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You are here: Home / International Physician Assistant / South Africa’s Clinical Associate (Clin-A): The PA Model Around The World

South Africa’s Clinical Associate (Clin-A): The PA Model Around The World

BY Stephen Pasquini PA-C Leave a Comment

South Africa’s Clinical Associate

This is part seven of a nine-part series by documentary filmmaker Adam Halbur on the PA model around the world.

Today we take a fascinating look into the real-life of South Africa’s pioneering PA-like clinical associates.

View all posts in this series
  • As Good As You Can: The PA Model Around the World Part One
  • American Cheese: The Origin of the U.S. Physician Assistant
  • PAs in the Netherlands: The Dutch Physician Assistant
  • Why We Really Need PAs in The UK: The British Physician Associate
  • Meet The PA Pioneers of Israel: The Israeli Physician Assistant
  • Trials and Tribulations of the Liberian Physician Assistant
  • South Africa’s Clinical Associate (Clin-A): The PA Model Around The World
  • The Indian Physician Assistant (PA): Past, Present, and Future
  • The Australian Physician Assistant: The PA Model Around The World
  • Laos: The Birthplace of the U.S. Physician Assistant?
  • Little Big Men: The Rise of Kenya’s Clinical Officer

South Africa Clin-A Quick Facts:

  • Name: Clinical Associate
  • Can US PAs practice in South Africa: Yes
  • South Africa Clin-A Salary: 69 (US$4.53)/hour, R122,084 (US$ 9,416)/Year
  • Number of Clin-A programs: 3
  • Number of Clin-As practicing in South Africa: 920
  • Prescription rights in South Africa: Yes
  • South Africa Professional Clin-A Association: The Professional Association of Clinical Associates in South Africa (PACASA)
  • South Africa Clin-A certification exam: Not required
  • South Africa Certification Maintenance: Unknown
  • South Africa Clin-A Day: not yet

South Africa’s Clinical Associate (Clin-A)

Starting with programs at Walter Sisulu University and the University of Pretoria (2008) and at the University of the Witwatersrand, or WITS (2009), South Africa’s clinical associate (Clin-A) is one of the more recent to join physician assistant-like professionals around the world.

I visited the Bachelor of Clinical Medical Practice (BMCP) at WITS in Johannesburg, where I found the students and teachers as refreshingly current as any student in the United Kingdom or the United States.

I hesitate to make overarching generalizations, but perhaps there is a more-established middle class in South African cities, imbued with a different attitude growing up in a pluralistic, politically liberated society under Nelson Mandela, than students and educators in countries like Kenya and India that gained independence early on and still suffer under a hierarchical ideology lingering from colonial Britain, even though that empire’s physical infrastructure went into decline long ago.

Instead of “sir” and “madam” following up every phrase in overt reverence to faculty and administrators, I found a more collegial, if-not irreverent, atmosphere one would find among players and their coach.

An Interview with Clin-A Educators

Academic head Scott Smalley, a U.S. physician assistant, and Clin-A educators Victor Mokokotlela and Aviwe Mgobozi sat down to talk with me in 2017.

Both Mgobozi and Mokokotlela were among the first graduates of the WITS program.

“I didn’t really know what it was about,” recalled Mgobozi when considering the program. “And I just thought, ‘OK, let me do it because it’s still within health care and it’s still within medicine.’ And so I thought because I want to help people because I want to work in the hospital, I still sort of in the same field. And then we just started. And we were a very small class of 25.”

Later, while driving me to another interview, Mgobozi told me more in-depth about how she was inspired by her mother, who is a physician in Port Elizabeth:

"I grew up in an environment where I would go and sit at the surgery and greet the patients and just run around there—she’d have to chase me away. So I think that the environment influenced my decision to apply for medicine. But I was interested in just how you would help a sickly patient, the medicine or biology behind it. And I just saw the relationships she had with her patients. It was more than just a strictly formal, ‘OK, I’m the doctor. You’re the patient.’ And so I grew up really wanting to be part of that. And she loves community work. And she’s really, she’s more into community health. And I was inspired by that and so applied for medicine."

Things didn’t go well the first year and Mgobozi transferred into the clinical associate program, but she said that she’s happy and doesn’t regret her decision.

She also continues to share her interest in medicine with her mother.

“Even now, when I go back home, I’ll be there with her,” she said. “And we’ll have conversations about patients and, you know, what’s prevalent in the community now. She’s like an HIV specialist, so we still have those conversations. Not many daughters and their mothers have these conversations, but we really do. Like we talk about guidelines and HIV, so it’s nice to have that.”

A Day in the Life of a Clin-A Student

I found similar passion in a first-year student from Limpopo, one of the most rural areas, where HIV infection is high but where there is a clinic only every 60 km.

“It's very difficult to get people to engage, to donate and voice out if you're on the outside,” she explained about choosing to become a Clin-A, “but from the inside, people actually take you seriously. So it's more about me getting people to be helped than me helping—two hands are not really much, but if I get more people to engage, it can really benefit a lot of people's lives.”

Others in her group agreed, but they all appeared more interested in the latest episode of Game of Thrones they were discussing before the interview, and more worried about meeting the higher standards of university academics.

“It’s pretty difficult," the Limpopo woman said, “because if you look at the South African education system level in high school and you compare it to the education level that we have here, there’s a really broad gap, so we have to do a lot of work to catch up and understand when you get to university.”

Another woman found it difficult navigating the BMCP’s integrated curriculum.

“It gets a bit messy at times because it has your anatomy, your physiology, your pharmacology all together,” she said. “Whereas other degrees perhaps will have anatomy, physiology separately. But when it’s all mixed, it’s just that the workload is so much.”

While first-year students have a lot of memorizing to do, they also begin to learn problem-solving skills.

“They taught in a symptom-based way,” recalled Mgobozi. “So you would just write ‘cough’ on the board, and then we started brainstorming what could the possible causes be for the cough.” “At first it was very difficult to get the hang of that,” Mokokotlea added, Can’t we just study, just read our books? Tell us the various different causes for a cough, and then we’ll memorize those and when you ask us tomorrow in class as to what the causes of a cough are, we’ll just list them off like that. But it wasn’t like that. It was just ‘cough,’ let’s think about a cough. What is affected when a person coughs? It’s the lungs. You just write ‘respiratory.’ It could also be the heart, ‘cardiovascular.’ So we thought, well, at the time, I thought, ‘It’s really difficult.’

Rotations and Objective Structured Clinical Exams

These mapping skills are important as second-year students are already beginning to have hands-on experiences, mainly at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, in Soweto Township, the third largest hospital in the world.

“Today we’re going to do work on child health, and we’re teaching them integrated management of childhood illness, which is a protocol process to help treat children under 5 years old,” said Smalley on the way to lead a group of second-year students at Chris Hani. “There are five big mortality diseases that affect children, and this is one way we can identify that early so we can get the child the help they need before problems become too challenging, and it often becomes too late.” Third-year students also get experience at Chris Hani, such as in the ER. “The emergency department is very busy,” said Smalley.

It sees lots of trauma patients. South Africa seems to have an undercurrent of quite a bit of violence that they say is often hanging over from the Apartheid days. So on any given day, there’ll be gunshot wounds, there’ll be stabs, a lot of domestic violence, intimate partner violence.

So our students are exposed to some opportunities here of really tremendous learning —to do some emergency medicine work, also in the wards, and HIV clinics, in the obstetric wards.

Third-year students preparing for their OSCE (objective structured clinical exam), including doing lumbar punctures, said they focus on those common cases.

“We deal with a lot of relevant things in class,” said one. “We deal with a lot of conditions we are guaranteed that we will see as opposed to your once in ten.” “So yeah, you become very good, very good,” added another.

Chris Hani, a public hospital, caters mainly to a local population that has risen economically post-Apartheid but still cannot afford the private care many wealthier people can buy. Smalley said there are efforts to implement a national health scheme to rectify these inequalities:

Inequality and South Africa's National Health Insurance

There’s this big inequity of health provision in South Africa. If you have money to afford medical aid, which is like health insurance, or if you work for an employer that can provide you that, then you can go see the private doctors and pay substantially more but also get deductions through the medical aid scheme. But if you don’t have either of these, then you can go to any government health facility and receive free care or for very minimal charges for certain procedures. But there’s a real inequity in that distribution and what’s provided because the government health sector has very little money and resources to hire and retain doctors, to hire clinical associates, to hire nurses, to hire and to staff it, and to have the resources available—you’re always running out of medicines quite often, of sterile packs quite often.

"You’re not able to run your theaters. Whereas the private sector gets all of the resources, but only 20 percent of the population. So then in the last six years, there’s been a movement to try to equalize this with the national health insurance scheme, NHI. And so that all South Africans will be provided with health coverage, and they can go to the private sector or the public sector, and the idea was to bring up the public sector so it meets the same provisions as the private. And so they’re going to have to redistribute these resources. You’re talking about pulling money away from private and putting more into the public. And they’re going to have private doctors starting to work more in public, and private facilities accepting what were public patients."

Reading online comments on news sites, I encountered some skepticism the NHI would work, leading to additional fleecing of citizens; only if properly funded and implemented, with the citizenry truly in mind and not private interests, can it succeed.

"The NHI would also benefit the clinical associate and vice versa as the scheme would offer 16 services of health care needs from pediatrics to maternity to surgical to etc. etc.,” said Smalley. “But the opportunity for us as clinical associates is that we can get in on this national insurance scheme and our clinical associates can be employed at either place because they’ll be flexible enough to be here or here.” Mokokotela added, “Of those 16 goals of the NHI, clinical associates satisfy 10 of them.”

A Lack of Growth and Recognition Cause Many to Leave the Profession

Clinical associates are already working both in private clinics and private hospitals. And while Clin-As seemed more autonomous in private practices, there was a sense of restlessness among both camps. Zenande, a Clin-A in internal medicine doing cesareans at Bertha Gxowa, a public hospital in Germiston, Johannesburg, said,

"Honestly, I’m looking to leave the field. I’m happy doing my work. I’m just not happy about all the other things—salary, lack of appreciation, you know, there’s so much. There’s no growth. There’s no academic growth currently. There’s only that one program at WITS for emergency medicine. What about the rest of us that don’t want to do emergency medicine but have other specialties? So there’s no growth academically. There’s no growth financially. There’s no recognition from our health department. So that pains me. As much as I love what I’m doing, but when I go home, you know, and I want to grow; I’m not getting any younger."

Nhlanhla working in general practice at a private clinic expressed a similar desire to advance:

"I love family practice. If in the future there would be maybe an honors in internal medicine, then I think I would go for that because I love internal medicine. And in the future, actually, recently I applied with Adventist Health in California. The only challenge was that I had to register as a qualified certified physician assistant from the states, whereby I have to go for two years to a PA school in America. So that was a bit of a drag, which means I would have to quit working and go back to school fulltime, and then the responsibilities take a toll."

Clinical Associate Professional Demographics

According to Smalley, of those students that had graduated before 2017 about 5 percent typically wanted to go on to further studies, even in new professions, about 4 percent went to academics, 6 percent went into nonprofit work, and another 6 percent went into private work, whereas 80 percent went to the government. Mgobozi added many leave because they are not finding the stability they seek since the clinical officer is such a new profession and still establishing itself.

Mokokotlela and Mgobozi are among the 4 percent who were able to leave practice to go into academics.

“There’s a whole lot of gratification from teaching,” said Mokokotlele, but stressing the need for role models for this new profession. “I’m hoping that a lesson is better learned from a role model than a person who’s not.”

Why do You Want to be a Clinical Associate?

When I asked why he became a Clin-A, Mokokotlela said he gives a different story every time

"There are just so many reasons. I think what I first said…. At home, we had chickens. We had outside rooms and there was a toilet outside. We used to sleep in there, in the outside rooms, in the staff quarters; it was traditional old housing. There was a toilet outside, so one of the chicks, a couple of chicks actually fell in the toilet, in the bowl there. And some of them drowned. I used to watch Baywatch with Pamela Anderson back then. And I saw CPR for the first time on Baywatch. And I did CPR on a chick, or chicks—one survived, one died. One died, one survived. I’m made for this."

As with the chicks, his first CPR on a human subject wasn’t successful but the second was.

“But I thought, ‘I was made for this,’” Mokokotlela said. “And I realized this when I was seven years old. So that’s why I’m here because of a chick I did CPR on.” “You save lives,” replied Smalley, while Mgobozi laughed.

Perhaps, in the end, a good sense of humor is the best quality Clin-As could hope as they move forward into the next decade.

About the Author

Adam Halbur is a writer and teacher living in Tokyo, Japan. A short version of his film As Good As You Can, As Professionally As You Can premiered at the 11th annual conference of the International Academy of Physician Associate Educators. Watch the “American Cheese” segment of the longer version here. Watch a short of the 50th AAPA Conference with interviews from Ruth Ballweg and David Kuhns here. Halbur is entirely self-funded, so if you appreciate his work, please consider making a small contribution to his feature documentary on the Kenyan clinical officer.

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View all posts in this series
  • As Good As You Can: The PA Model Around the World Part One
  • American Cheese: The Origin of the U.S. Physician Assistant
  • PAs in the Netherlands: The Dutch Physician Assistant
  • Why We Really Need PAs in The UK: The British Physician Associate
  • Meet The PA Pioneers of Israel: The Israeli Physician Assistant
  • Trials and Tribulations of the Liberian Physician Assistant
  • South Africa’s Clinical Associate (Clin-A): The PA Model Around The World
  • The Indian Physician Assistant (PA): Past, Present, and Future
  • The Australian Physician Assistant: The PA Model Around The World
  • Laos: The Birthplace of the U.S. Physician Assistant?
  • Little Big Men: The Rise of Kenya’s Clinical Officer

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Jessica H. Pre-PA

Carly did a tremendous job of helping edit my personal statement. Her suggestions and hints have taken my personal statement to the next level!

Austin, Pre-PA

I just wanted to send you a quick email, letting you know that I finally got accepted into PA school! I will be attending Sacred Heart University in Connecticut and will be starting this fall. I could not have made it this far without your help! This was my third time applying and during my first two cycles, I didn’t think that I needed outside help. But this time around, I decided that I needed to change my tactic and I am so freaking happy that I did. Your guidance and advice on my personal statement absolutely made a difference. I had 6 interviews and got accepted into 4! You have helped changed my life and I am forever grateful. I have several friends who will be applying this cycle so I will be referring them to you!

Christian, Pre-PA

Sarah was absolutely incredible to work with! My initial draft conveyed all the ideas that I wanted it to, but I wasn’t sure that it flowed well or was memorable. Sarah did a great job with helping me make my introduction stand out and also helped me immensely with the overall structure of my essay. My personal statement had initially been a source of stress but I am so happy with my final draft and extremely grateful to Sarah for her thoughtful insights!

Tina, Pre-PA

I really appreciated Duke and his way of cutting out the unnecessary fluff in my essay. He was extremely helpful and helped steer me in the right direction to better my writing and make me a more competitive applicant. I am currently still applying to programs and will notify you guys once I get an invitation!

Ani S. Pre-PA

After receiving two edits from Carly I feel extremely confident in my personal statement. She not only fixed grammatical error and syntax, but helped me better organize my thoughts into a competitive essay. To other Pre-PAs looking to submit their essays: I know it’s a bit of an investment but the peace of mind, comfortability, and confidentiality is so worth it! Thank you The PA Life!

Elizabeth, Pre-PA

Sarah helped to condense my detailed thoughts into a powerful essay. Over the phone, she was careful to collaborate with me before making any changes so that the piece remained under my control and in my voice. She served as a guide and insured the essay brought out my strengths and reasons for pursuing the PA profession. Overall, I’m incredibly happy with the service!

Julie, Pre-PA

Thank you so much for your assistance with perfecting my personal statement. This service is truly helpful. They were able to easily edit and help to convey exactly what was in my heart onto paper. I was accepted to my first choice PA program this week!!

Vincent, PA-S

My editor was quick and responsive with her emails. Her explanations on how to improve my personal statement were detailed and organized. I’m very glad I chose The PA Life to help me with my personal statement and point me in the right direction. Thank you very much!

Phillip, Pre-PA

I can not speak highly enough of Sarah. She was extremely helpful and easy to work with. I think she did an especially admirable job packaging the message I was trying to get across in my essay in a concise format that flows smoothly. Thank you again!

Ian, Pre-PA

I rarely give all “Excellent” ratings, but this was exceptional work. Beth was quick, personable, and transformed my essay beyond expectations. I banged my head against a wall for months and was still unhappy with the final product, but reading her edit, I felt like PA school was within reach. I’d absolutely recommend this service to anyone who wants a glow-up for their personal statement.

Adam Johnson, Pre-PA

Very detail-oriented and took the time to explain the process, so our expectations were on the same page. Excellent editing and feedback on the content. Helpful comments on how I could maximize limited character count to make the most impact on the reader. I very much would recommend this service!

Esmeralda, Pre-PA

Your service was able to help me figure out exactly what I needed to include, what did not belong and helped me display my experiences the best way possible to form a great essay. Carly was able to help me create my best essay by just editing the order and grammar without changing much of any of my written work. I am very happy with how my essay turned out. Definitely worth the money, thank you for all your help!

Nicolas, Pre-PA

Deanna was so amazing! She was really thorough and strengthened my essay in one edit! I feel so confident submitting my essay and I have high hopes for interviews! Thank you for providing these services to those of us with stories that need help being told. I would definitely recommend this service to everyone who wants to apply to PA school!

Valeria, Pre-PA

Mr. Pasquini was very patient, accommodating and direct in his editing/advice. He was honest, in a way that I needed due to the importance of the letter. I even picked up a few tips to enhance my writing from our meetings. Great experience and will definitely recommend him to others!

Alana P. Pre-PA

I was very pleased working with Duke on my personal statement. I’m currently in the middle of applying to PA school, so I haven’t heard back from the programs. I’m looking forward to the experience though.

John R. Pre-PA

Sue was a huge help with my essay. Her edits made my essay sound much better grammatically and she pointed out some content problems I completely missed. She prompted me to write a few more paragraphs before her edit and added the information into my essay. That made a big difference. She was very knowledgable about what PA programs were looking for. I am really happy with your service. Worth every penny, THANKS!

Megan Stephenson, Pre-PA

I had such a great time working with Carly. She is very prompt, understanding, and reliable. She made my personal statement very easy to read and helped me convey my words the way I intended it. I’m couldn’t be happier with my final essay and I really appreciated Carly’s effort to edit and re-edit until we were pleased with the result. I’m so glad that I worked with Carly and I thank her for what she did with my PS!!!

Zulhumar, Pre-PA

Sue did a wonderful job. I know this is an extremely busy time of year as CASPA is accepting applications and Sue was great about responding to my initial submission and getting back to me. She provided thoughtful feedback and quality editing. Fingers crossed for an acceptance to PA school!

Jo Lynn, Pre-PA

I finally have amazing news. So first of all, in total, I was offered 13 interviews. I was just offered a seat at Nova Orlando! I am finally going to be a PA and a big part of that was from all of your help with my personal statement. So thank you very much for helping me succeed during this round.

Jennifer, PA-S

Oh my gosh thank you SOO much!!! I have been so busy with school so I haven’t been able to edit my personal statement, but I want to thank you soo much for making my statement look a heck of a lot better!!! I will be editing it over my spring break since that is the only free time I have, and I most likely will do a re-edit if I can (its $35 ish right?). Anyways thank you so much again!! Sorry for the late reply but I will get back to you again during my spring break if I need a second edit, thank you so much again for all your help!! I can already see how much of a difference you’ve made! Totally worth my money!

Melat Ashagre, Pre-PA

My editor knew exactly what kind of edits I was looking for and addressed all of my questions/concerns I had about my essay. I will definitely be recommending this service to my club members and friends.

Stephanie, Pre-PA

The suggestions are great! My essay sounds better already and I’ve just started editing it. The edits are nicely explained and make sense, and I like that there are also comments about what sounds particularly good in my original draft, too. I like that, although you said I already had a very good start, there were still significant changes you suggested that, as I’ve heard others who used this service say, “elevated my work to a whole other level.”

Phong, Pre-PA

I loved this service! Not only did my editor transform my essay, she helped me feel more confident in my application moving forward. She was extremely personable and efficient. I love my essay and now I’m even more excited about applying for school because of the help I received from The PA Life! Highly recommend!!

Aubrey, Pre-PA

Having my essay edited proved extremely helpful. I was having trouble connecting my thoughts, and the edit helped so much. I haven’t found out about acceptance yet. I’m just now about to submit my application!

Amber, Pre-PA

Deanna was very opening to helping me with my essay. Although I had the material, the way she edited gave it a very nice and easy flow for the reader. She gave me her critical suggestions and comments that I would have otherwise missed. I am so glad I chose The PA Life revision services for my personal statement for PA school.

Yana, Pre-PA

Thank you so much for your help with my personal statement. The process was everything I could have wanted and more. You were wonderful to work with and I appreciate very much how you were able to connect to my personal experiences and combine that with the traits that you know make a statement successful. I have applied to my first two PA schools and I owe a big part of that to you! Once again, Thank you very much!

Louis T. Pre-PA

Sarah was amazing from beginning to end. Her listening skills are just superb. She edits in a manner that captures your story in a raw format and complete format. I loved my experience.

Vivian, Pre-PA

Thank you so much for making the personal statement process less stressful! Although I had been planning and brainstorming for months, the process of writing my journey in 5,000 characters was just daunting and overwhelming. Thank you so much for your kindness, flexibility, and your patience that helped me through this process. I appreciate how you listened and incorporated my feedback to make my personal statement a work of art that is truly representative of ME! I would highly recommend your services to any aspiring PA students who feel lost or overwhelmed by the process. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Cintia, Pre-PA

Really great service, definitely worth the money! I am very pleased with the amount of work that went into editing my paper and giving reasons as to why sentences or paragraphs were changed around. Carly did an amazing job!

Christina, Pre-PA

My editor with The PA Life was amazing! I am so thankful for her attention to detail and wonderful editing skills. I am thrilled with how my personal statement turned out and can’t thank you enough for all of your help.

Olivia, Pre-PA

This was an AMAZING edit and I am highly satisfied with the level of service. 100% made it a worthwhile investment. I also used myPAresource and, although they were helpful, I found the PA Life to be a much higher quality evaluation of my personal statement. I will highly recommend it to my peers!

Jeremy, Pre-PA

Thank you so much for editing my essay and for your kind words. Your edits have definitely made it a stronger PS and I am proud to have it as a part of my application. Thank you for alleviating my stress on arguably the most nerve-wracking part of the CASPA app. You are incredibly talented and well-spoken, and any person that has you edit their essays is incredibly lucky! I will let you know if I have any questions, but I think each one of your edits are meaningful and super clear. I appreciate you shortening it and making it flow better. Thank you again!!!

Karina Kapani, Pre-PA

Awesome editing service! Everything was detailed, and I could tell that my editor really cared about helping me produce a great personal statement.

Ashanna, Pre-PA

I wanted to let you know I got accepted into the PA program at Mercy College and have another interview at Pace University PA program next week. Thank you so much for guiding me through this process. I just want you to know I really appreciate the time you put into working with me.

Alex (Future PA)

I used the personal statement editing service with Deanna Matzen (April/May 2021) and the mock interview service with Mary Jones (June 2021). Both were exceptional to work with and helped me to achieve my goal. I applied to three schools and received interview invites from all three (I’m a first-time applicant). I was waitlisted at one in June and later accepted in November, received early acceptance to my top choice in November (UTSW), and I chose to decline my third interview scheduled in December. Thank you for your services!

Rachelle, Pre-PA

I worked closely with Duke and Sue for the revisions on my personal statement. They must have edited my original version half a dozen times before they felt it was good enough to send off and never made it seem like an inconvenience. They always responded to my e-mails within a 24-hour time frame but usually got back to me within a few hours. I am very pleased with how my personal statement turned out thanks to all of their time, ideas and direction. The service the PA Life provides is well worth the money spent!

Personal Statement Collaborative

Michelle Murphy, Pre-PA

Sarah Morris Schultz was my PA statement editor and she was absolutely fabulous! She helped to shave my original 4-page long, winding PA statement down to a 2 page impactful, poignant, moving statement that lead me to get accepted to a Doctor of Medical Science program in Physician Assistant Studies. She has such a gift for writing and knowing how to say things in just the right way and use the right words! One of the DMS PA program committee members started off my video conference online interview by stating that my PA statement was the best he ever read, not “one of the best” but THE BEST statement. My heart leapt. My PA statement years ago had caused me NOT to get accepted to the school that I had hoped. I did get accepted to a good PA school, got my degree, and started practicing in this field that I love. However, this time I decided to humble myself and get help writing a good statement. Praise God, it paid off. I am so grateful for the PA Life service and fee for the one-on-one service is worth every penny! I recommend everyone get Sarah Morris Schultz. She’s the bomb.com! I love you, Sarah 🙂

Sonja D. PA-S

Susan did a fantastic job editing my essay! She guided me and gave me suggestions for strengthening certain sections and equally took out weak parts. After I followed her recommendations, I really felt like I had an essay where every sentence mattered and reflected who I was. Thank you so much Susan for your help. I feel that I have a stronger essay because of your honest feedback and your help!

Amanda Pre-PA

This was an extremely helpful process! I still have work to do on my essay but Sue was very helpful by giving me criticism I needed to hear from an unbiased source as well as being very fast responding! I think this will help me moving forward and having a strong application!

Morgan Rial, Pre-PA

I am extremely pleased with this service. It is exactly the kind of constructive criticism I was hoping to receive. I had my essay reviewed by “myparesources” and was not very satisfied with their general comments. Sue put a lot of time and effort and gave me concrete examples of how to change my essay for the better. I WILL recommend this service over all others. Thank you so much!

Joe, Pre-PA

I wanted you to know about my acceptance into Elizabethtown College’s PA program. I am incredibly excited – I loved the school, the program and thought the staff was incredible, especially the director. I know my personal statement was a key component of getting an interview with them, and I am so thankful for your help in getting my statement polished!

Steve, PA-S

I want to let you know that I got accepted into Misericordia University PA program starting the Summer of 2021. So far, I have had two interviews, one rejection and one acceptance. I have two more interviews coming up, and other schools are still reviewing applications. You have been a huge part of my application process, and I just want to appreciate your time and efforts you put in during my application. Thank you, and God bless

Jani, PA-S

I received an acceptance call from USC! I’m going to be a PA! 👩🏽‍⚕️ I’m so overfilled with joy and gratitude!! All of my experiences led to this, and I can’t help but feel immense gratitude for every single person that was part of this journey. You were a huge component of this journey, and I am so appreciative of all of your help. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Cintia Chávez, PA-S

Deanna was an amazing editor and provided wonderful feedback to my personal statement. I was very hesitant and nervous prior to approaching an editing service, but I do not have any regrets. Deanna not only critiqued my personal statement, but also gave guidance and reasoning behind her critiques. I now feel confident and excited to fully present my self on paper to admissions. I highly recommend her and the services provided for any future applicant. I hope to receive an interview and acceptance this year for next fall. Thank you!

Alexis, Pre-PA

This review is long overdue, but my gratitude for how much The PA Life has helped me will never fade. Ms. Schultz went above and beyond to help me tailor my personal statement to my unique stories and qualities. She was open to my suggestions and often thought from my perspective instead of imposing her thoughts on my essay. I appreciate the time she took to help me create a personal statement that expressed my thoughts clearly and concisely. I am happy to report that I have been invited to interviews, and I’m on the waitlist for one of my top schools. If I don’t get in this cycle, I will be using the editing services again. Big shout out to Ms. Schultz!! Thank you for all your encouragement, patience, and support! I am honored to have the chance to work with you. 🙂

Amy, Pre-PA

I was at a point where I kept reading my essay over and over again and not knowing what to change. After Sue looked over and thoroughly edited the essay, I had a completely new focus! I knew exactly what to tweak and her service really cleared up any uncertainty I had with my essay. I’m now much more confident as I finish up my CASPA applications!

Julia Spalding, Pre-PA

I really needed help with my personal statement. I wrote many copies and finally sent my favorite to the PA life to get some assistance editing. I thought I would have a hard time with the constructive criticism because I spent so much time already on my writing, but the editors were great in suggesting edits and why as well as complimenting appropriately. I’m very proud of my end product and am excited to send it to PA schools. I haven’t finalized my application yet but will definitely let the PA life know if and when I get an interview (or hopefully 2)! 🙂

Bailey B. Pre-PA

Your services have eased the stress and anxiety that results from guessing whether or not your essay contains the content that many PA programs are looking for. Your services were prompt and genuine. It is clear that you have the applicant’s success at heart. Thank you!

Madison Pre-PA

The feedback that I received through The PA Life editing service was more detailed than I expected! It gave me a clear idea of what direction I need to take in regard to my personal statement. I absolutely loved the edits!

Crystal, Pre-PA

Carly was so helpful and encouraging! I truly felt like I was in good hands, and I know my personal statement is much stronger now because of her!

Chloe, Pre-PA

I just wanted to give you an update! So far I have had two interviews and been accepted to both! I have three more interviews scheduled as of right now, and still waiting to hear from a handful of schools. Thank you so much for all of your help with my essay!

Jennifer Bidwell, PA-S

Sue Edmondson was VERY thorough in her editing of my essay, as well as the promptness of her responses to me. She not only took the time to edit the grammar of my essay but helped me remove a large portion of it to focus on the important aspects of it and draw in more details. Overall, a fantastic service!

Megan Hunstad, Pre-PA

Sue Edmondson was instrumental to my understanding of the entrance essay I was trying to write as well as very honest and positive. I loved her writing technique and her instructive points were very easy to understand. Most definitely will recommend as well as keep her in my contacts for possible future essay revision/help. Thank you.

Vladimira, Pre-PA

Sarah was absolutely wonderful. She not only helped take my personal statement to the best level, but she also made it easy to understand why certain changes were better. In the end, she went through and used a highlighting method to show how we connected things to PA and skills that were good. This made it easier to visualize everything. I’d recommend Sarah to anyone applying to PA school that needs that extra push on their personal statements.

Taylor, Pre-PA

Susan did a fantastic job of editing my essay! She guided me and gave me suggestions for strengthening certain sections and equally took out weak parts. After I followed her recommendations, I really felt like I had an essay where every sentence mattered and reflected who I was. Thank you so much Susan for your help. I feel that I have a stronger essay because of your honest feedback and your help!

Patrick, Pre-PA

I used your service for my personal statement and my top school secondary. I feel this is an amazing service and have recommended it to many of my friends who are currently applying to PA school.

Jeff, Pre-PA

My editor was Beth, and she blew my expectations out of the water. She got back to me within 24 hours of submitting my request for edits and helped me so much with the edits she made. If I receive an interview, I am excited to use PA Life to help me with mock interviews.

Haley, Pre-PA

Hope everything is going well! I just wanted to let you know I’m 2/2 so far with receiving interviews. I know your help with my essays has played a huge part. I just wanted to update you and tell you how grateful I am for all of your help!

John, Pre-PA

During our first one-on-one session, my editor Sarah had the chance to understand who I am as a person before even editing. This was remarkably helpful in terms of making my voice stand out in my personal statement. I especially appreciated how thorough her comments were regarding the aspects of my essay that needed fine-tuning.

Austin, Pre-PA

Very prompt response and turnaround time. While I did not speak with Duke over the phone, his team’s edits were thorough, clear and very helpful. Highly recommended.

Dave H. Pre-PA

I just want to thank you again so much for being so awesome and helping me perfect my statement. I promised you that I would let you know if I got into any programs, and I was offered interviews at all the five universities I applied to. And I got offered positions at my top two school choices shortly after I interviewed. I am so ecstatic to say that I will be going to my number one school choice. I know multiple factors contributed to this opportunity being offered to me and the personal statement was surely a big one. Thank you so much for all that you do. It was really a great investment to have you edit my paper. I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day!

Elisa, PA-S

Duke helped me write a great personal statement. I won’t know if I’ve been accepted to the program until Christmas/New Year’s, but I feel that it was worth every penny!

Alicia C. Pre-PA

Sue was amazing! She was very quick at replying to my emails and looking over my paper and application. She was so helpful and has a way with words. I know I will continue to use her services throughout my application process!

Miranda, Pre-PA

Carly did a great job helping my personal statement flow from paragraph to paragraph. She truly helped me show throughout the essay why I wanted to become a PA. What I really appreciated was she explained why each change was made; comments and reasons which not only helped with this one time essay but for all my future essays as well. Definitely was worth it!

Kathleen, Pre-PA

My editor thoroughly went through my essay and provided exactly what I was looking for to bring my essay to the next level.

Matthew, Pre-PA

I must say, I originally thought I had a fairly strong statement. But after reading Sue’s comments/revision. The quality, structure, and overall flow of my statement was in fact leaps and bounds better than my original.

George, Pre-PA

Working with Sarah felt like working with an old friend. Her thoughtful insight made the revision process easy. She had great advice for improvements to make while remaining within that difficult 5,000 character limit. Thanks, Sarah, you helped a ton!

Ryan, Pre-PA

It was wonderful to work with The PA Life once again. I appreciated all of my editors’ feedback and creative writing style which was needed to keep the essay within the allowable character limit. I also appreciated how my editor, Sarah, took the time to discover more about me and worked to show those parts which I was unable to reflect myself. With Sarah’s help, the essay really came to life and was a true reflection of my work, personality, and aspiring goals. I’m grateful for all the work she put into helping me with this project!

Jacob, Pre-PA

I’m so happy with the amount of time and attention that Duke and Sue put into helping perfect my essay. I’m extremely fortunate to have come across Stephen’s page and this opportunity- I would have sent in an essay that unknown to me at the time, had issues and needed many improvements. I’m almost to the point where I’m going to submit my application, and will definitely update the team on prospective interviews. I cannot thank you guys enough for having this essay review service available, you definitely make it worth every dollar and more.

Tiffany Ly, Pre-PA

I LOVED the suggestions Carly made for my essay. Not only was she thorough with her edits, but she also provided a lot of quality feedback that really made my essay shine. Carly took my unedited, messy essay and helped me better convey what I was trying to say. I have nothing but positive things to say about this experience and feel this service was worth every penny.

Rachel, Pre-PA

I just want to let you know I got into the pa program! I want to give you a huge thank you for helping me nail the interview and make a great essay. Thank you, x 100,000!

Rachel J, Pre-PA

I just wanted to update you that I got waitlisted for Drexel but accept to Dominican University of California. I still have other interviews coming up. Thank you for your help!

Karmen Wu, Pre-PA

Sarah Schultz is such a gifted and talented writer. She is super sweet and is a joy to work with. I could not have asked for a better editor. She was able to articulate all of my ideas and thoughts seamlessly and effortlessly. Although challenging at times, her suggestions and edits were very insightful and necessary into creating a spectacular essay. I am extremely pleased with the outcome. It is now a true work of art. I am so grateful to Sarah for offering her time to helping individuals like myself to write the best possible personal statement. I would not have been able to write such a cohesive and smooth flowing essay without her help. Thank you so much!! I would unhesitatingly recommend The PA Life Essay Collaborative and Sarah Schultz.

Patrick, PRE-PA

Carly blew away all my expectations. She not only suggested edits to refine the content, but she also made grammatical and structural changes that fine-tuned my essay and allowed it to flow. I came into the editing process feeling hopeless about my personal statement, but with her edits, I feel confident that it will stand out. On top of all that, Carly was very timely in editing and returning my essay – I got it back within a few days! I’m very pleased with her service and recommend it to anyone out there who needs a fresh, professional set of eyes on their personal statement.

Stephanie, Pre-PA

Carly Hallman did an amazing job helping me with my personal statement! I was feeling conflicted and uncertain about my own personal statement, but she helped set my mind at ease! I now have peace of mind regarding my personal statement. She was so helpful in correcting any grammar errors and also informed me of what I could add to my essay. I knew I was missing something in my essay, but could not quite put my finger on it. Carly identified what was missing so I could make those changes to my essay. I’m so thankful for her help because I do not think I could have figured out that “missing piece” had it not been for her. I now feel confident about my essay and I am extremely happy with it! 🙂 Thank you so much!!!

Ramsha, Pre-PA

This was just what my essay needed. I am confident that I have answered all the questions without sounding too “braggy”.

Kelsey, Pre-PA

Sarah was a pleasure to work with the entire time. I felt very overwhelmed when I was working on my personal statement on my own, but once I started working with Sarah, she made me feel at ease while getting my personal statement to look its best. Sarah is very knowledgeable, understanding, and professional. One of the things I loved the most about working with her is that no matter the time of the day she was always available and got back to you in a timely manner. The whole time we worked on my personal statement she made sure I felt comfortable with changes that had to be made and I appreciated this as well. Sarah is excellent at what she does and I would recommend her and this one on one service to anyone that needs it.

Odilia, Pre-PA

Carly was incredible! Her prompt edits were extremely helpful, and I will definitely provide updates on the status of my application later down the line!

Audrey, PRE-PA

Working with Sarah was a wonderful experience. She was prompt, attentive, and incredibly supportive throughout the process. Sarah never deviated from the authenticity of my essay. Even after she made vast changes, the essay still felt true to what I wanted to express. Thank you, Sarah! I would recommend this service to anyone applying to PA school.

Ashley, Pre-PA

My editor did an excellent job with my essays. I struggle with writing emotionally and she took my material and really personalized it. I feel very confident sending in my essays after having her look at them. She promptly returned my essays and did a stellar job. Thank you!

Danielle, Pre-PA

Sarah was beyond excellent. Her timelines and efficiency provided me with enough time to revise and meet with her again before our final draft. Her comments and edits were extremely effective. I hope to be receiving an interview and will be using this service (requesting Sarah) for a mock interview if that happens!

Kaitlyn, Pre-PA

About a year ago you helped edit my personal statement to get into PA school! I just wanted to let you know that I got interviews and was accepted to all the schools I applied to! I have decided to attend UAB in the fall! Thank you again for all your help!

Lauren Smith, PA-S

I am writing this because I wanted to share with you that I have been accepted to the University of Iowa PA program.  I would like to once again thank you for your insight and guidance while writing my personal statement, it came at just the right time.

Eugene V.PA-S

Sarah was amazing to work with. I love that she is able to take what I am trying to say and form concise sentences that flow together so effortlessly. Every time I read a paragraph that she ‘cleans’ up for me, my immediate response is “WOAH!”. Simply put, she was a pleasure to work with and I would recommend The PA Life personal statement editing service with her to anyone!

Jamee, Pre-PA

Carly was helpful and gave insightful comments while helping me to create more impact within my sentences. I feel confident and at ease knowing that my supplemental application has been reviewed in a thorough manner. Thank you for all your help!

Mina, Pre-PA

Sarah was fantastic to work with. She is excellent at her crafted skill and can help any thought or sentence come to life, fast!

Jessica D. PRE-PA

This is Tyler. I hope you remember helping me with my essay back in May. As promised, I wanted to update you with news of my PA school journey and I am excited to tell you that I was accepted to Stony Brook’s PA program!! THANK YOU VERY MUCH for helping me write an essay that was truly reflective of who I am as a candidate and as a person! It played a pivotal role in this whole nerve-racking process and has helped me achieve a major life goal. You are a godsend to Pre-PA students.

Tyler, PA-S

Testimonials

Thank you so much for making the personal statement process less stressful! Although I had been planning and brainstorming for months, the process of writing my journey in 5,000 characters was just daunting and overwhelming. Thank you so much for your kindness, flexibility, and your patience that helped me through this process. I appreciate how you listened and incorporated my feedback to make my personal statement a work of art that is truly representative of ME! I would highly recommend your services to any aspiring PA students who feel lost or overwhelmed by the process. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Cintia, Pre-PA
I really felt the person who edited my essay, Sue Edmondson, took the time to get to know me as a person because she wanted my essay to reflect exactly who I am. I couldn’t have been more impressed with the edits and revisions she has given me along with the reasoning behind each revision.
Nicala, Pre-PA
Just wanted to drop you a quick line to let you know that I got accepted to UC Davis, and have accepted their offer. I can’t thank you enough for your help through this process. I owe much credit to you and your amazing editing skills in helping me get in. With endless appreciation!
Jolene Duthie
I just wanted to reach out an let you that I actually got into PA school this year! Out of the 10 programs I applied to, 4 offered me interviews. The first interview wound up being my top choice and they offered me a spot. I accept and declined all my other interviews. So I am absolutely overjoyed!! I wanted to let you know though. Your editing and help, no doubt, helped me get through the initial phase. Thank you so much! I am truly grateful.
Deanna, Pre-PA
Thank you again for your help, support, and positive energies! Whenever I feel down, I  just read some of your past emails and my personal statement, and I re-center my thoughts.
Lina Sims, Pre-PA
I wanted to let you know I got accepted into the PA program at Mercy College and have another interview at Pace University PA program next week. Thank you so much for guiding me through this process. I just want you to know I really appreciate the time you put into working with me.
Alex (Future PA)
Carly was helpful and gave insightful comments while helping me to create more impact within my sentences. I feel confident and at ease knowing that my supplemental application has been reviewed in a thorough manner. Thank you for all your help!
Mina, Pre-PA
This service was very helpful. My essay was edited and returned to me within a few days of me submitting it. The feedback was thorough and detailed. I am already planning on sending my essay for a second edit!
Sabrina, Pre-PA
I just want to thank you again so much for being so awesome and helping me perfect my statement. I promised you that I would let you know if I got into any programs, and I was offered interviews at all the five universities I applied to. And I got offered positions at my top two school choices shortly after I interviewed. I am so ecstatic to say that I will be going to my number one school choice. I know multiple factors contributed to this opportunity being offered to me and the personal statement was surely a big one. Thank you so much for all that you do. It was really a great investment to have you edit my paper. I hope you have a fantastic rest of your day!
Elisa, PA-S
Sarah helped to condense my detailed thoughts into a powerful essay. Over the phone, she was careful to collaborate with me before making any changes so that the piece remained under my control and in my voice. She served as a guide and insured the essay brought out my strengths and reasons for pursuing the PA profession. Overall, I’m incredibly happy with the service!
Julie, Pre-PA

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101 PA School Admission Essays

Admissions Directors Know What They Want. Shouldn't You? 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…

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