How Did This Successful PA Applicant Get Accepted?
Interview with Erica Cousins, entering PA student [Show summary] Erica Cousins, PA school reapplicant, shares what she did differently the second time around to get admitted to several programs. A soon-to-be PA student shares tips for gaining acceptance to physician assistant programs [Show notes] Our guest today, Erica Cousins, is happily anticipating the start of PA school. She earned her BA from Boston University in 2012 and is currently working as a Home Healthcare Case Manager in California. Let’s learn how she decided to become a PA and got accepted to three PA programs. Can you tell us a little about yourself? Your background and where you grew up? [1:58] I grew up in Vermont. I went to school in Boston and have been in San Diego for about seven years now. I’ve been involved in healthcare since before high school - at 14 I started volunteering at the local hospital. I knew for a long time I wanted to go into healthcare. When I was younger my older brother was hit by a car and that introduced me to a side of healthcare I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Being by his side while he was being taken care of and recognizing what makes one healthcare provider more effective than another was really valuable. I also just had a very genuine interest. My mom would always say I was never nervous or shaken by the things going on with my brother but interested and watching intently. hbspt.cta.load(58291, '920a6b0f-919a-4091-bcb6-65187a8a1604', {}); Why PA and not NP, MD, or DO? [4:09] I thought for a long time I wanted to go to medical school. I was premed at BU, and it wasn’t until my junior year that I learned more about the PA role and how they play a part in the healthcare team and got more interested in it. It appealed to me even more. I like being on the PA side of the PA/physician relationship. I have someone to bounce ideas off of, and I like the collaboration and camaraderie. There are lots of opportunities for a mentor/mentee relationship, and I have always enjoyed having a mentor. I looked into NP but I would have to get a second bachelor’s in nursing and then do the two years for the NP. I was willing to do that, but once I learned more about the nursing vs medical model, I wanted to stick with the PA route. PA students and medical students both learn under the medical model, which deals more with the underlying medical afflictions – what is going on with someone and starting treatment. The nursing model is more related to behavioral medicine. https://youtu.be/PgBtKhaDizU Was your 2019-20 application your first application to PA school or a reapplication? [7:31] It was a reapplication. I applied the first go around, applying to 11 schools and did not get into any schools, I wasn’t invited to any interviews. That was such a humbling thing. My application was strong, I went to a great school, and had thousands of direct patient care hours in many different areas of healthcare, so it wasn’t a halfhearted application. I asked for feedback, and they said they wished my science GPA had been higher. On a secondary note a few said I graduated undergrad a few years ago so they wished my pre-reqs were not as old, so I took a bunch of courses in between the first and second application cycle – some online, some on campus, which was challenging to coordinate with my work schedule. I raised my science GPA, shadowed PAs and embarked on volunteer projects in the community. I was also more strategic the second time around with which schools I applied to. One thing I ran into the first cycle was once I submitted the main application, with secondaries I ended up spending a lot of time on essays for schools I knew I wouldn’t get into or even go to. All that time was taken away from secondary applications for programs that I wanted to go to more. I was more strategic about which schools I applied to the second time around and was invited to six interviews which was very encouraging (out of 12 sc...