Admissions Straight Talk

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What does it look like to leave a successful career in book publishing and build a new path to medical school? In this episode of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk, Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Sarah Shirley, an osteopathic medical student at the Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, about her journey from English and comparative literary studies to book publishing, premed coursework, and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) school.

Sarah shares how hospital volunteering helped her test whether medicine was the right fit, why career changers need to take their doubts seriously without letting fear make the decision for them, and how she built a med school application around authentic experiences rather than a “checkbox” list. She also discusses letters of recommendation, the value of staying fully present while shadowing, and the journaling habit that helped her make stronger recommendation requests.

The conversation also explores osteopathic medicine, including what drew Sarah to the DO philosophy, how osteopathic manipulative medicine shaped her understanding of patient care, and why applicants should learn the tenets of osteopathy before writing their secondary essays. If you are a nontraditional applicant, a humanities major considering medicine, or a premed wondering whether your path is too different, this episode offers practical advice and honest encouragement.

00:00 Meet Sarah Shirley: From Humanities to DO School

03:21 Finding Medicine Through Hospital Volunteering

05:14 Deciding to Pursue the Premed Path

08:10 Self-Doubt, Failure, and Changing Careers

14:34 Building a Meaningful Med School Portfolio

22:29 Asking for Strong Letters of Recommendation

30:30 Why Osteopathic Medicine Was the Right Fit

Related Episodes

• From Med School Reapplicant to Current M1 [Episode 609]
• Inside COMP: What the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Looks for in Applicants [Episode 625]
• How to Get the Most Out of Your Premed Shadowing Experience [Episode 620]

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What makes the University of Iowa Physician Assistant (PA) Program one of the country’s top PA programs? In this episode of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk, host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Thomas O’Shea, PhD, MEd, director of administrative and student services for the University of Iowa’s PA Program, about the program’s structure, curriculum, clinical training, student support, and admissions priorities.

The University of Iowa PA Program admits a small cohort of 25 students each August and is housed in the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine. Dr. O’Shea explains how Iowa’s 28-month program combines close student support with the resources of a major academic medical center, including access to faculty across the Carver College of Medicine and clinical opportunities through the University of Iowa Health Care system, local partners, regional sites, national placements, and international experiences.

The conversation also explores Iowa’s distinctive integrated curriculum. During the didactic phase, PA students learn alongside MD and MD-PhD students, giving them shared preparation for the team-based clinical environments they will enter after graduation. Dr. O’Shea also describes the “triple helix” curriculum, the Medicine and Society strand of the curriculum, the student learning communities, alumni involvement, and the program’s long history dating back to 1972.

The episode closes with practical advice for applicants: know the minimum requirements, understand your academic and science GPA trends, build meaningful healthcare experience, reflect on what you have learned, and develop relationships with people who can speak clearly to your readiness for PA school.

0:00 Welcome, Dr. Tom O’Shea

00:27 University of Iowa PA Program Basics

03:18 Why Iowa’s PA Program Stands Out

08:10 PA and MD Students Learning Together

12:18 The Triple Helix Curriculum

14:31 Learning Communities at Carver College of Medicine

20:11 How Alumni Support Current PA Students

23:53 What the University of Iowa’s PA Program Looks for in Applicants

29:17 Why Gap Years Can Strengthen an Application

31:01 Closing Thoughts and Next Steps

Related Resources

• University of Iowa Physician Assistant Program
• University of Iowa PA Program Admission Requirements
• University of Iowa PA Program Staff
• The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Physician Assistant, a free guide
• Accepted’s Physician Assistant Application Packages

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How can military veterans translate their service, leadership, and clinical experience into a strong PA school application? In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Brandon R. Beattie, MMSc, PA-C, assistant professor and program director, about the George Washington University (GW) PA Program, the military roots of the PA profession, and the opportunities and barriers veterans face when applying to PA school.

Brandon brings both admissions expertise and lived experience to the conversation. Before becoming a PA, he served as a U.S. Army combat medic during multiple overseas tours. He later completed his PA training at Yale and now leads one of the country’s long-standing PA programs, which was founded in 1972 and was ranked sixth (tied with Baylor College of Medicine) in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 Best Physician Assistant Programs rankings.

The conversation focuses on how veterans can tell their stories in ways that admissions committees will understand. Brandon explains why military jargon, acronyms, and modesty can sometimes hide the depth of an applicant’s experience. He also shares practical advice for the PA application process, including proofreading, clarifying military roles for civilian readers, choosing recommendation writers strategically, and showing evidence of grit, teamwork, communication, coachability, and mission fit.

If you are a veteran considering PA school, this episode offers a clear framework for presenting military service as a strength, not a complication.

0:00 From Military Service to PA School

01:32 What Sets the GW PA Program Apart

03:25 Veterans and the Origins of the PA Profession

05:27 Strengths Veterans Bring to PA School

07:03 Barriers Veterans Face in the Application Process

15:06 Strategies for a Strong PA Application

18:12 Choosing the Right Recommenders

20:21 What GW Looks for in Competitive Applicants

Related Resources:

• Brandon R. Beattie faculty profile
• George Washington University Physician Assistant Program 
• GW PA Program Admission Requirements
• GW PA Program How to Apply
• The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Physician Assistant, a free guide
• Accepted’s Physician Assistant Application Packages 

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What makes Wake Forest University’s Physician Assistant Program different from the hundreds of PA programs applicants can choose from?

In this episode of Accepted’s 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, about the program’s curriculum, campuses, culture, and admissions priorities.

Sobia explains how Wake Forest’s 24-month Master of Medical Science PA Program brings together a large class with a small-group learning environment across two North Carolina campuses: Winston-Salem and Boone. She describes how the program’s inquiry-based learning model asks students to work through patient cases from the beginning of PA school, building clinical reasoning, self-directed learning, and collaborative problem-solving skills before they enter rotations.

The conversation also explores Wake Forest’s leadership focus, including its Emerging Leaders Program pathways in business and law, and the service-oriented experiences that begin during orientation. Sobia connects those experiences to the PA profession’s responsibility to understand the social drivers of health and serve patients in context.

The episode closes with practical advice for applicants. Wake Forest looks for academic readiness, meaningful hands-on patient care experience, teamwork, service, leadership, resilience, and a clear answer to one essential question: why do you want to be a PA?

00:00 Introducing Wake Forest’s PA Program

03:35 Comparing the Winston-Salem and Boone Campuses

07:38 Serving Rural and Medically Underserved Communities

09:12 How Inquiry-Based Learning Works

14:21 Leadership Development Throughout the Curriculum

18:21 The Emerging Leaders Program in Business and Law

22:08 Community Service, Orientation, and Social Drivers of Health

28:38 What Wake Forest Looks for in PA Applicants

33:26 Closing Thoughts and Next Steps

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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What do you do when your transcript tells a story you would rather not tell? In this episode of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk podcast, host Dr. Valerie Wherley is joined by Dr. Rachel Slutsky, an Accepted admissions consultant and Harvard PhD, to discuss one of the most common – and most feared – obstacles in the graduate admissions process: a problematic academic record.

Dr. Slutsky draws on her background as a university writing tutor and professor to reframe how applicants think about academic setbacks. The conversation moves through three categories of challenges she commonly sees in her work: ethical issues, emotional and psychological struggles, and maturity gaps. She also addresses the often-overlooked role of financial hardship in academic performance.

The episode is practical throughout. Dr. Slutsky and Dr. Wherley discuss where in your application to address your academic record, how much space to give it in a statement of purpose, and why self-awareness – not shame – is the quality that resonates with adcoms. They cover how to demonstrate help-seeking behaviors, professional growth, and determination when the numbers on your transcript do not tell your whole story.

The conversation closes with an invitation: If you have been avoiding applying to graduate school because of your academic record, Dr. Slutsky wants to hear from you.

00:00 Welcoming Dr. Rachel Slutsky to the Podcast

02:53 Defining a Problematic Academic Record

04:28 Three Sources of Issues: Ethical, Emotional, and Maturity

07:11 Financial Hardship and the Hidden Story Behind Transcripts

09:35 Should You Even Apply? Don’t Write Off Grad School Prematurely

10:43 Addressing Academic Issues in a Statement of Purpose

13:41 Self-Awareness Over Shame: Own It, Show Growth, Move Forward

16:05 The Holistic Review Process: Highlighting Your Strengths

19:27 Demonstrating Help-Seeking Behaviors as Evidence of Growth

Related Resources:

• Dr. Rachel Slutsky bio
• Sign up for a free consultation with Dr. Rachel Slutsky

Related Episodes:

• How to Get Selected for a Fulbright and Other Competitive Fellowships [Episode 624]
• Is There Such a Thing as Too Many Drafts? Writing a Standout Med School Personal Statement [Episode 612]

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What exactly is—and isn’t—a DO? And what does it take to get into a Tier 1 primary care medical school that operates across two very different campuses?

In this episode of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk, host Dr. Valerie Wherley sits down with the leadership and a current student from the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP) at Western University of Health Sciences. Dr. Lisa Warren, the dean and a COMP graduate; Dr. Marcel Fraix, associate dean for admissions and also a COMP graduate; TJ Pe, assistant director of recruitment; and Sarah Shirley, a rising second-year COMP DO student, walk listeners through what makes this program distinctive.

The conversation covers the school’s two-campus structure—urban Pomona, California, and rural Lebanon, Oregon—and how the shared curriculum delivers a consistent experience in two very different environments. COMP has now earned U.S. News & World Report’s Tier 1 recognition for primary care training for three consecutive years, and the panel breaks down why that matters for applicants.

Sarah shares her nontraditional path: a literature degree, a career in book publishing, a mid-20s pivot, and what drew her to osteopathic medicine specifically. The panel also discusses COMP’s longitudinal student tracks (business, rural health, sports medicine, and more), the technology-infused curriculum including simulation and AI exposure, and the robust student wellness infrastructure—from free yoga to open-door faculty.

For applicants concerned about GPA and MCAT thresholds, Dr. Fraix and TJ offer a candid, encouraging reality check on holistic admissions and the one-year master’s program that creates a pathway for promising candidates who don’t yet meet full admission requirements.

Related Resources:

• College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP) at Western University of Health Sciences
• Experience WesternU (preview day): August 22, 2026
• Dr. Lisa Warren, dean, Western University of Health Sciences COMP and COMP-Northwest: [email protected]
• Dr. Marcel Fraix, associate dean, admissions and enrollment chair, professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation: [email protected]
• TJ Pe, assistant director of recruitment: [email protected]

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What does it take to get selected for a Fulbright or Boren Fellowship? In this episode of Accepted’s Admissions Straight Talk podcast, host Dr. Valerie Wherley sits down with Steven Tagle, an Accepted admissions consultant and fellowship specialist, to break down two of the most prestigious, and most misunderstood, awards in graduate education.

Steven draws on his own journey: a Stanford undergraduate, an MFA funded by a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship, a Fulbright that turned into eight years in Greece, and a second writing fellowship from the Institute of Current World Affairs (ICWA). Today, he helps applicants navigate the entire fellowship landscape, from “fellowship matchmaking” to final interviews.

The conversation covers the structure and purpose of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, including the differences between Study/Research Awards and English Teaching Assistant Awards, and how country-specific requirements shape a successful application. Steven also makes a case for the Boren Awards, an often-overlooked option with acceptance rates as high as 40%, a service requirement, and language study built in.

Whether you are a college senior, a graduate student, or a professional considering funded study or research abroad, this episode offers a clear, practical foundation for approaching some of the most competitive awards available.

00:00 Introducing Steven Tagle 

01:03 Steven’s Path: Stanford, Soros, Fulbright, and ICWA

02:36 What Exactly Is a Fellowship?

04:09 How Fellowship Selection Advice Works

05:52 Inside the Fulbright U.S. Student Program

10:33 Study/Research vs. English Teaching Assistant Awards

12:08 Why the Boren Awards Are Often Overlooked

14:32 When to Start Preparing a Fellowship Application

17:54 How to Submit the Most Competitive Application

19:30 Closing Thoughts and How to Work with Steven

Related Resources:

• Steven Tagle bio
• Accepted’s Fellowship Consulting Services
• Fulbright U.S. Student Program (U.S. Department of State)
• Boren Awards (National Security Education Program)

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This episode of Admissions Straight Talk covers what it takes to get accepted into the top-ranked Entry-Level Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program at the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. Host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Dr. Amber Bennett, associate professor of clinical occupational therapy at USC Chan, to break down how the occupational therapy (OT) field has shifted and what makes the school’s top-ranked curriculum stand out. This episode is especially valuable for OT school applicants seeking a competitive edge in the graduate admissions process.

Dr. Bennett highlights the division’s historic commitment to clinical innovation, its extensive experiential learning partnerships, and the vast professional power of the global USC Trojan alumni network. Listeners will discover how the unique 14-week doctoral capstone allows students to complete their final year remotely while translating cutting-edge clinical research into direct healthcare advocacy and community action.

For future applicants, Dr. Bennett delivers essential, hands-on strategies for mastering the program-specific prompts within the Occupational Therapist Centralized Application Service (OTCAS) application portal. Listeners will gain concrete insights into how to build a highly structured and reflective personal narrative, how to strategically select recommenders who can share character-driven examples, and how the USC Chan admissions committee evaluates applicants using a holistic review framework.

00:00 Introducing Dr. Amber Bennett, Associate Professor at USC Chan
00:39 The Evolution of Occupational Therapy and the Shift to the OTD Program
04:19 Why USC Chan Is the Nation’s Top-Ranked OT Program
08:39 Hands-On Learning, Fieldwork, and Student Experiences
12:15 Where Occupational Therapists Work: Traditional and Emerging Career Paths
14:44 Inside USC Chan’s 14-Week Doctoral Capstone
17:34 Application Essays: How to Answer USC Chan’s Prompts Effectively
20:05 What Makes a Competitive OTD Application?
24:13 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome and Final Advice for Applicants

Related Resources:

• Dr. Amber Bennett bio 
• USC Chan Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
• USC Chan Entry-Level Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree program
• Extracurricular Activities Can Help You Get Accepted to Graduate Therapy Programs

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What should applicants know about WashU Medicine’s Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program?

In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Dr. Steven Ambler – professor of physical therapy and orthopaedic surgery, division director of education, and DPT program director at WashU Medicine – about the program’s curriculum, culture, student support, research opportunities, and admissions process.

Dr. Ambler explains how WashU integrates early clinical experience into the curriculum, why the program emphasizes collaboration over competition, and how faculty coaching helps support students throughout their training. He also shares how the admissions committee evaluates applicants holistically and what qualities make an application stand out.

If you’re considering physical therapy school and want an inside look at one of the country’s most respected DPT programs, this episode offers practical guidance and useful perspective.

00:00 WashU Medicine DPT Program Overview
01:22 Why the WashU DPT Program is Top-Ranked
04:08 Early Integrated Clinical Experience
07:05 Alumni Preceptors and Clinical Placements
07:53 Student Support, Collaboration, and Coaching
13:20 Research Opportunities for DPT Students
17:42 Holistic Admissions Review at WashU 
21:53 What Makes a Competitive WashU DPT Applicant

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This episode of Admissions Straight Talk covers the essential strategies for overcoming rejection and successfully reapplying to physician assistant (PA) programs. In this episode, host Dr. Valerie Wherley speaks with Cassandra Zoetjes, a first-generation college student and current PA student at Sacred Heart University who successfully navigated three application cycles. Cassandra shares how she transformed her candidacy by pursuing a master’s in nutrition at Columbia University and diversifying her clinical experiences as a scribe and a medical assistant.

This conversation is especially valuable for reapplicants facing an unsuccessful cycle or those considering a graduate degree to bolster their academic profile. Cassandra provides a transparent look at the emotional toll of the “drinking from a fire hose” aspect of PA school and the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Her story serves as a road map for applicants who need to add depth to their writing and medical knowledge.

Listeners will gain concrete insights into these topics:

• How a specialized master’s degree can demonstrate academic rigor
• The benefit of diversifying patient care experience across specialties
• Strategies for crafting a resilient mindset and an honest personal statement
• What to expect in a PA curriculum

0:00 Introducing the Journey to PA School

1:06 Meet Cassandra: First-Gen Student Success

2:11 Choosing the PA Profession

3:39 Navigating Three PA Application Cycles

4:52 Strengthening Your GPA With a Master’s Degree

7:28 Diversifying Clinical and Volunteer Experience

9:58 Surviving the PA School Curriculum

11:47 Leadership and Student Government Opportunities in PA School

13:04 Advice for Reapplicants and Future PAs

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