Dr. Valerie Wherley, Accepted consultant and past Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Career Development at William Beaumont School of Medicine, and former Director of Pre-Health Advisement and Director of the Pre-Health Postbac Certificate Program at Sacred Heart University, speaks in depth about the path to becoming a physician assistant. [Show Summary] Healthcare is a…
Writing Your PA School Personal Statement with Impact [Including a Bonus PA Personal Statement Example]
Becoming a physician assistant (PA) has become a hot career goal, and it’s getting hotter all the time. Over the past several years, applications have more than tripled at some of the most competitive programs, and acceptance rates have dipped to as low as about 30% – lower than the acceptance rate at many medical…
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…
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…
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…
What Do You Need to Know to Get Accepted to a Physician Assistant (PA) Program?
Your goal is to complete a top physician assistant program and move into a dynamic and exciting professional role as a PA. What are the steps you need to take to achieve this goal? What can you do to sharpen your competitive edge and get noticed from the overflowing applicant pool? What can you do…