James Kim Lol yes sir I will..you do the same. ..I'll keep you updated on my progress...taking Genetics and 3rd level Human Body & Brain course for next spring!..pray for me!
Hey James! I just wanted to give you a shout out for the videos you make for the pre-PA student community! The part 1 and 2 was helpful on my end - it gave me a better insight on the reason behind why the admission committee would ask these questions. It would also be really helpful if you gave your own thoughts on the different interview styles, especially with pros and cons/strength and weaknesses. Overall, thank you for your video and time.
Hi James I have an interview for a PA school this Friday and have been trying to organize my thoughts for my interview. Your videos were very helpful and most of your reasons to become a pa are my reasons! Family is at the top of my list. Length of school was too but I read your comment on not using this as the main reason and took note of that. I feel like most PA's see length of school as one of the reasons, which is why PA is so much more appealing, but during an interview what do you think they are looking for as the answer to "why do you want to be a PA over a physician? Lateral mobility is a big reason as well as liability. I also think having the autonomy versus team player aspect would appeal to my personality, a lot of people that go to medical school have that "leadership/driver" type of personality. Any tips and feedback would be appreciated! I subscribed to your channel:)
Hey Sandra! You pretty much answered your question on your own! Lateral mobility which you can tie in with lifelong learning and exposing yourself to different specialties. Family is a big one. Team player is also a great reason to mention why PA over MD!
hey! i just came across your channel and have recently been thinking about the PA profession, so your videos have been super helpful. you probably mentioned the questions i have in one of your videos but i've been watching so much that everything's a blur now lol. how many shadowing hours did you have? and how many different doctors/pas did you shadow? how did you get your job as a pt aide? i think you said you worked during your undergrad.. how often did you work during the school year? when did you end up taking your gre? since you took a gap year to do another year of hce hours, did you take the gre to be done with it during your junior/senior year or did you take it during your gap year? also, in terms of letters of rec, did you get any from professors? and how did you go about asking for them? like did you ask before you graduated or did you go back to them during your gap year and ask for a letter of rec? my fear of doing that is that my professor won't remember me after two years 😬 sorry for all the questions!
Hey there! Is your name Jay? Thanks for watching the videos haha yeah a lot of the content probably becomes a blur. I'll go ahead and answer your questions in the order you asked :) I had about 100 shadowing hours between two PAs! I shadowed two total PAs (one in dermatology and one in orthopedic surgery) and I shadowed a dermatology physician! I got my job as a PT aide by starting out as a volunteer to gain more experience. After volunteering for two years while I was in school, after I graduated, I was able to find a full time paid PT aide position. When I did work/volunteer I did roughly 15-20 hours a week. I wanted to make sure I still had time for my schoolwork and organizations. I took my GRE the end of January of 2015. So I graduated in December of 2014 and spent about two months prepping for the GRE before I started working full time! So when you apply to PA school, most programs require a letter of rec from 1 PA, 1 professor/faculty, and either another professor/PA/supervisor. You are allowed to submit up to 5 letters of rec as well. I submitted 4. 1 from a PA that I shadowed, 1 from my anatomy professor, and two from physical therapists that I worked for! You can either ask them through a formal email or if you are close enough to them you can ask them in person informally over lunch. I asked these four individuals probably about 3-4 months before the cycle opened to give them enough time to write it and I just sent them little reminders as the deadline got closer. If you are afraid that a professor might forget about you, I recommend asking them for a letter after you finish your course even if you are not going to apply till a year later or so. By asking them earlier, I would recommend checking up on them every few months and asking them how they are doing so they remember who you are! Hope this reply and the videos are helpful! Good luck with everything and don't forget to be positive :) Let me know if you have any other questions!
actually jasmine! but thanks so much for the reply! sorrryy here's a few more questions was there a specific reason you chose to shadow dermatology and ortho? and was there a specific reason you chose to get hce hours as a pt aide? rather than choosing cna, ma, scribe, etc?
James Kim also, how did the process/conversation go of you shadowing once and then the PA/physician asking you to shadow again that eventually led to you getting a majority of your hours/experience?
Ahhh sorry Jasmine! Wasn't sure if Jazzy was your name or an adjective haha :) I had a tough time finding PAs to shadow in my area and I was fortunate enough to be able to shadow both a derm and an ortho PA! So it was more so just finding PAs to shadow regardless of their specialty to get shadowing hours but I did really enjoy shadowing both :) I wish I shadowed a family medicine or primary care PA as schools really like to see that you may have an interest in primary care. The biggest reason I chose to get my hours as a PT aide was because it didn't require a certification and I could start gaining patient care hours right away. I also am fairly sports-oriented so I did consider physical therapy as a profession but wanted to be at the forefront of medicine and wasn't satisfied with working the rehabilitation aspect. If you do have time to get a certification I recommend EMT, CNA, or MA. PT aide is great too but a lot of the applicants I interviewed with were either EMTs or MAs so I think programs favor EMTs and MAs but every program is different! And don't apologize for asking questions! I am here to help :)
Sorry I didn't see this reply till now but when I emailed the PAs requesting a shadowing opportunity, I mentioned that I was looking for a long-term commitment, whether that would be shadowing once every two weeks or once a month or even once every two months, I did my best to communicate to the PA that I wanted the shadowing opportunity to be an ongoing commitment and not just a one-time thing. PAs generally understand that you need a lot of shadowing hours so they should be accommodating but you also need to be flexible in your schedule as well! :)
Hey! I'm applying to PA school in this next cycle and I wanted to know how you plan on dealing with a puppy while in PA school? I'm debating on getting a dog after graduation from college in May or wait until I'm done with PA school. I would love to hear your plan!
Hey Eryka! Thanks for watching the videos :) The puppy is our family puppy so she is most likely going to be staying with my parents. I would honestly recommend waiting to get a puppy until after PA school because PA school is very time-consuming and you will most likely be in class every day from 8-5pm or on a schedule similar to that. If you have a SO or a relative that can help you take care of the puppy then I think it is definitely manageable! Good luck on applying this cycle! Please do not hesitate to ask me any questions you have before you apply :)
Hey, I'm currently serving in the Air Force but am working towards finishing all my prerequisites in the evenings so I can apply to PA school in two years! I'm so very excited about the road ahead and want to prepare for the academics as much as possible. Are there any courses, immersions that you wish you had before applying to PA school?
Hey Erin :) first off, thank you so much for your service and also for subscribing to the channel! I wouldn't say there is one course that stands out to me for PA school. You seem to have taken the core pre-reqs of A&P, microbio, biochem, and ochem. I recommend taking a medical terminology course as many PA programs recommend/require it and it was helpful in learning concepts in other biology courses. If you can take upper division science courses such as genetics, molecular biology, and cell biology and succeed in them, PA programs will really see that you have the ability to handle the rigorous courses in PA school. I recommend finishing all your pre-reqs before you enroll in the upper division courses. How are you doing on patient care experience? My best advice is to keep working hard with completing the pre-reqs, shadow some PAs if you haven't already done so, and gain lots of patient care experience :) Good luck!
Thank you James! I'm signed up for all my prerequisite courses and I have found a few avenues to build my patient care experience/hours. I'm going to reach out to all the PAs on my list during the MLK holiday tomorrow. Thank you for all your insight and help, I'm definitely going to pursue the medical terminology course you suggested:)
Hello, My name is rana... And I'm really interested in becoming a PA, but I wanna get a BSN degree and then get some health care experience and apply to PA school. So I was wondering if nurses are strong candidates for PA school? Thank You, your videos are very helpful :)
Hello Rana! Thank you for watching the videos, glad they are helpful to you :) Nurses are definitely strong candidates for PA school! Depending on your responsibilities as a nurse, you will gain great hands-on patient care experience, which PA programs look for in applicants. I recommend packaging your experience as a nurse with great academics and volunteer work and you will surely be a strong candidate for PA school. Good luck and stay positive! :)
Hey James, great informative vids. You mentioned low GPA; what was your gpa when applying to PA school if i may ask. Im worried for mine when applying. Thanks.
Hey Armando, thanks for watching the videos! I am actually going to make a video going over my academic statistics in a future video so be sure to be subscribed! But my overall GPA was a 3.26 and my science GPA was a 3.01. Let me know if I can help in any other way :)
Super helpful for my interview in January!
Brian Kwan good luck! You're gonna kill it :)
East coast winters are nice 😊.
Cici Marie They really are!
Nice work Jay!!...I'm also in NY pursuing a career as a P.A...this video was super insightful...Goodluck on the journey...Best wishes my brother!
Blackcaddy19 appreciate it! Good luck with everything and let me know if I can help in any way. Stay warm this winter!
James Kim Lol yes sir I will..you do the same. ..I'll keep you updated on my progress...taking Genetics and 3rd level Human Body & Brain course for next spring!..pray for me!
Please do! & smash those classes! I will definitely say a prayer for ya!
Hey James! I just wanted to give you a shout out for the videos you make for the pre-PA student community! The part 1 and 2 was helpful on my end - it gave me a better insight on the reason behind why the admission committee would ask these questions. It would also be really helpful if you gave your own thoughts on the different interview styles, especially with pros and cons/strength and weaknesses. Overall, thank you for your video and time.
Hey Michelle! Thank you for the suggestion! I've added it to my list of videos to make :)
Thank you for your advice!!
No problem! Thanks for subscribing :)
I love all of your videos on your channel!!!
Thank you!
Hi James I have an interview for a PA school this Friday and have been trying to organize my thoughts for my interview. Your videos were very helpful and most of your reasons to become a pa are my reasons! Family is at the top of my list. Length of school was too but I read your comment on not using this as the main reason and took note of that. I feel like most PA's see length of school as one of the reasons, which is why PA is so much more appealing, but during an interview what do you think they are looking for as the answer to "why do you want to be a PA over a physician? Lateral mobility is a big reason as well as liability. I also think having the autonomy versus team player aspect would appeal to my personality, a lot of people that go to medical school have that "leadership/driver" type of personality. Any tips and feedback would be appreciated! I subscribed to your channel:)
Hey Sandra! You pretty much answered your question on your own! Lateral mobility which you can tie in with lifelong learning and exposing yourself to different specialties. Family is a big one. Team player is also a great reason to mention why PA over MD!
Joy is so adorable!! Subscribed :)
She is a cutie :) Thanks for the support!
super helpful, thank you so much
Hey Stacy! I'm glad it was helpful :) best of luck!
hey! i just came across your channel and have recently been thinking about the PA profession, so your videos have been super helpful. you probably mentioned the questions i have in one of your videos but i've been watching so much that everything's a blur now lol.
how many shadowing hours did you have? and how many different doctors/pas did you shadow?
how did you get your job as a pt aide? i think you said you worked during your undergrad.. how often did you work during the school year?
when did you end up taking your gre? since you took a gap year to do another year of hce hours, did you take the gre to be done with it during your junior/senior year or did you take it during your gap year?
also, in terms of letters of rec, did you get any from professors? and how did you go about asking for them? like did you ask before you graduated or did you go back to them during your gap year and ask for a letter of rec? my fear of doing that is that my professor won't remember me after two years 😬
sorry for all the questions!
Hey there! Is your name Jay? Thanks for watching the videos haha yeah a lot of the content probably becomes a blur. I'll go ahead and answer your questions in the order you asked :)
I had about 100 shadowing hours between two PAs!
I shadowed two total PAs (one in dermatology and one in orthopedic surgery) and I shadowed a dermatology physician!
I got my job as a PT aide by starting out as a volunteer to gain more experience. After volunteering for two years while I was in school, after I graduated, I was able to find a full time paid PT aide position.
When I did work/volunteer I did roughly 15-20 hours a week. I wanted to make sure I still had time for my schoolwork and organizations.
I took my GRE the end of January of 2015. So I graduated in December of 2014 and spent about two months prepping for the GRE before I started working full time!
So when you apply to PA school, most programs require a letter of rec from 1 PA, 1 professor/faculty, and either another professor/PA/supervisor. You are allowed to submit up to 5 letters of rec as well. I submitted 4. 1 from a PA that I shadowed, 1 from my anatomy professor, and two from physical therapists that I worked for!
You can either ask them through a formal email or if you are close enough to them you can ask them in person informally over lunch. I asked these four individuals probably about 3-4 months before the cycle opened to give them enough time to write it and I just sent them little reminders as the deadline got closer. If you are afraid that a professor might forget about you, I recommend asking them for a letter after you finish your course even if you are not going to apply till a year later or so. By asking them earlier, I would recommend checking up on them every few months and asking them how they are doing so they remember who you are!
Hope this reply and the videos are helpful! Good luck with everything and don't forget to be positive :) Let me know if you have any other questions!
actually jasmine! but thanks so much for the reply! sorrryy here's a few more questions
was there a specific reason you chose to shadow dermatology and ortho? and was there a specific reason you chose to get hce hours as a pt aide? rather than choosing cna, ma, scribe, etc?
James Kim also, how did the process/conversation go of you shadowing once and then the PA/physician asking you to shadow again that eventually led to you getting a majority of your hours/experience?
Ahhh sorry Jasmine! Wasn't sure if Jazzy was your name or an adjective haha :) I had a tough time finding PAs to shadow in my area and I was fortunate enough to be able to shadow both a derm and an ortho PA! So it was more so just finding PAs to shadow regardless of their specialty to get shadowing hours but I did really enjoy shadowing both :) I wish I shadowed a family medicine or primary care PA as schools really like to see that you may have an interest in primary care.
The biggest reason I chose to get my hours as a PT aide was because it didn't require a certification and I could start gaining patient care hours right away. I also am fairly sports-oriented so I did consider physical therapy as a profession but wanted to be at the forefront of medicine and wasn't satisfied with working the rehabilitation aspect. If you do have time to get a certification I recommend EMT, CNA, or MA. PT aide is great too but a lot of the applicants I interviewed with were either EMTs or MAs so I think programs favor EMTs and MAs but every program is different! And don't apologize for asking questions! I am here to help :)
Sorry I didn't see this reply till now but when I emailed the PAs requesting a shadowing opportunity, I mentioned that I was looking for a long-term commitment, whether that would be shadowing once every two weeks or once a month or even once every two months, I did my best to communicate to the PA that I wanted the shadowing opportunity to be an ongoing commitment and not just a one-time thing. PAs generally understand that you need a lot of shadowing hours so they should be accommodating but you also need to be flexible in your schedule as well! :)
oh you look like siwon from super junior
keep up the good videos :)
I've never gotten that comparison but thank you! haha and thanks for watching the videos :)
Hey! I'm applying to PA school in this next cycle and I wanted to know how you plan on dealing with a puppy while in PA school? I'm debating on getting a dog after graduation from college in May or wait until I'm done with PA school. I would love to hear your plan!
Hey Eryka! Thanks for watching the videos :) The puppy is our family puppy so she is most likely going to be staying with my parents. I would honestly recommend waiting to get a puppy until after PA school because PA school is very time-consuming and you will most likely be in class every day from 8-5pm or on a schedule similar to that. If you have a SO or a relative that can help you take care of the puppy then I think it is definitely manageable! Good luck on applying this cycle! Please do not hesitate to ask me any questions you have before you apply :)
Hey, I'm currently serving in the Air Force but am working towards finishing all my prerequisites in the evenings so I can apply to PA school in two years! I'm so very excited about the road ahead and want to prepare for the academics as much as possible. Are there any courses, immersions that you wish you had before applying to PA school?
Oh my Undergrad was a BS with a focus on Law and Philosophy :) I have 4 prerequisites (A&P, BioChem, Organic Chem and Microbiology)
Hey Erin :) first off, thank you so much for your service and also for subscribing to the channel! I wouldn't say there is one course that stands out to me for PA school. You seem to have taken the core pre-reqs of A&P, microbio, biochem, and ochem. I recommend taking a medical terminology course as many PA programs recommend/require it and it was helpful in learning concepts in other biology courses.
If you can take upper division science courses such as genetics, molecular biology, and cell biology and succeed in them, PA programs will really see that you have the ability to handle the rigorous courses in PA school. I recommend finishing all your pre-reqs before you enroll in the upper division courses.
How are you doing on patient care experience? My best advice is to keep working hard with completing the pre-reqs, shadow some PAs if you haven't already done so, and gain lots of patient care experience :) Good luck!
Thank you James! I'm signed up for all my prerequisite courses and I have found a few avenues to build my patient care experience/hours. I'm going to reach out to all the PAs on my list during the MLK holiday tomorrow. Thank you for all your insight and help, I'm definitely going to pursue the medical terminology course you suggested:)
That sounds great! Good luck with everything and be positive :)
Hello, My name is rana... And I'm really interested in becoming a PA, but I wanna get a BSN degree and then get some health care experience and apply to PA school. So I was wondering if nurses are strong candidates for PA school?
Thank You, your videos are very helpful :)
Hello Rana! Thank you for watching the videos, glad they are helpful to you :) Nurses are definitely strong candidates for PA school! Depending on your responsibilities as a nurse, you will gain great hands-on patient care experience, which PA programs look for in applicants. I recommend packaging your experience as a nurse with great academics and volunteer work and you will surely be a strong candidate for PA school. Good luck and stay positive! :)
Hey James, great informative vids. You mentioned low GPA; what was your gpa when applying to PA school if i may ask. Im worried for mine when applying. Thanks.
Hey Armando, thanks for watching the videos! I am actually going to make a video going over my academic statistics in a future video so be sure to be subscribed! But my overall GPA was a 3.26 and my science GPA was a 3.01. Let me know if I can help in any other way :)