idea, especially because schools change their requirements sometimes (two I’m interested in changed their pre-req requirements just this month). Plus, I saw approx 5-6 developing programs in this next cycle. Allowing the Public to edit would allows us to help you maintain this information. I don’t know much about making web pages or wikis, but I’m more than willing to try and help out. I imagine you have several followers that would be willing to do the same. If you completed a couple as examples I imagine I could follow your lead to fill in information.
I could use a bit of your help also. I remember the pa school finder website listed school by their min GPA requirements as well. My GPA is equivelant to what yours was when you applied. Could you please send me a list of the schools I’m able to apply with a 2.9. That alone would help much when selecting school to submit to this cycle. Thanks again!
Alex, what are the essential informational elements you need to be included in the database? If you could make a list and post that here that would be great.
I liked the way you had the site set up before, sorting each school by the GPA requirements first. I think per individual school, along with GPA requirement it is most important to know the class size, GRE requirements, prerequisites, location and type of degree received. Whether they are a CASPA participant or not would be helpful.
Details such as school mission, curriculum info, etc. could probably be researched by the individual. You had a pretty comprehensive set up previously with the PAEA info.