Each of these make positive contributions to your ability to be a successful PA student and will be valued by admissions committees when you look at your CASPA application. Once you add the experience, youll be prompted to categorize the Experience Type based on the following categories: After categorizing the experience, you will enter details about the organization (name, location, etc.) Answer & Explanation. Applying to PA school is stressful which makes it easy to procrastinate. Think about it: thousands of hopeful applicants are all vying for the same attention. Think about how what you've done in the past can align with what you will do as a PA. Considering not only what you did (like take vitals), but how you interacted with patients, worked as part of a team, or lessons you learned in a particular role will help you to distinguish one position from the next. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Time spent officially following and observing a health care professional at work, preferably in the physician assistant field. If you feel you have an experience that may not relate to PA school, but may make you stand out as an applicant, then definitely add it! How to Choose Your Best Programs: Understanding Curricula, What Is Optimal Team Practice? If you struggle to understand what to put for your experience, it can help to break ideas into bullet points. My key responsibilities include taking patient vitals, recording patient medical histories, discussing current patient medications, administering vaccinations, and performing electrocardiograms. You don't have to avoid sentences completely in your descriptions, but overall, your descriptions should be direct and to the point, whether you are using bullet points or not. If one of your reference hasnt submitted their letter and a schools deadline is approaching, you can call him/her and encourage them to turn in in ASAP. I'd say stick to your roles/ responsibilities! In this post, you'll learn exactly how to approach that application blank space. Some applicants wait to submit while one last grade comes in so it can be included. Once you fill out the required information, such as your position and the number of hours gained, there is a textbox to describe the entry. Experiences in which you held a leadership role within an organization, such as the president of a club, fraternity/sorority, etc. Our advice: write a brief paragraph about the home you grew up in. demographics, experiences, grades, and courses), but some information cannot be transferred (i.e. All tutors are evaluated by Course Hero as an expert in their subject area. You must keep track of these deadlines! All rights reserved. Only then can you rest for a bit until you are invited to interview! CASPA has added an optional essay question so that applicants can describe the ways COVID-19 has impacted them. For example, prescribing medication, performing procedures, directing a course of treatment, designing a treatment regimen, actively working on patients as a nurse, paramedic, EMT, CNA, phlebotomist, physical therapist, dental hygienist, etc. Maintained a clean environment for each patient and followed standard precautions. CASPA provides a general guideline of limiting your entries to the past ten years of experience and including only activities that are college-level or above. Select the appropriate experience type from the drop-down. In this section you list all of your experiences, from PCE to HCE to volunteering to shadowing and more! Avoid this mistake! This means that your application either needs to be submitted and paid for by that specific date, or needs to have been submitted, paid for, AND verified by the date stated. If you volunteered at a 5K run, we don't need to know that you helped fold chairs, handed out race bibs, or passed Gatorade to participants. Feel free to add as many experiences that you would like. This standardization is achieved by using your coursework to create a standard set of GPAs, ensuring you are compared to other applicants fairly and equally.. Your PA school wants to learn more about you and your past experiences. You know this is a competitive undertaking, so cast a big net. Select the appropriate experience type from the drop-down. CASPA recommends submitting and completing your application at least 6-8 weeks prior to program deadlines. Applicants dress up their experiences with descriptions that try to inflate their experiences or sound educated. endstream endobj startxref I have gained many qualities that will help me as a future PA. Can you see the difference that a thoughtful description of your experiences can make on your application? June is early enough to stay ahead of the masses, and just late enough that youll have your Spring course grades. First, youll add an experience in CASPAs Experience section. %%EOF Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. You can attend PA program schools to pursue a degree in some of the best PA schools in Kentucky. . Check out the r/PAstudent subreddit once accepted and r/physicianassistant after graduation. Learned the importance of taking time with each patient and that each patient has different needs and expectations. Instead say: I cared for and interacted with patients. As another example for a non-healthcare related experience entry, if you were a teaching assistant for a college course, consider expanding on how you guided students to the correct answer using critical thinking skills, kept open communication with the professors and team you are working with and managed your time efficiently! . First, judge where it's relevant enough to include. I paid most of my way through college by waiting tables, but describing the skills I gained as being genuinely relevant to work as a PA would be a stretch, and it would look like one on an application.). Check out the r/PAstudent subreddit once accepted and r/physicianassistant after graduation. As DarcyJ stated, save the stories for your essays/ interviews! Instead say: I communicated with both providers and scribes. Have at least three people you trust read and critique your essay. The experiences section of CASPA is a crucial part of your application. "my duties at this job included 1.23etc") I feel like they won't know me unless I'm able to say subjective things, but I also feel like that could be against "rules"..or whatever That's what the essay is for. Also, if you have taken courses outside of the main college you earned your degree at, you must use these in your cumulative/science GPA calculations. Keep in mind that CASPA site has a vast help center, a great quick start guide and a live chat service. Options to categorize your experiences include non-healthcare employment, research experience, volunteer, patient care experience, healthcare experience, shadowing, leadership experience, extracurricular activities, and teaching experience. Get right to the point and leave the reader impressed by your involvement in these experiences. Describing Your Experiences In The CASPA Application First, have your "experiences" descriptions prepared before the cycle opens. If you are going to share an experience make sure it is not a clich and it is absolutely necessary as to why this experience played a role in wanting to become a PA! We had an AI computer write a 5000 character personal statement. Check this list when the application cycle opens and make a plan that will guarantee your application is received by the admission committees before it is too late. What insights you gained, etc. ^lW(y $k^ r x#1, 0 | Allowing PA programs to contact these people gives your experiences more validity. I would put in any experience you've had since college. Do you think it would help get an interview? But it can make or break your chances at getting interviews for PA school. You never know who will be reading your application and whether that certain experience might catch the attention of the reader! The Experience section is one of the most time-consuming, yet vital portions of your CASPA application, so preparing your descriptions beforehand can save valuable time during application season. Note that you cannot repeat hours between experience types. For more help, consider our ebook on essays, or hire us to coaching you through the process. There are many reasons why applicants apply late. And, if you want to approach your full application with a clear step-by-step plan that will make all of your decisions simpler, dont miss my Application Head-Start Workshop. Along with applying too late in the cycle, this is probably tied for the most common problem. Your goal is to attract a little attention to yourself and to be memorable. You will then enter the number of average weekly hours and the number of weeks. Since patient care hours are a huge element of your application for many PA programs, its important that you carefully and strategically explain your experience so that PA programs get a clear understanding of that specific experience. Therefore, writing descriptions that are loaded with valuable details and examples will not only benefit your application, but will help give admission committees a true picture of your experiences. Starting Your CASPA Application Get started with an overview of the process, important dates and fees, and contact information. If you made Deans List, describe what that means: Deans List is reserved for students who achieve a 3.5 or higher GPA for any given semester. Even if you think they will know what a phlebotomist is, or what it means that you are CPR certified, give at least some description of that achievement. Both paid and unpaid work in a health or health-related field where you are not directly responsible for a patient's care, but may still have patient interaction; for example, filling prescriptions, performing clerical work, delivering patient food, cleaning patients and/or their rooms, administering food or medication, taking vitals or other record-keeping information, working as a scribe, CNA (depending on job description), medical assistant, etc. CASPA experiences 2022-2023 cycle - describing the same job at different locations. The goal of undertaking PA programs is to ensure people live healthily. Options to categorize you experiences include non-healthcare employment, research, volunteer, patient care experience, healthcare experience, shadowing, leadership experience, extracurricular activities, and teaching experience. Your personal statement may touch on some of your experience entries, but this part of CASPA is where you can elaborate on each one individually. (LogOut/ Your description of any experience should be factual. For each experience, you should discuss your title/role, your key responsibilities, the skills you have gained during this role, and (if you have room) how this experience will benefit you as a PA. Providing these details on your application will leave no room for questions or doubt when admission committees are reviewing your application. This may include student research positions, research technician positions, summer research student, masters rotational student, etc. We dont think applications need to be in as soon as the starting gun goes off, but waiting until September is a mistake. If something is important enough to mention in the description, you should give specific details. Some programs list a submission deadline and some list a verification deadline, some have whats considered rolling admissions. Question: Describe your experience of (or your interest in) research, in public health or nursing. As always, Im happy to help! We will take that information into consideration in the review process. All Rights Reserved. Maybe you led a team of volunteers or you worked with another organization on a project, either of which shows a higher level of responsibility in your role requiring skills that could help you in a future career as a PA. In the CASPA application for documenting shadowing hours, what should be written in the description/key responsibilities section? The Advice You Can Ignore When Crafting Your PA School Application Essay, How to Prepare Now for a Potential Second Application Cycle, How to Assess the Impact of Geography on the PA School Experience, What to Know About Interprofessional Opportunities Offered by PA Programs, How to Increase Potential Employer Interest When Exploring a New Specialty as a PA.