Wear the suit. Yes, even on Zoom.

Part two of interview prep is the logistics episode - the unglamorous details that quietly shape someone's first impression of you.

Dress professionally. A suit is still the standard, and virtual doesn't change that. Nobody has ever been rejected for being too polished. Check your background, your lighting, and your camera angle ahead of time, and do a test call with a friend.

For in-person, bring copies of your resume if they ask for them, and a headshot if it's requested. Know where you're parking. Get there early.

Then the part everybody actually worries about: nerves. Being nervous is fine and normal, and interviewers expect it. What helps is preparation, not pretending to be calm. And be genuine. Rehearsed answers land flat, and faculty have heard the polished version a thousand times.

What I cover:

• What to wear for in-person and virtual interviews
• Setting up your space, lighting, and camera for a virtual interview
• What to bring to an on-campus interview day
• Managing nerves without faking confidence
• Being genuine instead of reciting a script
• Practicing enough that you stop thinking about the format

Resources:

PA School Interview Guide: https://www.thepaplatform.com/physician-assistant-school-interview-guide

PA School Interview Course: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pa-school-interview-course

Mock Interview: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/mock-interview

Free Resume Download: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-resume-download

Mentioned in this episode:

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A couple weeks ago we did the first part of our how to Prep for PA School Interviews episode from one of our webinars and today we're back with part two, so we'll wrap that up.

It is definitely interview season.

Guys, welcome to the Pre PA Club Podcast.

If you want to learn how to become a physician assistant, you're in the right place.

I'm your host, Savannah Perry.

Let's get to it.

Before we jump into this week's podcast, I wanted to let you guys know about some of the really cool free things that Roche Review offers.

Especially if you are a student who's just starting school and you're kind of figuring out how you're going to study, I think exploring what Roche Review and Blueprint offers is extremely helpful and something I wish I had while I was in PA school.

So one of the things is Free flashcards Through quizlet there are 200 flashcards in all of the topics that you're going to study in PA school, including dermatology.

I'll put the link in the description to the form where you fill it out and then you'll get the link and the code to access those flashcards.

I am a flashcard girl, but when.

You get into PA school, you figure out you're not going to have enough time to write everything down.

So having these pre made flashcards is a great way to see if that's a way that you'd like to study and get a feel for the types of questions that Roche offers in their review materials.

Another thing is a free webinar, so if you're listening in real time, this webinar is coming up on this Sunday, August 20th at 2:00 clock Pacific time.

Okay, it's free and the topic is Hot Internal Medicine Topics.

This is probably a webinar that I need to watch and brush up on too, but you'll hear high yield topics that are shared.

Some of the hot topics include Acute coronary syndrome, Valvular disorders, pancreatitis, things that you need to know about if you are in PA school or a pa.

They'll also be going over test taking tips, question strategies, and some Q and A and A giveaway.

So this is a great way to get a feel for what a live course is like with Rasch's Page Pants and Pantry Review.

Even if you are not studying for that yet, or if you've just graduated and you are studying, take advantage of these free sessions and flashcards and make sure that you are making the most out of your studying and you've heard me say it before, but I highly recommend Roche for doing that.

So Roche Review Powered by Blueprint.

Great option.

We'll put all the links, all of the info in the description for you.

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out directly to me on Instagram or shoot me an email and and I will try to get you in touch with the right people.

Hey guys, welcome to the Prepa Club podcast.

We're going to jump into this one pretty quickly because it is a little bit longer, but lots of great Q and A, lots of great stuff from our interview prep webinar and some things to know about.

We have mappedcon coming up in Baltimore October 7th through 6th through 8th.

Most of it's on the 7th.

Would love to see you there.

All the information it will be in.

The description for what I'm talking about.

Also, it's interview season so if you need help with mock interviews, I would book early.

Especially if you need like a night or a weekend.

And you can find all of that information@the PA platform.com use that code future PA if you want a discount on that.

And we're happy to help.

Our mock interviews are personalized, they're individualized.

We really, really try to help you figure out how to make yourself stand out and highlight all of the stuff you've done to get to this point so you'll be one on one with a PA. All of our coaches are practicing PAs and so we go through questions.

Don't be scared, it's not scary and it should give you some confidence going into your real interview.

We also have a book club we are starting.

There will be more information coming out about that on social media and to our email list.

But for the pre PA workbook, we're going to be doing a monthly book club.

And especially if you're kind of early in your journey to becoming a pa, this would be a really great time to kind of work with a group and go through everything together that you need to do to prepare for applications.

So be on the lookout for info about that and I'll share more in next week or an upcoming episode.

And so let's get to our interview prep and I hope you guys have a great week.

Oh, good question.

So this is a very practical one.

Another way that you can prepare right now for interviews if you have submitted but haven't gotten any interview invites yet is start thinking about the logistics.

So we have a question.

What should I take to an in person interview?

And other things to think about.

What are you going to wear.

Do you have a suit?

Even if you're doing a virtual interview, still want to be dressed professionally?

Not like me, clearly.

Also you'll see my decorations that my daughter put on my wall.

So I knew wall art.

But we want to wear a suit.

We want to be professional.

We want to have a good setup, good lighting.

I would not do an interview in this setting.

I'll tell you why.

So number one, my camera is like kind of above me, so it's a little awkward to look at.

I think I would prefer probably using.

I'm on a desktop.

I'd prefer probably using my laptop where it's like straight on a little bit more.

I have to concentrate on looking at the camera here a little bit too much.

And so if I had my laptop, I could make it more straight on and then put it, put the zoom thing like right at the top of the screen.

So I wouldn't be like looking down and looking all around.

I also don't think the lighting in here is all that great.

I'd probably work on some lighting and have again, not these decorations on the wall.

Maybe do it more in like an office setting if possible would be my, my approach.

So figuring out if you're gonna do virtual, where you're gonna do it, getting tech set up and then also thinking about when it comes to logistics, like what are you going to need help with?

Do you need to arrange child care, pet care, somebody to cover for you at work?

Do you need to give them a heads up that you may have these last minute things coming up?

I've seen that in the Facebook group come up.

I think last year there are people are like, they're not letting me off work for my interview.

What do I do?

Everybody's like, quit your job, go find a new job.

If they're not going to let you off, like, this is more important.

This is your future.

And so hopefully your employer will be very supportive.

But you do want to try to line up all those things ahead of time.

As far as what to take to an in person interview.

You don't really need to take anything with you unless it's requested.

Some schools will ask for a headshot or a resume, an updated resume.

So.

So you could take those things.

If you have anything you need to add to your folder updates, you can take those things.

If you have an extra letter of recommendation, that may be something you want to take in like a sealed envelope.

If somebody gave you that, you can take a small bag, a small portfolio if you need to.

A lot of times at an in person interview, they'll give you a folder or something that has information about the product program.

Maybe a pen to write with, a notepad.

So they'll kind of prepare you and provide those things so you really don't need a bunch of stuff.

I would say keep your Apple watch off.

You don't want to be distracted during your interview with that going off.

Same thing with your phone.

Like, turn it off.

Just don't want anything that could distract from your actual interview about a sneeze.

Maybe not.

Okay.

All right.

I see.

Oh, I can broadcast these too.

This is great.

I didn't even know learning so much.

So some other pre med people.

Cool.

I'll come back to these in a minute.

Okay.

I'm primarily answering from the Q A right now.

Is that okay, Michelle, you can text me.

If not, we're like, it's so funny because we're like talking through here and then we have a Google Doc and then they'll text me stuff too.

So it's just, we're all over the place.

And if I don't get to all the questions now, I'll try to answer a bunch of these on Instagram tomorrow.

So.

So we'll.

We'll get your answers one way or another.

Or I may do like a podcast episode, just answering questions.

Okay, so this kind of goes off of the.

What I was just talking about with.

They may ask you to bring a headshot.

They may also do a headshot there or take a picture of you.

So, like, don't be alarmed if that happens.

That's not weird.

That's very normal.

So Christine says, I was requested to upload a headshot.

What kind of image should I use?

Like, blank wall, natural lights.

Great.

Wear your interview suit.

Look professional.

It's.

It's fine.

Like, this doesn't have to be.

Like, you don't have to go get a professional headshot done.

This is just for them to refer back to.

So I would say try to look as similar to interview day as possible.

But yeah, it doesn't have to be anything fancy.

Okay, so, interesting question.

Kate says, do you think schools give you extra points if you choose to go in person?

If they offer you virtual or in person?

So I think.

I really don't.

I don't think that schools have a preference between in person or virtual.

Do they potentially have a bias that they that is unidentified just because of meeting someone in person versus virtually?

Possibly.

I've heard of a couple programs that actually have split their spots so they have a Certain number of spots for in person people and a certain number of spots for virtual people.

To try to keep that even and not make it so that they're choosing more from one thing or the other.

I still feel like I'm gonna sneeze.

This is so bad.

So, yeah, I think I would do whatever works best for you for your schedule for life.

If that is virtual, if that is in person, I would choose, you know, your whatever is best for you and not think about how the school's gonna look at it.

Because if they're offering it, it's.

They're not going to have a preference.

And you may have some people at school who like more of the in person people and some people at the program they like more virtual.

There's no way to know that.

So just do what's best for you.

What should I expect with a group session with current students?

Usually if you're interacting with current students at an interview, you will be just kind of talking to them, asking questions, getting their insights from a student perspective, what the program's about, what they think about it, what they think about the area, and whatever questions you have for them from a student perspective.

And so sometimes those students will sit in on interviews and be asking you questions too.

That can happen if you are talking to students.

I would consider that part of the interview.

Like the whole day is an interview.

Everyone you meet, just be professional.

Don't talk about anything sketchy or weird.

I helped with some interviews at my program and you know, the.

We absolutely were asked right afterwards about applicants and what they said, what they talked about.

So the whole day is an interview.

The students are involved with that and yeah, but that's a great time to really answer questions or ask questions and get an insight into what the program's really like.

What is your best advice for standing out at an interview?

I think just being yourself, being happy to be there, smiling.

You're gonna be nervous and scared, but don't be like, stare in the headlights.

Be happy to be there.

Be excited and then being genuine and just being yourself.

Like when I'm in an interview, someone doing a mock interview, you can tell when somebody is just trying to like, say what they think you want to hear and not being themselves.

Like, I can't teach you to be genuine.

I can teach you to be confident and I can tell you to smile and I can tell you to sit up straight and things like that.

But I can't make you be genuine.

But.

But I can tell if you are not really.

I don't think not telling the truth, but not being vulnerable, not being personal, and not sharing.

So one thing that I recommend and coach on is when you go to an interview, I know you can be nervous, but think of your interviewer as a patient.

I feel like when I walk into a patient room, my attitude, my personality is very distinct, and I want to put those patients at ease and talk to them like they're my friend and, like, I know them and make them feel better.

And if they were to ask me questions about, like, why do you want to be a PA or why do you want to go to the school?

What are you doing?

My answer and the way I responded would be so different than if I am in an interview setting where I'm, like, very uptight and trying to be not nervous.

So that's one, like, mindset thing, is, like, pretend your interviewer is just a patient.

Like, a sweet patient who came in and was like, what are you doing next year?

And you're able to talk to them about that.

Yeah, because I don't know about y'.

All.

Like, we joke at work about our, like, patient Persona.

Like, I can.

I can be having the worst personal day ever, but I walk in a patient room, and I'm like, hey, how are you?

What's going on?

Tell me about your day.

Like, tell me about your skin.

I'm a derm PA if anyone doesn't know what I do.

But yeah.

And then so Sylvia said, record yourself, and I highly recommend that also record yourself.

We all hate it.

I hate it.

I hate watching myself.

Hate hearing myself.

Sorry, y' all have to listen to me and watch me.

But it.

You know yourself better than anyone else, and so you can do a mock interview with somebody random all day.

Your family and friends, which family and friends are interesting for mock interviews because they tend to go one of a couple ways.

They tend to either be like, my.

Dad, who's like, you're doing great.

Everything you do is awesome.

You don't need to work on anything because everything's perfect.

To the super critical person, probably more like my husband, who's like, that was not good.

You need, like, do better.

And there doesn't seem to be this middle ground of, like, that was good, but.

Or, this is what you need to work on, but this was good.

So anyway, I just find that funny with family and friends and their perspectives.

But, yeah, so take what other people say with kind of a grain of salt.

But, yeah, just go in confident, go in excited, go in genuine, and really, you know, lay it all out there.

This is your one chance.

You gotta be personal.

You gotta be vulnerable.

You've got to be kind of, I guess earnest would be a good word for it.

Like, let them know that you really want to be there and why.

Don't be scared to talk about yourself.

This is your one chance.

And it does feel weird, and we don't like to do it, but.

But this is.

This is it.

Like, you got to.

You don't have.

You don't have a choice if you want to get into PA school.

But it does feel awkward.

Should you stick to a black or navy blue suit for interviews?

Not necessarily.

So my.

My interview suit was like a lighter, medium gray pinstripe kind of.

It had like a little bit of a pinstripe, but it was.

It was kind of medium.

I would say medium gray.

It wasn't super light.

And then underneath I wore like a dark purple kind of actually this color shirt under it.

Banana Republic Factory, Shout Out.

Great for petite people and not crazy expensive.

But I think you should wear something that you feel comfortable in.

If you are having to ask yourself, is this appropriate?

Is this good?

You're going to be questioning that on interview day, and that's what you're going to be thinking about.

So you know, you want something that you feel good about wearing.

And the one thing I see people posting or asking about suits sometimes in the Facebook group, specifically, like, very light suits, like white or like, blush kind of colored.

My only thought on that is take into account that you're probably going to be interviewing in, like, fall and winter, winter seasons.

And to me, like, it would just be kind of weird and out of season to show up in a white suit in December.

So, like, you want to think about that from the perspective, too, that most of your interviewers are traditional, which is a nice way to say, as I tell my patients, they're very mature or old, so they may not appreciate a more trendy outfit compared to something more traditional.

And unfortunately, like, we are judged on our appearance.

That's just part of life.

So you don't want to give them something like that to, you know, judge you on if you can help it.

Yeah, let us know where everybody likes to get their suits.

Lane Bryant.

I see a lot of JCPenney this year coming up in the Facebook group.

You can go.

I mean, honestly, they can go thrift store and get a blazer.

Target actually had some suits last year.

Sometimes Target has, you know, some weird stuff.

They like, also had a, like, bright blue, like, royal blue suit that I was like, I don't think that's right, but I think I actually bought a blazer at Target last year for a conference that I did.

So.

Yeah, I mean, like Marshalls.

I don't know if I've ever seen a suit at Walmart.

Maybe Kohl's.

H m. Okay.

H M. Abercrombie and Fitch.

I've never looked there.

That's interesting.

Where else?

I don't know.

But yeah, look all around.

I mean, it doesn't have to be like, we're not talking a hundred dollar, like, crazy suit, like Zara.

That's supposed to say Amazon.

Okay.

Yeah.

Didn't even think about Amazon.

And Taylor.

Yeah, Lots of options.

I saw a question in here.

Catherine says a white suit may show stains.

I would be the one to literally, like, spill coffee on myself at the interview.

That would totally be me.

Okay, so here Susan just said, how do.

How do we calm nerves?

So I have different techniques.

So you'll.

You're gonna be nervous.

And I think just accepting that you will be nervous on interview day and not fighting it is part of it, like, mindset wise, just being like, I'm gonna be nervous.

This is, I'm like, have adrenaline.

This is scary.

But it's one day.

It's a short period of time.

I can do this.

And kind of giving yourself that little pep talk.

There's a TED Talk I really like about.

I think they.

I forgot they called it, but, like the power pose.

And it's true.

Like, you just have to get in your head and hype yourself up.

I. I mean, I don't know.

Like, it's definitely a mind game a little bit.

But yeah, just knowing that you're nervous.

I was super nervous.

The other thing you'll find is if you have multiple interviews, you'll probably get less nervous.

You'll.

You'll kind of know what to expect more.

Like, that first one is tough because you are really going in blind and it's.

It's really hard.

I remember my first one, I was sweating.

And I also tend to, like, talk with my hands, and so I clasped them together in my lap and I was like, squeezing as hard as I could just like, in my lap, holding my hands like that.

And so whatever, whatever you got to do.

I also tend to play with my hair and, like, put.

Put it behind my ear.

That was a really bad habit I had.

So that was the other reason that I clasped my hands and put them in my lap.

But yeah, you know, that's where practicing ahead of time to identify your habits and kind of know going into it just to make yourself feel more comfortable will help too.

Take a bathroom break.

Go to.

Go.

Go to the bathroom.

Like, take a minute to breathe.

I remember going to, like, sitting in a bathroom stall, which I didn't even need to go to the bathroom, but I was just like, I just need, like, a minute, like, after my interview.

So, like, went.

And I just, like, sat there for a minute.

And then I was like, all right, we're like, I did it.

We're done.

Let's go back, get the rest of the day, and then I can have my, like, freak out moment.

So.

Yeah, so the superhero pose, that kind of thing.

Yeah, I just.

I think you gotta kind of hype yourself.

Get a good support system, whoever your.

Support people are, let them know if.

You're freaking out and.

And get them to give you some words of encouragement.

But, yeah, you'll.

You'll do great.

Sorry, I have, like, pregnancy congestion.

That's the thing that happened.

I don't know if y' all know that, but, like, in pregnancy, you get congested sometimes they call it, like, whatever, like pregnancy rhinitis.

But my husband said I snore less this time than last time.

So I think we're doing okay, can handle that.

All right.

So Maureen said, how would you go about training yourself to avoid saying during interviews, practice, record yourself?

But it's gonna happen.

I still say those filler words.

It's just natural.

It is hard not to, especially when you're thinking it's okay to have those filler words and to take a minute and take a.

Take a breath, take a second.

It will feel like that breath or that break is very long, but it won't be.

So if you need some of that filler, it's okay.

They know that you're gonna do that.

They know you're human.

It'll kind of be weird if you never had any.

Any filler words at all.

But it's all about just practice.

More and more practice.

And I think videoing yourself to see if you had anything, if you have the book or have read it or have watched any of my stuff before.

I talk about how I did a mock interview with a PA that I had been shadowing, which ours was at Chick Fil A while her kids were in the play place.

And it was so loud and not the best setting ever.

But she realized that after all of my answers, literally every single one I would say and stuff like that, so she's going, why do you keep saying that?

Like, if you have Something to add.

Add it.

But if not, why do you say that?

That was just my ending phrase.

But I never would have identified that if I hadn't sat down with someone to actually practice questions.

So that was something I had to break.

A habit I had to break before my actual interview.

So many questions.

Okay.

Yes.

There will be replays later.

Okay, let's talk about.

So somebody said, what about nose piercings?

Let's talk about, like, piercings, tattoos, that kind of stuff.

Number one, if you can check the program guidelines handbook standards and see what they say.

So if a school specifically says, like, we don't allow facial piercings or we don't allow visible tattoos, you want to keep.

Take that into account.

And I would either take it out or do like a clear.

Replace something with like a clear piercing as possible.

We actually, in our program had a guy, he was awesome, Bernard.

And I did not know that he had two full, Full arm sleeves of tattoos.

So our program, which this was also, like 12 years ago, said no tattoos and no piercings.

So, like, my friend had to take out her nose ring.

She wasn't allowed to have it.

And then.

So, Bernard, like, during our physical exam stuff and during our simulation labs, I didn't notice that he would always wear an under scrub, like long sleeves.

But I just thought, you know, he's cold.

He likes to wear that, whatever.

And then I ran into him.

It was so random.

I ran into him at the beach.

We both ended up at Hilton Head at the beach.

And he came up to me, and I did not even recognize him because he had tattoos covering both of his whole entire arms.

I had no idea.

I had no, no idea.

The entire program.

Because he kept them covered so well.

So I. I would assume programs have loosened up a little bit since then.

Like my program, we used to have to dress business casual, and now they can wear scrubs.

But yeah, check the program handbook, check their rules, and then just try to make it minimal if.

If you can.

Okay, so Sarah says, I say so, yeah, at the end of my answer.

That's a.

That's a very common one, too, because you just don't know how to end.

Like, you have to practice just ending and being done.

How do you respond if they try and ask you about something incredibly personal.

Personal that you may not feel comfortable talking about.

Like specifics about a sick family member or a friend that you talk about in your personal statement.

So that's an interesting one, because if you bring something up in your personal statement or a supplemental or whatever, it's Kind of fair game for an interview.

Like, you brought that up.

So I would expect them to potentially ask you about it.

So if you don't want them to bring something up, I probably wouldn't put it in your essays because again, that's like fair game if you are the one who introduced that.

There is this line of.

So people say that questions are illegal.

They're not illegal.

They're not going to get arrested.

They're not going to get shut down for asking certain questions.

But there are questions that are certainly unethical.

So for me, example, I'm super pregnant.

There's no way to hide this.

If I went to an interview right now and I didn't ever say anything about being pregnant, and they are like, so how do you think you would handle PA school, being pregnant or with a newborn technically?

Like, they really shouldn't say that because the part that gets unethical, and this is where it gets a little fuzzy because you may never know, is they should not be able to make a decision based on these personal factors like family, anything about you, religion, that kind of stuff.

Does it happen?

Yeah.

Can you prove it?

It's really hard.

Like, they would have to straight up say to me, like, we didn't want you in your program because you were gonna have a baby.

Can I be not happy that they asked me about that?

Yeah.

So it gets really.

It just gets really fuzzy.

So my thing is, like, if a school is asking you inappropriate, unethical type stuff, I think it says a lot about that program.

And you also have to think about who's interviewing you.

Sometimes they'll have some off the wall interviewers.

And so especially if it's somebody who isn't necessarily associated with the program, if it's like a community member and not faculty, you may want to say something to the program or ask them about it just because they're so that they're aware of how that person is interviewing.

And so they know that maybe something was brought up that wasn't really something that should have been brought up.

So, yeah, so it's very tough.

I mean, I think being straightforward in your response, you're saying, like, I don't.

I don't think.

Like, that's not something I feel I need to address today or just professionally kind of shutting it down.

I kind of do the same thing with patients.

If they try to bring up something that's inappropriate or not something they need to know about, and then moving on, it's just.

It gets really, really tough.

Okay, so let's Get a.

Let's get a response.

My family situation will not interfere with my ability to participate and complete your program.

Yeah, like just being very confident in your response and then just like having them move on.

So Sydney asked, is it appropriate to ask the interviewers questions?

Nothing too in depth, but if it's related to the program, legalities, profession, etc.

Yeah.

So a lot of times you'll get an opportunity to ask questions to the students, to the faculty, to interviewers, whoever.

So it is good to have some things in mind that you want to ask.

Things that I would not ask would be anything that's already clearly stated.

Like if it's on their website, they've gone over in an info session, they've gone over it on interview day.

You don't want to look like you haven't been paying attention and bring something up that has already been covered.

But if you have questions that have not been answered, especially if it's something personal to your situation, you can bring that up or.

I actually really liked and would always kind of ask personal questions of my interviewers, like about the specialties they were in or about the program or.

One thing I really like to do would be if an interviewer asked me an interesting question, I would then turn it around on them and ask them the question back.

So I get one of my interviews, they asked me, if you could do anything else besides be a page, what would you do?

And I was like kind of towards the end.

And so then when they asked me if I had questions for them, I was like, well, what would y' all do if it was two on one?

What would y' all do if you weren't being PAs?

And they're like, oh, one of them was like, I have a bookstore.

And then I was like, I would be a professional singer.

And so that was just kind of like a fun get way to like get to know them outside of being PAs and being on faculty.

And I think it was fun for them too to be able to answer that.

So you can do things like that.

Talking to faculty and some program directors.

I would be cautious in how you phrase questions and the tone that you take with that.

I had one program director who said a student kind of asked, had asked her a question and then in her next interview with another faculty member, like asked him the same question and kind of made it sound like she didn't believe the director or like think the director's answer was good enough.

So she was.

She didn't like that.

Or if, you know, you're Kind of like, well, why should I pick your program?

Or something.

Like, you just have to be tactful.

Like, you know, don't bring up anything negative or like, what's the, what do people like the least about this program?

Like, we don't want to bring up negative stuff.

So just be, be a little tactful with that when you are coming up with your questions that you want to ask.

So Maddie says, I have a fear of losing my train of thought during a question.

Would it be reasonable for a virtual interview to jot down the main idea of the question in case I blank?

So this is a question I've gotten a lot with virtual interviews is like, can I take notes?

Can I have notes available?

That kind of thing.

And my answer is no.

Like, if you couldn't do it during a real interview, don't do it during a virtual one.

It is normal kind of to feel like you're going to lose your train of thought.

And that's where preparing and practicing comes in.

And again, just like take a break to gather your thoughts, take a second, take a breath, gather your thoughts and then proceed.

Don't feel like you have to do this like ping pong game of jumping in and jumping out and like answering right away.

You can take a second, you can gather your thoughts, you can think.

But no, if you have.

If I had a sticky note with notes right here that I was looking at, that would be so weird.

And they could definitely tell, like, don't do that.

And then there's no reason for you to be writing anything down during the actual interview.

If it's during an info session and they're just sharing stuff about the program.

Cool.

Take notes, whatever.

But if it's your actual interview, you're not going to be taking notes.

That would be really weird.

So don't, don't do that.

I think that could be a huge red flag for like, are they taking, are they like writing the questions down?

Like, why are they doing that?

We don't want to do any of that.

So Gabby says, can we ask an admissions advisor for advice on the interview or what style the program uses, or is that off limits?

So my stance on this is that if a program wants you to know what kind of interview they do, they're going to tell you and they're going to tell everybody.

So they're going to tell you in your email.

They're going to say we do MMI or whatever.

They're going to let you know ahead of time.

Otherwise no, I would not ask.

So if they have not voluntarily given you that information, then I wouldn't ask them specifically for that.

You can check forums, check websites, see if you can get any information, maybe talk to alumni, talk to students, see if they want to share like the style of the interview.

But otherwise I wouldn't ask a program specifically what their interview style is.

Should I practice interview questions now even though I haven't submitted my supplementals?

No, you should get your supplementals in, get everything submitted and then practice how should I answer not having certain hours in an interview, whether it's pce, HD shadowing and somebody else said, like, how do I address a weakness?

Like not having enough hours.

So we want to focus on the positives.

We want to focus on what you do have and what you have gotten out of an experience.

So we talk about this a little bit with personal statement, like you don't want to say, I know I don't have a lot of shadowing, but no, you just want to focus on what you do have and highlight that primarily so you don't necessarily have to point out that weakness.

The difference is if you are asked about a specific weakness weakness, or you're using that lack of something to illustrate a point, then you can bring it up.

But we want to focus on what you've learned, what you're doing, the positive, somehow turn it around to make it a good thing or something that you're working on.

So like let's say they asked, what's your biggest weakness?

Maybe you can say your lack of experience, but you're continuing to get new opportunities and you just start a new job, whatever.

And so you can twist things a little bit to make sure that you can show that, yes, maybe I have less hours, but I still feel fully prepared to become a PA and fully prepared to take on PA school despite that issue.

So yeah, it's on how we, how we phrase things, how we go about it.

What advice do you have for answering questions that require knowledge of politics and laws?

How do we best prepare for these questions?

Number one, check the AAPA website and they have a news and advocacy tab where you can read about stuff.

Use Google News and search for physician assistant.

Search your state that you live in.

Search the state that you're interviewing in to see if there's any legislation that you need to be aware of when you are shadowing and working with PAs.

Ask them about any rules, regulations, laws that they feel limited by and see if there's anything that comes up.

And also know that this is very difficult to understand and there's a lot that goes into it.

I am a PA in Georgia, and I can't say I fully understand or know every single one of our laws.

Part of that is also just the setting that I work in.

I'm in private practice.

I'm not in a hospital setting.

And the rules are going to be a little bit different in how we're regulated.

And I'm not prescribing pain medicine, so I don't have to deal with any of that.

And so you can go to the medical board website for your state and read through the laws and legislation there.

And these questions, I feel, are also your best opportunity to humble yourself and say, that's an area I'm still trying to learn about.

I'm researching and asking PAs, but I still have a lot to learn.

Learn.

And it is better to admit that you don't fully understand something than to make up an answer or pretend you know it and then dig a hole that you can't get yourself out of.

So do your best with it, but also know that they're not expecting you to fully understand all of that.

Sometimes it is kind of a test just to see where you're at.

So Megan says, should we look directly into the camera?

I feel like out of habit, I'll be looking at the interviews and speaking to them.

Yeah.

So it's much more common to talk to the interviewers.

I can't show y' all here because I'm not on zoom.

So my recommendation would be, it's like, I'm looking at my camera right now.

I'm looking at, like, the middle of my screen right now, and then I'm looking at right under my camera right now.

So my suggestion would be to, if you're doing zoom or whatever, make your window very small and as close to the camera as possible.

So, like, when I'm in a video session, I do a lot of video meetings and stuff.

I will basically have it so that all of the interviewers or whoever's there is going across the top of my screen right under the camera.

So my eye.

Eyes are closer to my camera.

I'm still probably looking at the people talking most of the time.

But it's not as blatantly different as, like, looking down here.

But then the day, it's not a big deal.

And they're like, you'll.

Either way, it's fine.

It's just I wouldn't.

I wouldn't get too.

Too hung up on.