Undergraduate education: Hawaii Pacific University
Overall GPA: 3.3
Science GPA: 3.6
GRE: Did not take
PA-CAT: Did not take
Total PCE hours: 4,800 hours. I worked as a tech in the psychiatric and emergency departments at our regional hospital.
Total HCE hours: 80 hours. I volunteered at many COVID vaccine POD clinics in my community, and took advantage of local public health and training events.
Shadowing hours: 120 hours. I reached out to many PAs in the community and was ultimately able to spend several shifts shadowing emergency, primary care, and emergency PAs. I also spent a school year shadowing the PA at the student clinic one afternoon a week.
Volunteer hours: 3,300. I spent two years as an AmeriCorps volunteer after undergraduate.
LORs: 2 PA's, 2 MD's, 1 Biology Professor
How many times did you apply?: 1
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Why PA? I wanted to stay in the medical track, I like the ongoing education and the critical thinking needed in a provider role, and I want to be able to move laterally throughout my career as well as provide care in a more affordable not accessible manner.
How many programs did you apply to? 1
How many programs did you interview with and what were the outcomes? I got an interview for the program I applied to, and was offered a spot in my campus of choice.
Where will you be attending? I will be attending the MEDEX program, Anchorage campus.
Anything you found surprising about interviews? My interview was small group modified MMI, and the interviewers went off book, asking us questions based on our different experiences and having us answer things as a team. This threw me at first, but ultimately was wonderful because it allowed me to represent myself as a person, rather than just deliver all of my well-thought-out answers.
Were there any helpful resources (books, websites, apps, etc...) that you used to get through prerequisite courses, the application or the interview process? I shamelessly utilized my friends, and for a year leading up to my application would ask them to throw questions about the PA profession, the application process, and how I fit into it at me when we had a down moment. I was also fortunate to have many people willing to do mock interviews with me once I secured one, and I think that was the most helpful preparation of all.
Any other advice for other pre-PA students? I focused on forming lasting relationships with mentors early on, and those people really invested in teaching me and supporting me. They helped me navigate a lot of the more stressful or unfamiliar portions of the application process and helped highlight my personal and unique strengths when I was focusing on selling my stats. I would recommend finding a mentor and investing in that relationship.
