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Interviewer: You want to apply for physician assistant school but you're not sure what to highlight on your application. I'm going to give you the ABCs of the PA school admission's process and some helpful tips coming up next on The Scope.

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Interviewer: It’s time to put pen to paper and apply for PA school but what are the steps you're going to have to take and what should you put on that application? I'm going to try to demystify that and give you a couple hints here with Doris Dalton. She's the Director of Admissions for University of Utah Physician Assistant program. She's here to give you some tips that will make the process easier, and maybe help give you a leg up on getting that application and getting into PA school.
There's a lot of stuff to submit when you're applying for PA school. Is there something that trips off a lot of applications first of all?

Doris: I think for most applicants, there is the intimidation of the Central Application process. It's a huge application in which candidates spend a great deal of time entering all of their coursework, all of their background, their personal statement, getting their references in. At the end of the process, you have something like a 20-page application.

Interviewer: Wow. Is all of that information really crucially important?

Doris: It is, it is. The Central Application Service will look at those applications and through this service, you can apply to multiple PA schools. There are over 190 PA schools in the country, most of which participate in the Central Application Service. So it's a one-stop shopping application where candidates will apply to so many programs, all of the programs of their choice through this one-stop shopping method. Different programs are looking at different things in the application process.

Interviewer: So that's why you just really can't skimp on it. Because I know a long process, I'd be like, "Do you really need to know this?" because about halfway through you're exhausted.

Doris: Absolutely. Absolutely. It takes many many hours to put together or cast an application.

Interviewer: So maybe break it up into days?

Doris: Or months.

Interviewer: Don't do it all. Okay, all right.

Doris: Some people start when the applications cycle opens in the spring and spend a month or two working on it, returning to it at their leisure.

Interviewer: I want to know, so other than the Central Application, what are some of the other things you have to submit for the application process? I'm asking you because eventually I want to get to is one of those things more important than the others.

Doris: Again, it depends on the program. That's the difficult thing with the Central Application Service is how do I present myself as a fit for this program as opposed to that program through this one process.

Interviewer: Oh sure, yeah.

Doris: Many programs also offer a supplemental or a secondary application by which they're collecting information from the applicant beyond what is on the Central Application Service.

Interviewer: Okay. So you get that central application filled out, you might have, depending on your program, some secondary stuff to fill out. Is that the opportunity you have to really tell that program why you're perfect for them exclusively?

Doris: It certainly is for Utah. Our secondary application is something of an online interview. We pose to the candidate interview style questions and give them a limited amount of time to respond to those questions through a website. We basically treat it like an online interview.

Interviewer: Got you. So in that online interview, is there anything I should be aware of when I'm answering these questions that might help me answer them better?

Doris: I think candidates need to sit back and think. When you're asked a question, you don't really want to just answer it off-the-cuff and say the first thing that comes to your mind. It's really helpful to sit back, ask yourself, “What kind of a question is this? What kinds of things might they be looking for in my response to this question? How might I draw from my life experience to really answer this question well?”

Interviewer: Yeah. So if you've ever done anything like a behavioral based interview, "Tell me about a time when overcame an obstacle,” is it those types of questions?

Doris: Absolutely, self-reflection kinds of questions.

Interviewer: You can think about those in advance and there's a lot of resources you can use to figure out what some of those questions might be.

Doris: Also ask yourself, “Is this going to be a typical response and how might I have a response that's just above and beyond something that just about anybody might respond to if you have a question?”

Interviewer: Yeah. What would constitute that type of response for you?

Doris: In a recent scenario from a question that we've posed in the past, a question around having a personal goal that you failed to meet. How do you respond to it? What was the outcome? Many candidates came across with a response something along the lines of, “I took a class, I didn't get the grade I wanted. I run a marathon, I didn't get the time I wanted,” and these are very common things.
A lot of people have personal goals where they didn't quite meet their goal at the end of the day. The really above and beyond responses were things where people really drew from difficult situations in their life experience that really demonstrates your ability to overcome obstacles.

Interviewer: So make it something that has some stakes?

Doris: Absolutely.

Interviewer: Like not finishing a race in a time you wanted is kind of like, "All right, that's great but that's not a big deal."

Doris: Put some meat into it.

Interviewer: Yeah. That's good advice. I like that. What qualifications should you start thinking about long before you apply and when should you actually start maybe doing that? Because applying for school happens way before you actually submit the application if I'm not mistaken.

Doris: It does. It's a process and for many candidates it could be many years if you're a career changer going from business to medicine, for example.
Our program and most PA programs do require health care experience, and so candidates don't really want to get through their undergraduate degree and apply for traditional graduate school immediately after they graduate if there are things to be done. Many of our candidates, in fact the majority of our candidates, have been in the workforce for a couple of years prior to when they apply.

Interviewer: Okay.

Doris: This is why you see accepted students who have a wealth of healthcare experience. It really contributes to their competitive factors and preparedness for graduate medical education.

Interviewer: So if somebody hasn't had any healthcare experience, don't really expect to get in the PA school?

Doris: There are programs that don't require it so much. It's really important to understand the role of the PA and having healthcare exposure at some level so that you'd know that you enjoy working with patients, that you're comfortable working with sick people, that this is the career that you want. So you certainly need some exposure to bolster your application even for those programs that don't specifically require it.

Interviewer: All right. So intentionally, I have left out some of the more common things you could find other places like what are all the things that you should submit and what's the timeframe of that sort of thing, because I think that there are a lot of resources out there for that. Any other advice you would have somebody when it comes to the application process beyond that?

Doris: I think self-reflection is really, really important. Again, going back to don't just answer the question but answer it well. I encourage candidates to reflect on their patient exposures on a day-to-day basis, think about what their patients teach them. When you're doing that on a regular basis, it's really going to give you a lot more food for thought and things to offer when you describe your experiences through your application, when you're describing your experiences and what it means for you through your interviews.

Interviewer: Yeah. I think that's great advice because when you try to write up a resume, if you sit down and you haven't given any thought to what you've accomplished, it could be just a really difficult task. But if you are going about your day trying to find those stories and those moments that are going to highlight your experience or how you overcame challenges, then you can go, "Ding," that's it. Write it down immediately and you have it.

Doris: It's the difference between describing your experiences in a list format and telling your story well.

Interviewer: So tell your story. That's good. Where could somebody go to get more info? Is there a resource that you would recommend?

Doris: Number of resources. Our website is pretty extensive with our requirements. We have a list of frequently asked questions. I certainly take appointments and phone calls and emails.

Interviewer: Oh really?

Doris: Absolutely.

Interviewer: So people could ask you questions or whatever.

Doris Sure. Do it all the time.

Interviewer: That's awesome.

Doris: The Physician Assistant Education Association is the national organization that represents all accredited PA programs and they have a resource called the PA Programs Directory where candidates can go and look at what are the requirements from multiple PA programs, how many students they accept, what is their tuition, what is their cycle, do they require the GRE, for example, and what might they need to apply the multiple PA schools when they're ready to do so.

Interviewer: What is the website to get a hold of you?

Doris: Our website is medicine.utah.edu/upap, which is the acronym for Utah Physician Assistant Program.

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