Current times are weird. We are in an unprecedented period in our lives, where our daily routine is altered far from the normal. The medicine world has been flipped upside down. Within medicine, the PAs have been on the frontlines fighting this pandemic, while PA students are studying solely through online lectures and missing valuable experiences on their rotations. As for Pre-PA students, CASPA has now added a COVID essay prompt and for the most drastic change, all admission interviews are switched to online interviews. The admission interviews are a birthright to becoming a PA student as al ..read more

Destini was a rockstar when it came to applications. She was an incredibly motivated candidate, who knew her goals and exactly how to get there. She had excellent GPA and PCE/HCE hours, immediately elevating her chances of an interview. She was a client of The Humerus PA in 2019, utilizing the comprehensive package. Knowing that she had a stellar record on the paper, we really focused in on perfecting her personal statement catering specifically to her strengths to highlight the application. With her excellent stats and a remarkable personal statement, Destini applied to 12 schools, received ..read more

You’ve spent weeks, even months perfecting your personal statement. FINALLY, the hardest part is over! And then, CASPA throws a curveball. Now there’s a COVID essay too?!  COVID-19 took the world as we knew it and turned it upside down. Life on Earth has been disturbed as people become sick, major corporations close, parks are empty, colleges are abandoned and hospitals are beyond capacity in places. Every aspect of every life has been impacted in one way or another. Some were unable to take standardized tests, some unable to celebrate life’s big moments with loved ones, some unable to ..read more

Today, we interview Alexxa. Alexxa was a former client (comprehensive package) of The Humerus PA, now set to attend PA school in the summer this year. Although Alexxa had a strong application, she faced what many applicants in her situation do; self doubt. Around early May, Alexxa felt as if she wasn’t prepared enough for this application cycle; that she didn’t have a high enough GPA or GRE scores, that she lacked hours. But this was her mind playing tricks on her- self doubt. She was a resilient, intelligent and a highly motivated applicant. After a pep talk, we convinced Alexxa that she was ..read more

Let me introduce Hannah Moland! Hannah was one of the strongest applicants we had last year. She was a well rounded, determined and an ambitious person, who was a perfect fit for medicine. She bought the comprehensive package before the application season started and we hit the ground running…a little pun since she is a marathoner. Because running was a big component of Hannah’s life, she focused on her struggles and triumphs of running as the theme of her personal statement. Till this date, it is one of the best personal statements we’ve read, proving that when the personal statement is cater ..read more

There used to be a time when I jumped on the 6 train to travel four stops uptown. Train was packed, bodies on bodies during the rush hour, where I would have just enough room to grab the subway pole for support. I would arrive at the hospital, people walking from department to department, see an occasional patient being transported from ED to the floor or CT scan to the floor. I would arrive at my orthopedic office, greet my coworkers, get signout and attend the pager, where I would get consults for fractures, dislocations and postoperative complications. An incredible adrenaline high and an i ..read more

Let me start this off by saying that there is no one special formula that will get you into a physician assistant program. Some successful applicants have a lower GPA, but 4,000+ hours of patient care experience, while some have a 3.9 GPA with only 1,000 hours. However, I know it can be helpful to hear about other people’s journeys to PA school, so I’ll share how I got into PA school my first time around. I had actually learned about the PA profession my senior year of high school from my Family Nurse Practitioner (who I actually scribe for now - talk about coming full circle). I then started ..read more

Lea was one of our first clients of the 2019 cycle. She was impeccably organized and had a clear vision of the application cycle and deadlines she wanted to achieve. We submitted the application early during the cycle and she heard back from some programs fairly quickly to schedule her interview. Soon after the interview, Lea heard back and was rejoiced to find that she was accepted! Congrats Lea! We decided to interview Lea because she would make a great role model for other applicants. Enjoy! 1. Tell us about you and your journey to PA school When I started college I wasn't sure which direc ..read more

So, you are applying to PA school. You perform your research and find that the GRE is one of the prerequisites. You sit down, study, but cannot help but wonder; How is this measuring my acumen for PA school? You are right. We’ve been pretty vocal about the unencessity of the GRE for PA school admissions as it has no utility in predicting PA school success. The GRE contains verbal, analytical and writing sections; none of which test the applicant’s science knowledge and predict PA school performance. The GRE is taken by students who hope to be admitted to graduate school programs like PA schoo ..read more

I graduated PA School in 2017 with $150,000 in student loans. Yeah, it’s a lot and yes, I was freaking out. Somehow, I still considered myself to be lucky. I had $0 of undergraduate student loans thanks to an in-state school tuition, scholarships and parents. The $150,000 of loans that I accumulated were solely from PA school. At this point, you’ve probably read at least 1 article on the insanity that is the student debt loan crisis in this country. If not, I’ll give you a TL:DR; 1. The total student loan debt in this cou ..read more