Josh works in infectious disease in Texas, mostly HIV care, and it's a specialty almost nobody thinks about when they're applying.

He went to George Mason for biology, then Drexel for PA school, and graduated in December 2017. We spend a good chunk of this talking about the application - how he built up patient contact hours and what he thinks actually made him stand out.

His point about interviews stuck with me. Be specific. Not "I want to help people," but the actual patient, the actual moment, the actual thing you did. Generic answers blend together. Specific ones get remembered.

What we talk about:

• His path from biology at George Mason to Drexel
• Getting patient contact hours that mattered
• What set his application apart
• Being specific instead of generic in interviews
• What infectious disease and HIV care look like day to day
• Why he'd recommend the specialty to students

Resources:

Free application timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

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

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

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

Ngan applied to ten schools and got one interview. That one was enough.

She's an ENT PA now and coaches applicants through interviews, but before all of that she was an epidemiologist. Her story is a good one for anyone who's staring at a pile of rejections and wondering if the whole thing was a mistake. One interview, done well, changes everything.

Her advice on interviewing comes down to being yourself. Programs can tell when you're performing. They've heard the polished non-answer a hundred times that day. What they haven't heard is your actual story, told plainly.

We also get into her time in the first graduating class at Florida International University and her work with AAPA.

What we talk about:

• Going from epidemiology to PA school
• Applying to ten programs and getting one interview
• Why authenticity beats a rehearsed answer
• Being part of an inaugural PA class
• Working in ENT and what the specialty is like
• Getting involved with AAPA and PA advocacy

Resources:

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

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

Interview course: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pa-school-interview-course

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

Stephanie is an OB/GYN PA, and this episode is a good look at what women's health actually involves day to day.

She walks through what her patient load looks like, how much she manages on her own, and what it's like being a PA in a specialty a lot of people don't realize is open to us. There's more to it than deliveries - it's well visits, contraception counseling, prenatal care, and a lot of continuity with patients over years.

Her big piece of advice is about rotations. Show up, ask for things, and don't wait to be handed opportunities. The students who get the most out of clinical year are the ones who make themselves useful before anyone asks.

What we talk about:

• What an OB/GYN PA does in a typical week
• Managing obstetric patients and where the PA fits on the team
• Why women's health is a great fit for PAs
• Being proactive during clinical rotations
• Finding mentors and actually using them
• Building a strong base in your prereqs and early classes

Resources:

Free 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

In today's episode, I'm interviewing Brian Palm, an ER nights PA an the founder of myPAresource (www.myPAresource.com) and PA School Prep (www.paschoolprep.com). We discuss his journey to becoming a PA and how he overcame a low GPA, and then get in to some of our best tips (and pet peeves) for personal statements for PA school! 

Leave a voicemail question for The Pre-PA Club Podcast - https://www.speakpipe.com/ThePAplatform

Physician Assistant School Interview Guide Affiliate Link - https://amzn.to/2JctZ2C

The Pre-PA Club Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/theprepaclub/
Discount for www.myPAresource.com - “prepaclub”
The PA Platform on Instagram - @thePAplatform
Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/thepaplatform

If you've ever tried to memorize every antibiotic and its side effects the night before an exam, this episode is for you.

I talked with Ron Robertson, the creator of Picmonic. It's a visual learning platform built for healthcare students - mnemonics paired with weird, memorable images that stick in your head when a list of facts won't. Ron came up with it while he was in medical school and drowning in material, which is exactly why it works the way it does.

We get into why visual memory beats rote memorization for the volume of information you're expected to hold onto in PA school, and how students use it for prereqs and pharmacology.

What we talk about:

• How Picmonic started and the problem Ron was trying to solve
• Why mnemonics and images stick better than lists
• Using it for prerequisites before PA school
• Pharmacology, microbiology, and the classes that eat people alive
• Building study habits that hold up under PA school volume
• What Ron would tell a student who feels behind

Resources:

Free application timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

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

I dug up some old audio from an Instagram Live I did and turned it into an episode, because the questions people asked are the same ones I still get every week.

This one is all over the place in the best way. Prereqs, the GRE, study methods, what counts as healthcare experience, why I picked PA over MD or NP, and what PA school was actually like. No script, just answering whatever came in.

If you're early in this process and you're not even sure what questions to ask yet, this is a good one to have on in the background.

What I answer:

• How long to study for the GRE and what to use
• Whether it matters if you take prereqs at a college or a university
• Taking prerequisites over the summer
• Study methods for biology, chemistry, and anatomy
• Whether resident care assistant hours count as healthcare experience
• Why I chose PA over medical school or NP
• The hardest part and the best part of PA school
• How formal to be when you contact programs

Resources:

Free application timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

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

Aaron is about to start PA school at Marshall B. Ketchum University, and his road there started with his dad.

His father came to the US as a Cambodian refugee and became a PA. Growing up around that shaped how Aaron thinks about medicine, but it didn't push him straight into it. He spent time in film and media first and wasn't sure a medical career was for him at all.

What changed things was actually getting into healthcare. He worked as a medical assistant and as a scribe across different specialties, and that hands-on time is what turned a maybe into a yes. It's a good reminder that you don't have to feel certain at 19. A lot of the best applicants I talk to figured it out by doing the work.

What we talk about:

• Growing up with a PA parent and what that taught him
• Taking a detour through film and media
• Working as a medical assistant and a scribe
• How patient care experience clarified his decision
• Applying to MBKU and what stood out about the program
• His advice for anyone coming from a non-traditional background

Resources:

Free 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