“A successful person does what a failure does not like to do”
- My Dad
Everybody’s Journey to becoming a PA is different.
We all have different lives, different upbringings, different barriers to overcome to reach our goals… Different paths that have led us to wanting to become a PA.
There is no single formula that will assure you a ticket to PA school (I am sorry to say). But I can tell you this: Like many things in life there are ways to increase your odds.
Most of them you already know, but you may have forgotten:
Step 1: Start Working Hard, Most Likely for Free!
One of the single most important things you can do is start working hard and yes that will most likely be for free.
The single most important thing I did was to work and volunteer in hospitals and clinics throughout my pre-pa life. When I was in college I walked into the campus health center and asked if they needed help. I began volunteering, which led to a job in medical records which led to a position working in the campus lab where I trained as a phlebotomist. I was being paid $4.25 an hour and this was in 1997. But the takeaway… I met every-single Doctor, PA, Nurse, MA, NP, Midwife in the entire clinic and many throughout the hospital.
The thing was that it was never about the money. It was about making important connections that would later serve me extremely well and become the single reason I did get into PA school. The letters of recommendation from these wonderful people were the reason I landed my first PA school interview and is the main reason I get to do what I love to do today.
So my advice:
Get out there and find something good to do. Start for free if you need to. It could be volunteering, candy striping, visiting the cancer wards, transferring patients, helping out at blood drives etc. etc.
Volunteer Match is a great resources to find that perfect volunteer position. They also make a free iPhone App.
Step 2: Be Passionate and CARE!
This goes back to step 1. If you are going to volunteer, don’t just show up and wait for somebody to tell you what to do. Make volunteering your work and do it with pride. Show up every day on time, with a smile and be fully present. Make it your job to bring more passion to this than anyone else.
I had my first “real” job at the age of 16 at Burger King. There I learned to make Whoppers. I was trained by a gentleman who despite extremely poor pay and no benefits whatsoever was passionate about his job. After 6 weeks I could make a darn fine Whopper. The management took notice and next thing I knew I was being promoted. The reason was that unlike many of my colleagues I truly cared about the customer experience, and when I showed up I made it a point to be fully present.
If you care about your customers experience even in the simple things, as you grow in your field you will leave a trail of people who take notice. This will pay many future dividends.
Step 3: Go Beyond the Minimum Requirements
There is a minimum of prerequisites you need to get into PA school. Make it your goal to exceed these minimums.
Like many PA’s, before I learned about the profession I was actually on a pre-med track… I wasn’t doing all that well mind you, but I was working my behind off. Luckily, a benefit of this was that I had already met many of the prerequisites I needed for PA school.
The best part is that when I knew my junior year that I wanted to be a PA I was so happy I had put in all that hard work. Yes, I could have easily stopped the process and taken easier classes that would have met my prerequisites but I didn’t. I continued to take challenging classes that pushed me to my limits.
This did two things:
- It set me apart from many of the other applicants (although many had done the same).
- It really prepared me for the rigors of PA school.
Make it a point to go beyond the minimum. Don’t focus so much on grades and getting a 4.0. I am proud to say I had a 2.9 by the time I applied to PA school. But I had a trail of extremely challenging classes that I still carry with me today. Am I failure because I didn’t have a 3.9 or a 4.0? No! And when I sat in front of my future instructors in PA school and told them about myself I did it with pride. Because I knew that I challenged myself and was prepared for anything they could throw at me. And you know what? This was true!
Step 4: Just Apply! And Cut Out the BS
I attended the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. I applied to 4 PA Schools and the last was UMDNJ. I wasn’t going to apply because I failed to meet the minimum requirement of a 3.0 GPA (as noted above). I was going to throw the application in the garbage when my Mom of all people stopped me and said: “It never hurts to apply”. Boy was she right.
And why was it this application that got accepted? Because I cut out the BS!
In my previous applications I feared failure so much that I let it guide my writing on the application. My essays were routine and uninteresting. But for UMDNJ, because I figured I had no chance whatsoever, I threw caution to the wind. I wrote from my heart and used my true voice which was rooted deeply in:
- Hard Work
- Passion
- Caring
- A willingness to go beyond the minimum
I will write more about this in the future. But the point is: Don’t over-analyze, start thinking outside the box, work extremely hard for what you want and don’t follow the herd!
P.S I actually did read this book prior to applying for PA School…
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