Choosing a PA School

Applying to PA school is already a nerve-wrecking process. But how do you decide which schools to apply to? If you don't have enough money to apply to an infinite amount of schools, (because who does?) you have to be smart and strategic about choosing the PA school that is best for you.

Meet Majerry, PA-S

Meet Majerry! She was born and raised in the small Haitian town Petit-Goâve.

Meet Tamara, PA-C

Meet Tamara! A 2008 graduate from Barry University (Miami Shores) PA Program. She has worked in Women's Health since graduation. 

Didactic Year: Semester Three

Whew! It's been a while and this marks the completion of DIEdactic year! After a year of nearly 200 exams and 20 check offs, it's finally over. Well not really, we will still have exams during the clinical year, but not nearly as many.

Meet Malaka, PA-S

Meet Malaka! 24-year-old Palestinian-American-Muslim currently living in Knoxville, TN. She was raised in Dalton, GA, with 4 older brothers and 1 younger sister.  

White Coat Dreams

On November 11th, I received my first white coat! Unlike most schools, we don't receive our white coats until we have successfully completed the didactic year. This embarks a new chapter as we prepare to start clinical rotations. In just a few more weeks didactic year will be complete and I'll begin a new journey as I begin seeing patients :)

Meet Nicole B, PA-S

Meet Nicole B. 27 year old PA student at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, NY. First generation Haitian and Guyanese and first generation college graduate. She completed her undergraduate in 2012 at Binghamton University and worked as a phlebotomist and clinical research study assistant in Gynecologic Medical Oncology prior to PA school.

Meet Diandra, PA-S

Meet Diandra! A third year PA student from San Antonio, TX. She's a former real estate broker and D1 athlete.

Meet Ngan, PA-S

Meet Ngan (NON). She's a first-generation Vietnamese-American and the first college graduate in her family. She is part of the inaugural Florida International University PA Class of 2017 located in Miami, FL.

Meet Carl A. Frizell, PA-C

Meet Carl A. Frizell, PA-C, Medical Oncology Physician Assistant (PA). Originally from Holmes County, Mississippi, but currently residing in Georgia.

Meet Taneisha Graves, PA-S

Meet Taneisha Graves. She's a second year PA student and creator of Practice By The Book blog where she shares about her journey through medicine, faith, and healthy living.

Didactic Year: Semester Two

Second semester is over! Yay! Now I can relax a little for the next couple of days.

Meet Onyi, PA-C

Physician Assistant. Millennial Mommy. Long Distance Wife. 1st gen Nigerian-American. Blogger.

How to Keep Your Sanity

Photo courtesy of: http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/work-stress.aspx

Being in PA school can be stressful. Especially when you're trying to manage your classes and your personal life. Sometimes it will feel like things will never let up, especially with all the tests, presentations, and assignments thrown your way.

Preparing for Interviews

Photo courtesy of: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140918214638-148584265-acing-the-interview-as-an-internal-candidate

Interviews are underway and can be a very exciting and nervous time. Make sure you plan ahead and save money for travel expenses. You won't always get a lot of notice and may have to book a last minute flight. Here are some things I think are important and tips for the interview process.

City Girl | Rural Town

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I'm from a big city. I love that there's always something going on and fun things to do. Whether I'm out having brunch (with bottomless mimosas of course!) or walking the beltline to Piedmont Park. I attended Georgia State University for undergrad, so I'm very familiar with the city. When looking for PA programs, I initially wanted to stay somewhere in Georgia. Like usual, things don't always work out as planned. To increase my chances of getting into a school during the cycle, I needed to look into other schools. However, my search did not leave the southeast region because I was also thinking about the traveling I'd have to do if I was granted an interview.

Didactic Year: Semester One

At my school we are on a semester schedule. The first semester was from January-April. They started us off with 11 classes/29 credit hours. Crazy right?!

So You Want to Be a PA

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I’ll be honest, becoming a Physician Assistant was not my first choice. Initially, I thought I wanted to go to medical school and become a doctor. In undergrad, I majored in biology with a chemistry minor and was focused on meeting the prerequisites for medical school. My grades were decent. I say decent because I did not have a 4.0 and I did not always do well in my classes (I’m just not a fan of physics or organic chemistry). After graduation, I immediately took the MCAT without real preparation, four months later I attempted to the test again. Needless to say, it did not go so well. However, I didn’t give up. I enrolled in MCAT prep classes and spent a lot of money on study material. Two years go by and I still haven’t made any real moves towards “my dream”. I didn’t feel defeated, but something just didn’t feel right about what I was trying to pursue. It took a minute but I realized I wasn’t putting in the necessary work to get into medical school. Not because I’m lazy, but I just did not want to. I was putting all of this unnecessary stress on my life to pursue something that I was no longer sure I wanted.