Pre-PA Consulting and Advising

The PA Life Pre-PA Coaching and Consulting Services

Our pre-PA coaching service consists of a one-hour Zoom consultation with a practicing PA who is a vetted Pre-PA coach. We will address your specific questions or concerns about becoming a PA and applying to PA school. Common themes addressed during these coaching sessions include:

• Is a career as a PA right for me?
• How do I begin?
• I applied to PA school, and I didn’t get in. What can I do to improve my chances of acceptance?
• How do I address a low GPA or other shortcomings?
• Help with shadowing, addressing healthcare/patient care experience hours, and letters of recommendation.
• CASPA application review, planning, and completion.

Here are the steps we will follow:

1. Schedule your Zoom consultation below and complete your payment through a secure payment gateway (PayPal or credit card via Stripe)
2. Before your consultation, you will need to complete a brief questionnaire that will take ~15 minutes. This will provide additional information for your coach to specifically tailor your session to your needs.
3. You will be provided with a Zoom meeting ID, link, and calendar invite at the time of purchase.

Our Physician Assistant Consultants

Kelley Rutter PA-C

Kelley Rutter completed her Master of Science in physician assistant studies in 2019, focusing on primary care in underserved and rural communities.

Before PA school, she had recently completed her undergraduate degree in 2016 and had volunteered in various healthcare settings.

She applied to eight physician assistant programs and was accepted to all, deciding to stay local and attend her home state university's program. While in PA school, she received a service-based scholarship and the Excellence award from her program, passed the PANCE two weeks after graduation (with help from the Smarty PANCE review podcasts), and began working at a local hospital shortly after. In addition to her clinical duties, Kelley serves as a consultant and has helped develop an internal medicine curriculum for a board review company. She regularly writes board review questions for PANCE/PANRE and end-of-rotation exams.

Kelley is passionate about providing compassionate, patient-centered, team-based healthcare and promoting the physician assistant profession. She believes that while the application process for PA school can be intimidating, it can also be used to highlight an applicant's strengths and, in doing so, increase the likelihood of securing a spot in the program of choice.

Maci Pfaffenberger PA-C

Maci Pfaffenberger graduated with her Master of Science Degree in Physician Assistant Studies from Western University of Health Sciences in 2016.

During PA school, Maci excelled with individualized study techniques and a focus on school-life balance. She was involved in the interview process for the incoming class with extensive knowledge of what it takes to stand out as a great candidate. Maci enjoyed participating in Q&A forums for prospective students and sharing her opinion on patient care hours, the application process, helpful resources like The PA Life blog, course load, and program details, and the day-to-day schedule of a busy PA student.

Since graduating, Maci has taken full advantage of the lateral flexibility of the physician assistant profession by first starting her career in Urgent Care and then transitioning to Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. She provides insight into the various settings for a practicing PA with her experience in outpatient clinics as well as hospital-based intra-operative and peri-operative care.

Maci is enthusiastic about promoting the PA profession and sharing her personal experiences to benefit those investigating what it means to be a PA, applying to their dream program, or feeling intimidated by a strenuous curriculum. Let Maci encourage you on your journey to becoming a PA!

Testimonials

Read more testimonials and success stories.

My consultation has helped me tremendously! My consultant answered all of my questions and I am able to email her with questions that may come up. She is extremely kind and I genuinely feel that she wants to help me. I would recommend consultations to all pre-PAs!

- Nicolette Kalein Pre-PA

This was a very helpful meeting where I learned more about the application process as well as some of the resources that I can use as a guide before I apply!

Tatiana, Pre-PA

My interaction with Kelley was extremely helpful and informative. She has continued to help me since our discussion via email. I highly recommend this to anyone who is questioning what things they need to know while applying and how to enhance the application itself.

- Stephen Armstrong, Pre-PA

My consultant (Maci) through The PA Life been extraordinarily friendly and wonderful throughout my pre-PA consultation. She took the time to review portions of my application and gave me critical and very valuable feedback with my clarity, usage, and grammar. We were able to problem-solve on some of the issues I had been facing, and she was able to guide me in the right direction. I felt more confident in my application process after our consultation and I was even happier when she requested to still stay in touch even after our meeting. Maci is the best!!

- Mushairat Mamun, Pre-PA

My consultation through The PA Life was incredible. By the end our talk, all the questions that were looming over my head about the PA application process were answered and I left with a better understanding of my application timeline.

- Ellie, Pre-PA

Book Your Appointment Today

Click on "any available" to view all appointment times, or click on the consultant's name and bio to view times and availability specific to that consultant.