After you have submitted your primary application, the real fun begins! Depending on how many schools you are applying to and the number of school systems, it can be challenging to keep track of all of your secondary applications and deadlines. To help you get organized, I’m sharing a spreadsheet I’ve created for you so…
How to Prepare for a PA School Interview
Physician Assistant program interviews are similar to medical school interviews. There are three possible interview formats: traditional, MMI (multiple mini interview) or a hybrid of these two. Traditional interviews involve any combination of students and interviewers, with up to 3 students being interviewed by up to 3 interviewers. If a school uses a traditional one-on-one…
Writing Your Physician Assistant (PA) Personal Statement [Plus Sample Essay]
While there are many different ways to approach writing a personal statement (PS) for your PA application, I am including a successful example here. The character limit for the CASPA application PS is 5,000 characters with spaces. In this essay, you are responding to the question, “Why PA?” To write a compelling essay, take some…
How Your Academic Statistics Influence Your Medical School Choices
The most reliable source of information about allopathic medical schools is provided on the Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR) website, offered by the AAMC. It is worth purchasing access to this database because the statistics it contains can be extremely valuable in helping you decide where to apply. Before you begin exploring the school data,…
Which One is Right for Me? PA vs. NP vs. Medical School
Why do you want to become a Physician Assistant (PA)? Why not a nurse practitioner or physician? To help you answer this question, what follows is a direct comparison of these three educational and professional options, focusing on three specific programs. Using information from the top ranked programs from U.S. News and World Report for…
Why Should You Consider Becoming a PA?
Most of the clients I work with are dead set on becoming doctors. I believe this mindset exists because doctors have such a visible role in patient care historically, and are represented in the media as being at the very top of the healthcare hierarchy. The physician assistant (PAs) profession is a relatively new member…
What to Look for When Selecting a Physician Assistant (PA) Program
One of the keys to choosing the right physician assistant (PA) program for you is program data, including information on the programs’ matriculants. Unfortunately that’s more difficult to come by for PA applicants since the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) does not provide data on applicants or matriculants for individual PA programs, but…
How to Write the Statement of Disadvantage
If you have experienced any form of social, economic or educational disadvantage—at any time in your life—you can apply to medical school as a disadvantaged applicant. To receive this designation means that you will need to complete an additional essay on the AMCAS application. The character limit for this short essay is 1,325. Examples of…
5 Qualities to Highlight in Your Physician Assistant Program Application
In addition to identifying students with academic promise, physician assistant programs are looking for students who have a wide range of specific personal characteristics. Based on the criteria for the most competitive PA programs, there are five general areas in which students are evaluated. What character traits make for a stand-out physician assistant applicant? Academic…
How to Get Accepted to Physician Assistant (PA) Programs
Physician assistants (PAs) are similar to doctors in many ways and serve as important members of any healthcare team: They improve the ease and speed with which patients are able to see a healthcare provider; they take on most of the same activities as doctors in patient care; they see patients to diagnose, treat, and…
The Best Medical School Letter of Recommendation Advice for 2020
The best letters of recommendation come from persons who have seen you perform in some capacity – student, student leader, employee, researcher, volunteer. The weakest letters are of the “character reference” variety (from the clergy member who knows you only as a person who attends weekly services, for example) or come from influential persons (your…
Tips for Getting Into Medical School When Your Parent is a Doctor
There has been an interesting shift in medical school admissions for applicants whose parents are doctors. In 1989, these applicants were 15% more likely to get into medical school. When I first became involved in admissions over ten years ago, students who had a physician for a parent were still more likely to get accepted…
How Can a Postbac Program Help You?
You know you want to become a doctor, but you also realize that you’re not quite ready for medical school. Whether it’s because your profile isn’t as competitive as it could be or if you simply just need more time to study the basics to determine if this is truly the right path for you,…
How to Write a Perfect Postbac Admissions Essay
One of the most important parts of the application to postbac programs is your personal statement. This piece of writing allows the admissions committee to get to know you – to hear your voice – and learn more about the obstacles you have overcome to pursue your educational goals. 3 attributes of a successful postbac…
How to Defer a Medical School Acceptance
There’s a lot of misinformation out there about deferrals, so let’s review the facts. How medical school deferment works After you have received an acceptance to medical school, you can request a deferral by submitting a letter or petition to the dean or committee on admissions. The process is different for each school. At most…
How to Decide if You Should Retake Courses in Preparation for Applying to Medical School
The American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) has applicants manually enter all coursework and grades into the AMCAS application. You may wonder why they have you complete this seemingly repetitive and arduous section, given that they collect official copies of all transcripts. It allows them to create a standardized GPA calculation from which to compare…
The Anatomy of a Post-Interview Thank You Email
After your medical school interview, it is appropriate to send thank you notes to all of the people who helped you throughout the day. These days it is rare to receive a thank you card. You can easily set yourself apart by sending out handwritten notes. If, like most people, you only have time to…
7 Steps to Acing Your Med School Interview
Congratulations! You have been identified as one of the most promising applicants for medical school during this application cycle. Follow these seven steps to ensure that you ace your interview and receive an acceptance: Step 1: Celebrate! While you may be nervous about embarking on the next step of your journey, don’t forget to celebrate…
Stanford University School of Medicine Secondary Application Essay Tips & Deadlines [2019 – 2020]
Ranked in the top three for research by U.S. News, Stanford University SOM provides a strong foundation in the basic sciences and the opportunity to select a scholarly concentration—to pursue topics of individual interest. Students are provided with a mentor, coursework and research opportunities in the topic of their choice. This medical school strongly prefers…
An Overview of Your Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) Day
Currently, at least 37 medical schools in the U.S. offer the MMI. A typical MMI day lasts about nine hours. Starting the multiple mini interview day If you have a morning interview, check-in can begin as early as 7:15am which may include eating breakfast with medical students. After breakfast, the dean or assistant dean will…
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