The Pre-PA Club

I'm back, and I brought two people I really wanted you to meet.

Brittani and Cameron are married PAs. She's in gynecology, he's in interventional radiology - two specialties that could not look more different from each other. They also became foster parents, which is its own enormous thing to take on while building careers in medicine.

We talk about what it's like going through PA education as a couple. Studying next to someone who's just as exhausted as you are helps. It also means nobody is holding down the rest of your life while you're gone.

Interventional radiology is a specialty almost no pre-PA has heard of, so Cameron explaining what he actually does is worth the listen on its own.

And they're honest about the emotional side of fostering while working demanding jobs. It's not a tidy story, and I appreciate that they didn't make it one.

What we cover:

• Two PAs, two very different specialties
• What a gynecology PA does day to day
• What interventional radiology actually involves
• Going through PA school as a couple
• Becoming foster parents alongside medical careers
• Building a life around two demanding schedules

Resources:

Free PA School Application Timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

PA Program Map: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-platform-map

Free Resume Download: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-resume-download

Pre-PA Counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

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2.99. One hundredth of a point under the number everybody says is the cutoff.

Sarah Matthews applied with that GPA and got in. She's now practicing in OB-GYN and urogynecology.

I want to be careful here, because this is not me telling you GPA doesn't matter. It does, and a 2.99 makes everything harder. What Sarah's story shows is that programs read whole applications, and the rest of yours has to be strong enough to carry the number.

So we get into what she did - how she handled the GPA question head on, what she built around it, and how she chose where to apply. Being strategic about your program list matters enormously when you're below a threshold.

If you've been told a low GPA disqualifies you, this is the counterexample. Just don't mistake it for permission to stop working on your grades.

What we cover:

• Applying with a 2.99 CASPA GPA and what that felt like
• Building the rest of an application strong enough to carry it
• Addressing a low GPA without making excuses
• Choosing programs realistically
• Life as an OB-GYN and urogynecology PA
• What she'd tell someone sitting just under a cutoff

Resources:

CASPA GPA Calculator: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-school-caspa-gpa-calculator

PA Program Map: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-platform-map

Pre-PA Counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

Pre-PA Academy: https://prepaclub.thepaplatform.com/landing/academy

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Dermatology is one of the hardest PA jobs to get with no derm experience. Amanda Lark got one anyway.

And she didn't do it by applying to postings and waiting. She got creative about how she reached out, which is the part of this episode I'd rewind if I were you. Most good first jobs are not filled off a job board.

Her road to PA school wasn't smooth either. She hit obstacles and kept going, and she's clear that stubbornness is an underrated qualification for this whole process.

We also talk about what a derm PA actually does all day, because it's a specialty people picture completely wrong - it's not all cosmetics, and skin cancer is a serious part of the job.

If you already know you want a competitive specialty out of school, start building toward it now.

What we cover:

• Landing a derm job without derm experience
• How she approached practices instead of waiting on job postings
• What a dermatology PA does day to day
• Obstacles on her path to PA school and how she got past them
• Why hands-on patient care shaped her more than anything else
• Advice for anyone targeting a competitive specialty

Resources:

Free Resume Download: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-resume-download

Free PA School Application Timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

PA Program Map: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-platform-map

Pre-PA Counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

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We recorded this right around Alyssa's first day as an ENT PA. You can hear the nerves.

You might know her as @lyssllo on TikTok. She's a brand-new grad, and this is that specific window where you've passed the boards, you have the credential, and you still feel like someone's going to figure out you don't know anything.

Everybody feels that. It passes. The people who do well in it are the ones who stay curious and keep asking questions instead of performing confidence they don't have.

She also talks about how shadowing and working different roles in healthcare shaped her, and about how much of this job is teamwork. Nobody practices alone, and being easy to work with is an actual clinical skill.

ENT wasn't on her radar at first, which is its own good lesson. Stay open. The specialty you end up loving might be one you've never thought about.

What we cover:

• Day one as a new grad ENT PA
• The gap between graduating and feeling competent
• Shadowing and different healthcare roles before PA school
• What PA school was hardest at
• Teamwork and collaboration in a real clinic
• Ending up in a specialty you didn't plan on

Resources:

Free Resume Download: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-resume-download

Free PA School Application Timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

PA Program Map: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-platform-map

Pre-PA Counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

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"I want to help people." That sentence has never gotten anyone into PA school.

Peter Alfano is a family medicine PA and one of our coaches, and he's back to talk about the two places applicants lose the most ground: the personal statement and the interview.

The pattern he sees over and over is vagueness. Vague reasons for choosing PA. Vague descriptions of experiences. Vague answers in interviews that could apply to literally anyone. Specificity is the fix for all of it - one real moment, described in detail, beats three paragraphs of general enthusiasm.

In interviews, the same rule holds. Don't tell them you're a hard worker. Tell them about the shift where you stayed late and what you did.

Peter reads a lot of these and sits on the other side of a lot of practice interviews, so this is what he's actually seeing go wrong.

What we cover:

• The most common personal statement mistakes
• Why "I want to help people" isn't a reason
• Turning an experience into a story with a point
• Being specific under pressure in an interview
• Answers that sound rehearsed versus answers that land
• How coaching changes what you can see in your own writing

Resources:

Free Personal Statement Worksheet: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-personal-statement-worksheet-download

Pre-PA Essay Review: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-essay-review

PA School Interview Guide: https://www.thepaplatform.com/physician-assistant-school-interview-guide

Mock Interview: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/mock-interview

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Nobody teaches you money in PA school. Then you graduate with six figures of debt and a real salary for the first time.

Kristin Burton is a PA who runs Strive with Kristin, and she came on to talk about the stuff we all avoid. Student debt and how to think about paying it down. Investing when you're starting late because you spent your twenties in school. And salary transparency, which is still weirdly taboo in medicine.

That last one matters most for new grads. If you don't know what the job is worth, you will accept less than it's worth. Talk to people. Ask numbers out loud.

Standard disclaimer, and I mean it: I'm not a financial advisor and this isn't financial advice. Kristin shares her approach and her experience. Talk to a professional about your specific situation before you make big decisions.

What we cover:

• Why financial literacy is missing from PA education
• Approaches to paying down student loans
• Starting to invest when you feel behind
• Salary transparency and knowing your worth as a new grad
• Negotiating a first PA contract
• Building habits now that matter later

Resources:

Free PA School Application Timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

PA Program Map: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-platform-map

Free Resume Download: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-resume-download

Pre-PA Counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

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A PA degree and a public health degree at the same time. That's Touro University California.

Joy Moverley directs the joint MSPAS/MPH program, and I wanted to understand who this is actually for. Because it's not for everyone, and that's fine.

The idea is that a lot of what makes your patients sick isn't happening in your exam room. Housing, food access, transportation, income. A PA who's trained in public health walks in already thinking about those things instead of learning it the hard way ten years in.

Joy talks about how their curriculum builds that in, including lifestyle coaching for diabetes prevention - teaching students to actually change patient behavior rather than just prescribe and hope.

The program is built around community engagement and serving diverse populations. If that's the medicine you want to practice, look at this one carefully.

What we cover:

• What a joint MSPAS/MPH program covers and how long it takes
• Social determinants of health in a PA curriculum
• Lifestyle coaching and diabetes prevention training
• Who this dual-degree path fits and who it doesn't
• Touro's approach to community engagement and inclusivity
• What Joy looks for in an applicant

Resources:

PA Program Map: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-platform-map

Free PA School Application Timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

PA School Interview Guide: https://www.thepaplatform.com/physician-assistant-school-interview-guide

Pre-PA Counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

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2023 was a big year over here, and a lot of you don't know half of what we added.

So this is the recap. Quick, useful, and mostly a list of things that might solve a problem you currently have.

We added PA school tutoring through partnerships with Rosh Review and Blueprint, which is for people already in a program who are drowning in a class and need actual help instead of another study playlist.

We launched the Pre-PA AI, which is free and answers your application questions any time of day using my own material.

And Pre-PA Academy, which is the structured version of everything I teach - the whole path in one place instead of scattered across a hundred podcast episodes.

Thank you for listening this year. Genuinely. Let's go get 2024.

What I cover:

• Everything that changed at The PA Platform in 2023
• PA school tutoring through Rosh Review and Blueprint
• What the free Pre-PA AI does
• Pre-PA Academy and who it's for
• Which resource to use for which problem
• What's coming next

Resources:

Pre-PA Academy: https://prepaclub.thepaplatform.com/landing/academy

Free PA School Application Timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

PA Program Map: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-platform-map

Pre-PA Counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

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"What's my CASPA GPA?" is the question I get more than any other.

And the honest answer is that it's probably not what you think, because CASPA calculates it differently than your school does. Every attempt counts. Retakes don't erase the original. That surprises people every year.

So in this episode I walk through Mappd, which is where you can actually build this out - enter your coursework, get your real CASPA GPA breakdown, log your experiences and hours as you go, and track which prerequisites you still owe each program.

The reason I like it is that it turns a vague anxiety into a number and a list. You stop wondering whether you're competitive and start seeing where the gaps are while there's still time to close them.

Mappd also has one-on-one advising and mock interviews if you want a person involved.

What I cover:

• How CASPA calculates GPA and why it differs from your school's number
• Setting up your coursework in Mappd
• Logging experiences and hours as you earn them
• Tracking prerequisites program by program
• Spotting weak points early enough to fix them
• Advising and mock interview options inside Mappd

Resources:

CASPA GPA Calculator: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-school-caspa-gpa-calculator

Free PA School Application Timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

Mock Interview: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/mock-interview

Pre-PA Counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

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Cassidy was a clinical registered dietitian. Then she became AAPA's 2022 PA Student of the Year.

Her dietitian background wasn't a detour. It was direct patient care, in a hospital, with real clinical responsibility - exactly the kind of experience that makes an applicant credible. She graduated from Missouri State and clearly made the most of it.

What I want you to take from this one is how deliberately she picked her schools. Not by ranking. By program size, tuition, and how much support students actually get. Those three things shape your next two years far more than a name does.

She was also proactive about landing her first PA job. She networked during rotations instead of waiting for postings to appear after graduation. That's how most good first jobs happen.

What we cover:

• Working as a clinical dietitian and using it as patient care experience
• Choosing programs by size, cost, and student support
• What being PA Student of the Year involved
• Getting the most out of PA school beyond grades
• Networking during rotations to find your first job
• Advice for anyone coming from another healthcare field

Resources:

PA Program Map: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-platform-map

Free Resume Download: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-resume-download

Free PA School Application Timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

Pre-PA Counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

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