The #1 Mistake PRE-PAs Make on Their Personal Statement

What's the #1 one 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 showcase your qualifications while highlighting your passion for becoming a PA.

And that's why we have created this time-tested personal statement starter kit to help you outline and write your compelling first draft.

Download Your Ultimate PA School Personal Statement Starter Kit

This starter kit takes you step by step through the process of outline and writing your personal statement. Just follow our collection of prompts, write your paragraphs in the spaces provided, and at the end, you will have a strong first draft personal statement that showcases your strongest asset—you!

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STEP 1: MAKE YOUR MARK WITH A STANDOUT INTRODUCTION

Paragraph #1: Your Opening Paragraph

Start your personal statement by describing a lightning-bolt moment that launched your interest in patient care or confirmed that the PA profession is right for you.

Be sure to include specific, compelling details that give the reader a good sense of why this story had such an impact on your decision to become a PA.

Inspiration abounds! Consider writing about:

An experience with a special patient that helped you decide to be a PA
A critical health or safety incident that pushed you to act and taught you that you perform well under pressure
A time when you or a family member were cared for by a dedicated PA
What you learned from growing up in a medically underserved area
Volunteer experiences that taught you the important impact you can have on the health of underserved individuals

STEP 2: SHOW US YOUR JOURNEY

Paragraph #2

How did your decision to work in healthcare evolve? (One caveat—please don’t start with childhood experiences—admissions committees won’t care what you thought as a five-year-old).

Did you volunteer to gain experience?
Take a job working with patients?
What path did you take to build your patient care hours?

Pro Tip: Specific details make your personal statement shine.

Show your readers more about how you relate to patients and colleagues. Whether you’re a paramedic, medical assistant, or hospital volunteer, how do you perform your duties while taking time to make each person you encounter feel cared for and heard.

Paragraph #3

How did you build your understanding of the PA Profession?

What experience do you have shadowing/working with PAs or other healthcare professionals?
What do you admire about the PAs you've met?
Why do you want to be a PA specifically rather than a doctor or nurse practitioner?

Pro Tip: Your target audience already knows what PAs do.

Keep in mind: Your target audience already knows what PAs do and why they rock, so try your best to go beyond simply stating what you like about the profession. Instead of rehashing the “what,” show readers why you are passionate about the PA profession.

Paragraph #4

What specific skills will help you be a successful PA? What experiences (professional or personal) developed these skills? Show readers why your skills, personality, and trademark awesomeness will benefit your future patients and the profession.

Pro Tip: Show your commitment to teamwork and communication.

Bonus points: It’s always a great idea to work in some details that show your commitment to teamwork and communication—both are essential components of a PA’s success.

Optional Paragraph #5

Do you have experience volunteering or working with underserved people? Is this a focus that you'd like to have in the future as a PA? How do you show empathy to patients with special needs?

Pro Tip: Be Specific

Be sure to highlight the specific ways that your similar personal background or relevant professional experience can meet the special needs of a certain population (e.g., urban medically underserved communities; immigrants with language barriers; rural residents who experience long delays for service or must travel some distance to receive specialty care).

Optional Paragraph #6

Are there any academic issues you need to discuss (grades of C or below, or any withdrawals)? Provide an explanation for any lower grades or academic issues.

Pro Tip: Take ownership of your mistakes.

No excuses—it’s better to take ownership of any mistakes and show how you worked to overcome the challenges. Be sure to indicate how you will manage any similar issues to avoid problems during PA school, if necessary.

Here are: 7 Tips for Addressing Shortcomings in Your PA School Personal Statement

Download Your FREE PA School Personal Statement Starter Kit FREE DOWNLOAD

STEP 3: CLOSE WITH CONFIDENCE

The PA School Personal Statement Conclusion — Always leave them wanting more!

Your Concluding Paragraph

End your personal statement with a paragraph that connects to your standout opening or overall theme and reiterates why you will be a great PA.

In our book, How to Write Your Physician Assistant Personal Statement, I talk about how the conclusion of your essay is like the last kiss at the end of a first date. It should always leave the recipient wanting more. Here is a good example:

We never know whether our patient will be a drug dealer, alcohol abuser, a mother, father, son, or daughter. The one thing I know is that they must all be treated with respect and given the treatment they deserve. We laugh and smile when we succeed or find a man with his finger stuck in a drain. We cry when we fail or our patient dies. Mistakes and failures are a reality faced by PAs, doctors, and EMTs every time they encounter a patient, but only those who do not fear failure can succeed. They are the ones who look forward to going to work every day with the chance to make a positive difference.

Pro Tip: let your little light shine.

It’s a great time to remind the reader of your empathy, skills, and dedication to patient care and the profession. Don’t be shy about showing us that you’re passionate about being a PA!

Step 4: Putting it all Together

Outlining your essay really is is like following a proven recipe.

Before outlining, you brainstorm or mind map to consider what can be included in your essay. You associate freely, considering related ideas.

Outlining means bringing structure to your scribbles. You decide which ideas you’ll cover, and which you’ll leave out. And you define a logical flow.

Then, like the ingredients in your Grandma's homemade chocolate chip cookies you pull it all together.

If you have downloaded your starter kit and followed the prompts you should have a cookie that's ready for the taste test. The final step is to test it on some beta readers whose opinions you trust.

Let us do the work for you!

Step 1: Download your copy of the personal statement starter kit and fill it out.

Step 2: Send us your completed starter kit and your rough draft essay for completion.

Receive your free digital copy of our book "How to Write Your PA Personal Statement" and "101 PA School Admission Essays" just for signing up!
Within 48 hours you will receive your edited and revised personal statement that's on point, personable, polished, within the character limit, and 100% written by you!

Click the buttons and complete the steps:

Step 1:	then	Step 2:
Download & Complete YOUR STARTER KIT		Send us your essay for revision

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Megan says

May 12, 2019 at 10:57 pm

The summer before my freshman year of college, I was speaking with a family friend about my career aspirations and explaining how I would be completing my undergraduate degree in Athletic Training. I followed this by detailing my desire to further my education in the medical field. As I was discussing my interest in pursuing medical school, Mary, a healthcare professional herself, could sense the uncertainty in my voice and ultimately, in my plans. At this point in time she proceeded to ask me about my interest in becoming a physician assistant, a profession of which I was minimally aware of at the time. After our conversation and some additional research of my own, with no doubt in my mind, I knew that I wanted to spend my next three years of college preparing myself to become a physician assistant. The career of a PA had everything that the career of a physician was missing for my own life goals and desires. As a PA I would have the opportunity to switch specialties, spend more time with my patients and less time with my paperwork in many settings, and I could play an integral part of a team in providing care a patient wants, not just the care they need.

My first year of college came with many different opportunities, one of which was volunteering at the local hospital and interacting with patients in both the emergency and oncology departments. Caring for patients in these settings led me to completing the EMT program in the spring semester in addition to my degree curriculum. As I continued to learn about more ways in which I could provide care to others, I was continually drawn to my education and devoting myself to being the best clinician I could be for those who needed someone the most. In March of that Spring semester I met Kevin. Kevin was barely fourteen when he was forced to stand by and watch while his mother was killed in an act of gang violence. In speaking with Kevin during my time in El Salvador, he told me he was going to become a doctor so that his community could have the care his mom didn’t receive in her dire need. Kevin explained his goals to me with no quiver of doubt in what he was about to do, regardless of the fact that he was only just given the opportunity to attend high school. His words and passion resonated with my own goals. No complete education can be based solely on classroom lectures and homework assignments, but rather life experiences and failures that can push you to be the best version of yourself amongst your learning.

Athletic training helped to further my passion for medicine and an internship with J Robinson Intensive Wrestling Camps leading into my third and final year of my undergraduate degree affirmed my desire to extend my scope of practice within medicine. On one particular occasion, I stabilized and transported a wrestler with a radius/ulna compound fracture in assistance with EMS while monitoring vital signs. At the ED, my athlete was first seen by a PA who conducted his plan of care in preparation for transportation and a surgical ORIF the following morning. This was one of my many encounters with PAs over the summer. In my clinical experience I’ve been able to diagnose, manage and treat a variety of dermatologic, orthopedic and medical related conditions in athletes ranging from the ages of 12 to 22.

More recently I had the opportunity to be a Nordic ski instructor for the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, Colorado. During this week-long clinic, I assisted many different veterans, all suffering from varying injuries and was able to offer them a smile and the ability to do something they hadn’t even thought was possible because of their current condition. Due to the numerous different adaptive sports at this clinic, Nordic skiing didn’t frequent new vets, but rather welcomed familiar faces from years past. This year was different, many vets swarmed to the Nordic venue to push themselves physically in ways they hadn’t before. Nordic ski instructors tend to say that we earn every downhill because of the work it takes to get up, and that is the thrill of the sport. One of the veterans I worked with, Bob, had a different view, he couldn’t wait for the uphill battles, “I haven’t felt this able-bodied in years,” a statement that made me tear up. Bob was a testament to hard work and dedication who kept coming back over the course of that week and after race day, he told me something in his goodbye that I will never forget. “Megan, I can’t thank you enough for what you have done for me this week, if you care for your patients the way you have cared for me, you will have blessed many lives.” In this moment, all of the sleepless nights studying and countless hours caring for others were made worthwhile. This is a feeling that I didn’t want to end there and one that I have no intention of letting escape, because I hope that all of my future patients I treat as a PA will feel the same way.

Comments

Megan says

May 12, 2019 at 10:57 pm

The summer before my freshman year of college, I was speaking with a family friend about my career aspirations and explaining how I would be completing my undergraduate degree in Athletic Training. I followed this by detailing my desire to further my education in the medical field. As I was discussing my interest in pursuing medical school, Mary, a healthcare professional herself, could sense the uncertainty in my voice and ultimately, in my plans. At this point in time she proceeded to ask me about my interest in becoming a physician assistant, a profession of which I was minimally aware of at the time. After our conversation and some additional research of my own, with no doubt in my mind, I knew that I wanted to spend my next three years of college preparing myself to become a physician assistant. The career of a PA had everything that the career of a physician was missing for my own life goals and desires. As a PA I would have the opportunity to switch specialties, spend more time with my patients and less time with my paperwork in many settings, and I could play an integral part of a team in providing care a patient wants, not just the care they need.

My first year of college came with many different opportunities, one of which was volunteering at the local hospital and interacting with patients in both the emergency and oncology departments. Caring for patients in these settings led me to completing the EMT program in the spring semester in addition to my degree curriculum. As I continued to learn about more ways in which I could provide care to others, I was continually drawn to my education and devoting myself to being the best clinician I could be for those who needed someone the most. In March of that Spring semester I met Kevin. Kevin was barely fourteen when he was forced to stand by and watch while his mother was killed in an act of gang violence. In speaking with Kevin during my time in El Salvador, he told me he was going to become a doctor so that his community could have the care his mom didn’t receive in her dire need. Kevin explained his goals to me with no quiver of doubt in what he was about to do, regardless of the fact that he was only just given the opportunity to attend high school. His words and passion resonated with my own goals. No complete education can be based solely on classroom lectures and homework assignments, but rather life experiences and failures that can push you to be the best version of yourself amongst your learning.

Athletic training helped to further my passion for medicine and an internship with J Robinson Intensive Wrestling Camps leading into my third and final year of my undergraduate degree affirmed my desire to extend my scope of practice within medicine. On one particular occasion, I stabilized and transported a wrestler with a radius/ulna compound fracture in assistance with EMS while monitoring vital signs. At the ED, my athlete was first seen by a PA who conducted his plan of care in preparation for transportation and a surgical ORIF the following morning. This was one of my many encounters with PAs over the summer. In my clinical experience I’ve been able to diagnose, manage and treat a variety of dermatologic, orthopedic and medical related conditions in athletes ranging from the ages of 12 to 22.

More recently I had the opportunity to be a Nordic ski instructor for the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, Colorado. During this week-long clinic, I assisted many different veterans, all suffering from varying injuries and was able to offer them a smile and the ability to do something they hadn’t even thought was possible because of their current condition. Due to the numerous different adaptive sports at this clinic, Nordic skiing didn’t frequent new vets, but rather welcomed familiar faces from years past. This year was different, many vets swarmed to the Nordic venue to push themselves physically in ways they hadn’t before. Nordic ski instructors tend to say that we earn every downhill because of the work it takes to get up, and that is the thrill of the sport. One of the veterans I worked with, Bob, had a different view, he couldn’t wait for the uphill battles, “I haven’t felt this able-bodied in years,” a statement that made me tear up. Bob was a testament to hard work and dedication who kept coming back over the course of that week and after race day, he told me something in his goodbye that I will never forget. “Megan, I can’t thank you enough for what you have done for me this week, if you care for your patients the way you have cared for me, you will have blessed many lives.” In this moment, all of the sleepless nights studying and countless hours caring for others were made worthwhile. This is a feeling that I didn’t want to end there and one that I have no intention of letting escape, because I hope that all of my future patients I treat as a PA will feel the same way.