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 […]
Physician Assistant School
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 […]
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 […]
80 PA Schools That Don’t Require the GRE
Are you like me and looking to dodge the GRE? Does the thought of studying for the GRE exam make your palms sweat and your heart flutter? Wouldn’t it be great if you could find PA schools that don’t require the GRE and simply avoid the GRE exam altogether? Well, you are in luck! Out of 260 […]
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 […]
What are the Best PA Schools in 2024? Physician Assistant School Rankings
Does the PA school you attend really make a difference? When it comes to finding a job, not so much, but when it comes to obtaining superb clinical experience along with solid faculty, excellent academics, and a top-rate student body – then yes, the PA school you attend does matter. Below is a list of […]
Direct Entry and Dual Degree BS/MS Pre-Physician Assistant/Associate Programs
Direct Entry PA Programs There are 44 direct-entry, dual-degree BS/MS Physician Assistant/Associate (PA) programs in the United States. These programs offer early provisional acceptance to exceptional high school students who wish to accelerate their academic and career paths to becoming physician assistants. Application for the program is usually made during the senior year of high […]
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 […]
My First Day as a Physician Assistant: Faking it Till You’re Making it
My first day as a real PA I remember my first day on the job as if it were yesterday. I was petrified . . . To put it mildly. When I ask other PAs about their first day they often proclaim having had a certain sense of calm. For me, it was pure fear. […]
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 […]
Scholarships, Grants, and Loan Repayment Programs for Physician Assistants (2026 Update)
PA School Is Expensive — But So Is Not Going It goes without saying that PA school is expensive. It is also demanding, which means you will have limited (if any) time to work while attending. With the average undergraduate education debt prior to PA school hovering around $36,300 and the average PA school debt […]
Healthcare Experience Required for PA School: The Ultimate Guide
Patient Care and Healthcare Experience for PA School Today we are going to tackle step 2 of my 5 steps to PA school series by taking a very detailed look at healthcare experience requirements for PA school. Included, in this discussion is a side-by-side comparison of healthcare experience requirements of all PA programs in the United States. PA is different from […]
Who is the Ideal PA School Candidate? Surprising Lessons From Olympic Ice Skating
I love Olympic figure skating. It is the ultimate test of human grit. Here are people who have spent four years and countless hours practicing for what comes down to a life-changing two-minute event. This is a lesson on life, it is a lot like preparing for your PA school interview, finally pressing submit and […]
PA School Finder – The Ultimate Physician Assistant School and Program Directory
Watch this introductory video to see the website in action 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 […]
How to Find The Direct Patient Care Experience You Need to Become a Physician Assistant
Read on: But you may also be interested in my newest post Healthcare Experience Required for PA School: The Ultimate Guide I could probably summarize this entire blog post with the following sentence: “THE MORE HANDS-ON PATIENT CARE EXPERIENCE YOU HAVE, THE STRONGER YOU WILL BE AS A PA SCHOOL CANDIDATE.” How many healthcare experience hours […]
The Physician Assistant Job or PA School Interview – Email Etiquette
mail is unequivocally the number one technology you must be brilliant at if you are to succeed throughout the PA school interview or job application process. For that reason, you need to be VERY careful when you use email as part of a job search effort or part of your PA school application process. It […]
The Physician Assistant Applicant Attack Plan: Personalized Goal Sheet
Do you remember your New Year’s resolutions from January 1st? It probably went something like this: After waking up slightly (or seriously) hungover, you said to yourself, “this is the year I’m going to get into PA school!” or “this is the year I’m going to finish all my PA school prerequisites.” Maybe it was “I’m […]
The Top 46 Physician Assistant Applicant Interview Questions
Physician Assistant school interviews are extremely challenging. Here is a comprehensive list of forty-six high-frequency pa school interview questions you will likely encounter. This list of the “Top 46 Physician Assistant Applicant Interview Questions” is adapted from Andrew Rodican’s excellent book “The Ultimate Guide to Getting Into Physician Assistant School,” Christina’s helpful video post from […]
Overcoming Obstacles on Your Path to Becoming a Physician Assistant
Life is full of obstacles. They can be as simple as getting out of bed in the morning or as arduous as writing the perfect PA school application essay. Most of the time, the biggest obstacle is ourselves (affiliate link). The excuses that we create to avoid doing the things that matter most. This is […]
Physician Assistant Application Letter of Recommendation Samples: Applying to PA School
PA School Letters of Reference Here are two letters of recommendation I received when applying to PA school. I am not posting them here to fluff my feathers but merely to serve as an example of what I included as part of my actual PA school application. A great letter of recommendation weighs heavily in your favor. […]
How to Write the Perfect Physician Assistant School Application Essay
Want to write a PA school essay that gets you an interview? Learn from my mistakes and avoid the common pitfalls that many applicants make. Read my real essays (the one that got me accepted and the one that didn’t) and discover how to create your perfect PA school personal statement.
How to Go to PA School for Free: The NHSC and Me
I am a National Health Service Corps Scholar and a Physician Assistant (PA) There are two types of us: I was one of the lucky ones who had the privilege of being part of the scholarship program. I received a monthly stipend while in PA school to help pay for books, medical supplies, housing, food, […]
Physician Assistant Resume – Curriculum Vitae and Cover Letter Downloads
These are fully customizable Microsoft Office and Word templates. No formatting is required! *Need help crafting your physician assistant resume, CV, or cover letter? Resume Editing Cover Letter editing New Graduate Physician Assistant Resume Template This is a resume geared specifically for new graduate Physician Assistants. It has a clean, professional, and simple design (it also […]
The Future of Physician Assistant Education: Stop Stealing Dreams
Have you heard of Seth Godin’s free education manifesto Stop Stealing Dreams? In this manifesto, he discusses the history of education in America. How it was tailored to create “cogs in an industrial machine” rather than the much-needed linchpin’s necessary to drive future innovations. “School has become an industrialized system, working on a huge scale, […]
My PA School Interview: The Journey of a Lifetime
It seems like just yesterday. Like Gene Kelly in the 1952 classic “Singing in the Rain,” there I stood, rain-drenched, under an iconic cast-iron streetlight, holding a soggy white letter in my hand. The letter that said: “You have been accepted for a PA School Interview.” I was living in Seattle at the time, two […]
How to (Really) Get Into the PA School of Your Choice!
verybody’s journey to becoming a PA is a bit different. We all have different lives, different upbringings, different barriers to overcome to reach our goals. We have different paths that have led us to want to become a physician assistant. No single formula will assure you a golden ticket to PA school (I am sorry to […]
