Inside Wake Forest’s PA Program: Inquiry-Based Learning, Service, and Leadership Training [Episode 627]
If you are applying to PA school, it is easy to compare programs by their length, location, prerequisites, and clinical rotation structure. Although those details matter, the deeper question is whether a program’s educational model, community, and mission match the kind of clinician you want to become.
In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Sobia Hussaini, MHA, assistant professor of PA studies and director of admissions and strategic recruitment for PA studies at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Their conversation offers an inside look at Wake Forest’s 24-month Master of Medical Science PA Program, including its two-campus structure, inquiry-based learning model, leadership training, service orientation, and admissions priorities.
Table of Contents
Wake Forest combines a larger cohort with a small-group learning environment.
Wake Forest enrolls 88 new PA students each year: 64 in Winston-Salem and 24 in Boone. Sobia explains that students apply to the PA program as a whole rather than to one campus because both campuses share the same curriculum, academic calendar, and access to faculty. Students begin together in Winston-Salem during the first unit, and then they continue their studies on their home campuses.
The locations offer different strengths. Winston-Salem places students in an urban medical education environment near Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, in the Innovation Quarter. Boone, developed in partnership with Appalachian State University, gives students a rural, medically underserved context and a close connection to the surrounding community.
Inquiry-based learning is central to how Wake Forest teaches future PAs.
Wake Forest’s curriculum is built around inquiry-based learning (IBL). Instead of spending most of the preclinical year in lecture, students work in small groups on patient cases with a faculty facilitator. Each week, they receive a hypothetical patient case, build a differential diagnosis, evaluate diagnostic data, identify what they still need to learn, and work toward treatment recommendations.
The focus is on learning how to think like a clinician. Sobia describes faculty facilitators as guides who keep students moving in the right direction by asking questions such as “why?” This model helps students develop clinical reasoning, critical thinking, collaboration, and the habits of lifelong learning.
Leadership and service are built into the program.
Wake Forest’s PA curriculum includes leadership development across the full 24 months, with sessions on communication styles, conflict resolution, feedback, advocacy, public health, and leading in changing environments. Sobia emphasizes that leadership is not limited to a title. In the PA profession, leadership often means advocating for patients, supporting communities, and working effectively within healthcare teams.
For students who want an additional leadership pathway, Wake Forest also offers Emerging Leaders Program options in business and law. Students in the Emerging Leaders Program complete a master’s program in management or legal studies before beginning the PA curriculum, adding business, legal, policy, and leadership training to their preparation as future PAs.
Service begins early in the PA curriculum as well. During orientation, Wake Forest PA students go into the community on day one to work with local organizations connected to social drivers of health, including housing, transportation, food security, education, and social support. The goal is to remind students that excellent clinical care requires understanding the context in which patients live.
Competitive Wake Forest PA applicants need more than strong grades.
Sobia is clear that academic preparation matters. PA school is intense, and Wake Forest wants students who can handle rigorous science coursework and a demanding 24-month curriculum. But the strongest applicants also bring meaningful hands-on patient care experience, teamwork, service, leadership, resilience, and communication skills.
Most importantly, they understand their answers to these questions: Why a PA? Why this role on the healthcare team? Why this profession rather than another healthcare path? Applicants who can answer those questions with clarity are better prepared to write compelling essays, interview well, and thrive once the program becomes challenging.
Related Resources:
- Wake Forest University School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program
- Wake Forest PA Program Emerging Leaders Programs
- Inside Wake PA, a digital publication
- The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Physician Assistant, an Accepted guide
- Accepted’s Physician Assistant Application Packages
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