Reading about interview questions is fine. Hearing people actually answer them is better.

This is from a live webinar where we went through real interview questions and real answers from participants, then talked about what worked and what didn't. That feedback loop is the whole point, because you cannot hear your own filler words and rambling until someone points them out.

A pattern I see constantly: people answer the question they wish they'd been asked. Or they give a perfectly nice answer that doesn't actually say anything about them. Specificity is what makes an answer memorable.

Also worth saying, everyone in that webinar was nervous. You are not uniquely bad at this.

What we cover:

• Common PA school interview questions, worked through live
• Real answers from participants and what I'd change
• How to be specific instead of generically pleasant
• Handling questions you didn't prepare for
• What nerves do to your delivery and how to manage it
• Why practicing with other people beats practicing alone

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

Pre-PA Academy: https://prepaclub.thepaplatform.com/landing/academy

Mentioned in this episode:

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It's interview season and in today's episode you will hear us practicing some interview questions and answers with actual people and prepa students from last month's webinar.

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.

Hey there.

Welcome to today's episode which is a recap from last month's webinar.

If you didn't know, we have monthly webinars that are each month about different Pre PA topics through the PA Platform and the Pre PA Club podcast.

I would love for you to be part of that and to be in those webinars with me.

But to make sure that you are aware of those, make sure you're following along on social media.

So instagram @the PA platform in our Facebook group, which is also called the Pre PA Club and also on our email list.

If you go to the paplatform.com newsletter, you will get all of the information about those webinars and you won't miss out.

All right, let's jump into today's episode.

I'm Savannah, by the way.

I'm a dermatology pa.

I created the PA Platform about six years ago and I've loved this, this community that we have created with helping students get into PA school and figure out what they want to do and how to do it.

And I love interviews.

That is kind of my thing.

I even wrote a book about it called the PA School Interview Guide that's on the website and on Amazon.

But I really like connecting and the webinar was a really fun way to do that.

We practice some group questions, some traditional questions and this will be on YouTube as well if you'd rather watch it and instead of listen, which is totally fine.

And I really hope you enjoy it and get a lot out of it.

If you enjoy this format of seeing interviews and hearing this practice and getting this insights, make sure you check out the PA school interview course at prepacourses.com you can use the code future PA for a discount on anything we have on our website.

The online course, the book Mock Interviews.

But the online course has over five hours of instruction of going through interview questions, interview types and then tons of examples of mock interviews.

Super helpful if you want.

Kind of a self paced way to practice and keep you committed and accountable and so that's a great option.

It also has a list of interview formats for each school and a lot of really helpful handouts and worksheets.

So I think you'll enjoy that.

The links are all in the description, but if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me directly.

But we'll jump in to today's webinar.

Thanks for listening and I would love if you subscribe, leave a review and let us know what you think about the podcast.

I am so excited for this because I love talking about interviews.

It is kind of my thing.

I just think interviews should be more fun than stressful.

So.

So I'm really excited for us to do some questions and I'm going to go over some kind of logistics things before we start, and then we'll jump into some questions that y' all submitted on Instagram, just some general stuff.

And then we're going to do some practice.

So that's how tonight's session is going to go.

I'm going to go over just kind of some general stuff, but really I want this to be an opportunity for you guys to see answers to questions and us to give construction constructive criticism together.

So what that's going to mean is there is going to be an option for you to raise your hand and come on stage to answer your question live.

Now, this may be more intimidating than your real interview because you're going to be doing so in front of right now about 250of your closest friends.

So maybe on real interview day that will give you more confidence to.

To feel like you can walk in there and do it.

So we're going to talk some strategy.

We're going to talk about specific questions.

Sorry, my computer's over here.

If you see me looking over there, have my list of things as well.

So this will be recorded.

There will be a replay sent out later tonight.

I think it goes out in six hours after everything has processed so that you can watch this back if you miss part of it or can't stay for the whole thing.

The recording is available indefinitely, so it never expires or anything like that.

So no rush.

There will be some deals that I'll put up throughout the webinar and those will expire in the next 48 hours.

So I'll go ahead and do our first one.

Let's see, I have a poll here too.

So number one, I want to know, have you received an interview invite for this cycle?

It's kind of getting into mid cycle now.

We're mid September.

A lot of schools have.

I didn't publish it.

Have started sending out interview invites.

Some still have not actually.

Last year there were a Surprising amount of interviews in January through March.

So don't be, you know, too scared if you're like, I haven't gotten anything yet.

I keep seeing people getting interview invites.

It really depends on where you're applying and when you apply.

There are so many factors that go into this, so please don't feel like that is a bad thing.

Looks like we're about three four of you have received an interview invite this cycle, and about a fourth have not.

So that's pretty good.

Okay, let's see.

Let me go to my offers here.

So the first one is, you know, if you have an interview and you have not gotten a copy of your PA school interview guide, I highly recommend it.

If you are somebody who likes to read about things, you know, this is really all of my best information and in book form, so I like reading books.

When I applied to PA school, there was one other interview book, and since then, this is the only other one, and I felt like the other one was kind of outdated.

So if you have any questions about the book, happy to answer.

Happy to show you stuff.

I might be referencing some stuff from here tonight, but happy to, you know, spread word about this.

But you can get the interview guide or the personal statement guide, if you need help with that, for 15 for the next 48 hours.

So better than Amazon prices.

I do only have a few of these left, so these are a little bit limited.

And so once they're out, they're out for now from me until I get more.

But usually we have some Black Friday sales and stuff like that.

You're on page 47.

Love that.

Okay, Very specific.

Okay, let me get to some questions.

A couple other things.

This is not a shadowing session.

This is not virtual shadowing.

Just have to clarify that because I get asked every time.

The next webinar will be on October 14th at 8pm Based on how many people signed up for this webinar, I'm thinking that we will still need another interview session to do more of this kind of practice.

So I'm planning on doing interviews part two for October and then November and December, we'll probably talk a little bit more about reapplying and get into personal statements.

And if you are looking to reapply, or maybe you haven't even applied straight from us, so that should be helpful.

All right, I think we're ready to get into some questions.

If you do volunteer to come on stage, please just, you know, be ready to answer.

If we have any technical difficulties, we'll probably just move on.

Really Quickly to somebody else and try to pull you back up if we can.

And then, you know, hopefully you're in a place where it's kind of quiet.

If you're like in a restaurant or something, it may not be best for you to come up.

So don't be scared, don't be intimidated, and we will, you know, have some fun with that.

I already see some people raising their hands.

Y' all are like, ready?

I like it.

Okay, let's do some questions here.

And I have.

When we start, questions.

I have my notes, my paper to take notes, because I'm really excited.

But this is super informal.

Hold on.

My husband asked me about dinner.

Typical.

All right.

Okay.

So some of the questions I got were kind of just basic ones about, like, what do I bring, what do I wear, what do I do for makeup and hair.

We do have some blog posts on that and podcast interviews and videos that go over some of that.

The book has a section as well, talking about that.

In general, you want to keep it simple.

So if you're going to take a bag, make sure it's a small bag.

If you're anything like me, you lug around, like a massive purse at most times, so a smaller bag is best.

You want to have things like your phone off, not on silent, your Apple watch.

I would not wear this if I was going to an interview.

It would be extremely distracting if it decides to tell me to stand up in the middle of my interview, or if I accidentally tap on Minnie and she starts talking.

You know, you just don't want any possible distractions at all.

And so I'd get rid of anything technological.

If you want to bring a pen and a paper, that's fine.

If you want.

If you have any updates as far as your resume, you could bring an updated copy.

If you want to bring.

I mean, you may have your car keys, things like that.

Totally fine to have those in a small bag.

If you want to bring a small water, that's okay too.

You don't need a ton of stuff.

And a lot of times a school will give you a folder or a handout or something to take notes if you need to.

So you don't want have to bring a ton.

When it comes to what to wear for an interview, keep it simple as well.

So most of the time, a suit is going to be most appropriate.

If you're second guessing what you've picked out to wear or you're having to ask if it's appropriate, it's probably not.

And you're probably going to second guess it on interview day.

And you want to have something that you're confident in and that you feel professional and that you're not thinking about what you're wearing as much as the interview.

In the school itself.

As far as hair and makeup for interview day, keep it simple.

So simple makeup, I wouldn't do anything too crazy.

Think about what you would wear to work or on rotations.

And then hair.

You know, again, I pulled my hair back in a ponytail because I tend to mess with my hair.

You'll probably notice me doing that tonight.

You know, I move it around, I put it behind my ears, whatever.

But that's distracting in an interview.

And so for me, I needed it out of my face.

I needed to look a little bit older, a little bit more mature, and keep my hands in my lap.

So, you know, those are things that you can practice if you video yourself, which is my number one tip for practicing for school interviews is to video yourself.

We all hate it.

I hate seeing myself on video.

I hate hearing myself on video.

But if you want to get better at something, you've got to watch yourself do it.

So if you want to get better at your interview skills, video yourself and watch it back.

It will make you do a better job at your interview.

So that is my challenge to you, is definitely to try to practice that.

All right.

One question that apparently we got asked a lot was, should we shake hands during an in person interview?

Thanks to Covid Times, we've never had to think about this.

I have never really been a handshaker.

I don't really shake my patient's hands before.

COVID this sounds awful, but, you know, I see where patients have rashes and things and where they, like, scratch.

So I've never really been a handshaker in my office, but I would follow your interviewer's lead.

You know, if they put their hand out, shake it.

If they go in for an elbow bump, do that.

But don't feel obligated or like you have to initiate a handshake right now.

Totally fine.

I mean, kind of.

I guess some of our formalities have changed a little bit with all of that.

We're going to talk about that.

So I want to talk about interview essays because there were a couple questions about that.

For essays, one of the best ways to practice for the essay portion of an interview is to practice with an interview question.

Just take any interview question.

Give yourself a time limit.

15, 20, 30 Minutes.

Sit down.

You need to practice timing or kind of articulating your thoughts.

How Is that being done?

Virtually every school is going to do this differently.

Some of y' all may have advice in the chat if you've done this.

I've had some schools where they have you send it in, you know, by the end of the day, or they'll have a specific time during the interview that you sit and write and then submit it.

So it could vary.

And I think some schools have kind of simplified their process by taking that out of it as well.

Okay, cool.

Okay, so sorry, my stomach's growling.

So it happens when you eat lunch at 2 o' clock and then skip dinner.

Okay, we're gonna get into some questions because I want to give y' all time to practice.

And then any questions that come up from that, we'll go from there.

Okay, so to start off, I am going to go mainly from the questions that came from Instagram first,.

And then.

We'll go into some of these as well.

But let's see if anyone.

So if you see the little speak option, that's what comes up to give us the chance to bring you on stage.

So if you want to raise your hand, use that option and then we'll go from there.

All right, so in case you didn't get it, I'm going to change the offer.

It's set webinar.

That's going to be the code for everything, and that will be in the replay email as well.

If you miss it here, don't see the link or whatever.

So we also will have.

Let me publish 50% off the PA school interview course, which if you feel like you need more kind of visual.

Visual aids for practicing for your interview.

The course is different from the book just because I'm able to give more examples and actually say them versus in the book, you're just reading them.

So it goes.

It's kind of the same outline, but I go a lot more in depth on some of those topics than I can go in the book.

So the link is there.

Same code again, it'll be in your email, but let's get to some practice.

All right, it looks like we have Lauren first up.

All right, Lauren, are you ready?

Let's see.

So it should, I think, try to bring you up, and then you'll have to turn on your camera.

In the meantime, we'll answer a couple questions.

Yeah, y' all just highlight or delete the ones I've answered in there.

We have a Google Doc going, so I don't do them again.

All right, let's see.

We.

We can't see you Yet.

But you're.

It should be, like, I think in the bottom.

Bottom left or at the top.

Oh, okay.

Hello.

Hello.

Welcome.

Thank you for volunteering.

For sure.

Yeah.

All right, so are you ready?

You're our first victim.

Yeah, I'm ready.

I was not expecting to be first,.

But, yeah, I don't know your name just came up first, so.

Hey, we'll go with it.

Okay, awesome.

Okay, so we're just gonna jump in.

Have you interviewed anywhere before?

No, my first interview will be the last week of September, the second day, so.

Okay.

Okay, good.

That's.

You got.

Got one coming up.

That's awesome.

This will hopefully give you a little bit of practice.

So we're gonna kind of just go and.

Hey, if you get stuck, it's okay.

You have a lot of people cheering you on, and we'll see what they say about your answer.

Okay.

Okay.

And I'm gonna take notes.

So tell me about a time that you received constructive criticism.

So probably the best example is definitely at work.

So I currently work as a nurse technician at the University Hospital here in Missouri.

And when I first started out, I had gone through orientation, but I think a lot of the time, once you actually get on the floor is when you really start to take on your role and really figure out where you're lacking in knowledge.

So when I first came on the floor, I learned very quickly that I didn't know as much as I thought I did.

And a lot of the time, I'd be in a patient room, and I would ask someone to come in with me to see, like, what I was missing or what I could do better in order to better deliver quality patient care.

So they came in with me.

For example, whenever I started taking, like, glucose checks or vitals, it was hard for me to do it in an efficiently timed manner and not be too scared of, like, not missing certain qualities of the patients or what they were wanting at that specific time.

So a lot of the time, I just started asking more questions so that whenever I went back into a patient room, I felt like I was more equipped to deliver quality patient care and that I was actually hitting the targets that the hospital wanted me to hit as a nurse technician.

If it freezes for anybody use, like, just re refresh it and it should come back.

But so far, I don't think anyone.

Don't think we're having issues that I can tell.

So just refresh it if you need to.

All right, so great job being super personable with your answer.

Like, I could tell you're Very genuine, that you were, you know, telling something that you struggled with.

And that's a really kind of good approach.

Some of the things that I really like that you did were you told me what you do.

That's something a lot of people forget is sometimes they'll say, like at work, this happened.

But you don't actually tell me what your role was or what you did.

So you need to kind of, you know, reiterate that, even if it's on your application or your personal statement, because the person interviewing you may or may not have reviewed that, they may not have that information.

So totally fine to say what you do.

That's a good thing.

I like that you gave me a specific example.

This is a behavioral question, and this came from somebody asking, what if I can only cope with a general scenario and not something specific?

These types of questions and the way that they are phrased with that kind of tell me about this, tell me about a situation example are wanting you to give something specific.

So you did exactly what you're supposed to do there with telling me, you know, at work in these situations is when I experience this or whatever.

So that was really good.

And the example that you showed your patient care experience, which is something you want to highlight, you know, you want the schools to know that like you said, you've done glucose checks and vitals.

You are one on one with patients in your role.

So you highlighted that as well.

Very good.

I think you explained it well with realizing your weakness, asking for help.

The only thing that I felt like you could have highlighted more was like the criticism you received.

It almost seemed like you were more critical of yourself than somebody else.

So being able to say, you know, the nurses wanted me to speed up a little bit, or my co workers are kind of showing, you know, this was how I respond to it appropriately.

And so being able to kind of pull that together into a lesson can be helpful.

So being able to say at the end of that, you know, in this experience, I've learned that in a new setting and even going through orientation, I may not feel completely comfortable, but that's why I know to ask for questions now.

And I know to, you know, make sure that, like you mentioned providing high quality patient care, which I really liked.

So to continue providing that high quality patient care, it's really important that I'm, you know, responding to feedback in a positive way and not in a negative way.

So just kind of making sure they know that this isn't going to be a holdup for you or something.

You're going to be offended about or anything like that.

Okay.

Does that make sense?

Yeah, it makes perfect sense.

I went around the world explaining that.

No, I. I appreciate it.

Thank you so much.

Okay, awesome.

All right, well, thank you for coming on stage.

I appreciate it.

Yeah, for sure.

And we'll kind of move on to something else.

Thank you.

Okay.

There we go.

I'm glad that worked.

I saw a few people are having some glitches.

Hopefully that won't happen again, but if it does, tell me.

Sorry.

I get so lost trying to keep up with this chat because y' all ask so much, and I can't keep up with it.

Okay, cool.

All right, let's see if we can do another one.

All right, I'm gonna try something that may or may not work.

Just hang tight for a second.

Okay.

Okay, let's see what happens.

I've invited three people up to the stage for a specific reason.

A lot of the questions we have gotten were about group interviews and feeling like you didn't know how to tackle a zoom group interview.

So I'm hoping if this works appropriately, we'll see.

We can get three people up here, and we're gonna have a group interview and see what happens.

Hello.

Hi, Brooke.

Thank you for joining us.

Thanks for having me.

This is great.

Oh, gosh.

I don't even know who else I. I clicked on.

I clicked.

I think Patricia was one and then somebody else.

We'll see if anyone else joins us.

I'm going to try to.

Try to.

We're going to try to simulate a group interview if we can.

Okay, let's see.

I'll try to bring somebody else up and see if it works.

Maybe I did it wrong.

Is Charlotte.

You've been invited.

Have you interviewed anywhere, Brooke?

I have not interviewed anywhere.

My first interview is on September 30th, so I'm prepping for it and very excited.

Nice.

I'm actually impressed by how many people have interview invites in the group, so I think that's awesome.

I just got mine a few days ago, so this is, like, all new.

Like, whoa, what's happening?

Finally.

So I'm very excited, you know, really get ready.

Okay, we have Charlotte.

Awesome.

I think I'm just clicking at this point, so.

Hi, Charlotte.

How are you?

Thank you for joining us.

I'm gonna see if I can get one more up here.

Get some good practice.

I don't know if y' all have group interviews at your.

Your interviews or if you even know yet.

Mine will be group interview, short essay, and I have A.

It's like a multiple different things going on.

Okay.

A little bit of everything.

Nice.

That's a lot.

Mine's a two on one interview.

So I have two faculty members interviewing me.

Are they in person or not?

It's going to be virtual, so hopefully a little bit less stressful.

Yeah, mine too, Virgil.

Okay, cool.

All right.

I've invited some people.

I don't think anyone's coming.

Oh, okay.

We got one more, Gracie.

Perfect.

This will be fun.

Hello.

Hello.

But not see you yet.

There should be a little button.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you for joining.

Hello.

Wow.

Do you have an interview anywhere?

Yes.

I actually applied to many schools.

I'm very embarrassed to see how many, but I have eight interviews.

Wow.

I applied to a lot of school, so.

Congratulations, though.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

The odds are in your favor.

That's awesome.

I hope so.

Yeah.

All right, well, we're just gonna.

I have actually two questions for y'.

All.

Since this worked.

I'm not gonna test the system with trying to do this again, but we're gonna do two questions and then we'll talk about them.

Y' all ready?

Okay.

So.

So what do you think is the most challenging thing about being a pa?

Does anyone want to start?

Okay, go ahead, Gracie.

I think the most challenging thing about being a PA is just keeping updated with the legislative changes, especially by state.

I just did some research on OTP optimal team practice, and I think that's becoming a lot more popular.

And there are more policies within different states.

States.

So as a pa, since it's generally new and it's becoming a lot more popular, there are these changes that you need to keep up to date with.

Okay, I can go next.

I think the most challenging thing of being a PA is going to be realizing that there are some things that are completely out of your control that you won't be able to fix or heal or make better for patients.

And learning how to balance, doing everything that you can, but then also taking a personal step back in order to balance your own mental health so that you're able to treat patients in the fullest way.

Dedicating yourself, but then also having a healthy balance.

Being a mid level provider, you're going to have to deal with hospital systems, with physicians that you work with, and other pieces of problems that are completely outside of things that you're able to control.

Okay.

I would say as a future pa, the biggest issue that I could see running into is all of these technology changes that are coming in, especially with COVID I feel like there's so many new products and just new technology being introduced with systems and it's something that all of us will have to kind of go through and learn how to use.

Going through all these new changes with technology, especially with different cardiology is definitely something that we're going to have to.

Sorry.

Is definitely something that we're all going to have to read about and go through together collaboratively here.

I totally agree with that, Charlotte.

And yours as well, Brooke.

Okay, for our next question.

Brooke, I'll let you start.

Since you went next, why should we choose you instead of anyone else here today?

I think that you should choose me because of my unique background.

In my majors I double majored in computer science and a major called Medicine, Health and Society which is a pre health major.

But then it also provides a unique context of environmental factors, economic factors and just other pieces to humans that make healthcare a dynamic situation that as a provider you need to be able to figure out.

And so with the combination of technology and all of those different factors in my background I think that I have the passion behind serving patients and healing patients to my the best of my ability with the correct perspective needed to be successful in that.

And then also able to provide innovation to the PA profession because it the PA should be able to do more than just diagnose and create treatment plans, but learn and educate themselves in different aspects of patients lives so that they're able to provide a holistic picture of how to heal patients.

Okay.

What about you Charlotte?

Sorry, I'm in school.

Hold on one second.

Oh,.

Sorry, one second.

Can you ask Gracie first?

I'm sorry, go ahead.

So I think I'd be a great addition to the PA profession and your school.

Just because I've known that I wanted to be a PA very early on since I was 10 years old.

With the personal experience as you've seen in my personal statement, I just think I would be a great addition to the PA profession.

I'm very outgoing.

I know all my co workers tell me that they love when I'm on the schedule to come to work and I make them happy and I'm a very optimistic person to work around.

In addition, I think I'm very selfless when it comes to studying at the very competitive biology department at UC Irvine.

I was very selfless and I really eliminated the stigma of being competitive in your studies.

I think it's best to work as a team and I think you really get to utilize that as a future PA because the class size are a little bit smaller and everyone has a common goal.

Ultimately, I believe that I would create unity among the class.

And I just think I would be a very positive, optimistic student and person and future pa.

Are you back with us?

Yeah, I'm good.

Sorry, I'm in a study hall.

I think I'd be a good choice.

For this university because I have a very well rounded background.

Growing up, I was diagnosed with hepatitis C. I was the patient.

I experienced several different perspectives as a patient.

And as I got older, I decided to enter the world of pharmacy.

I have a lot of experience with different medications, diagnosis for those medications.

And then I decided I wanted to go a step further.

So I decided to work at Mayo Clinic Hospital in the inpatient pharmacy.

Working there, I was able to see actual patients in hospital rooms, be able to have that experience talking to them as I came in, and then I was able to deliver the medications they needed.

At this job, I learned a lot.

About.

Inpatient directions and different roles in the hospital.

And one day I was standing in the ICU and I saw a group of healthcare professionals talking collaboratively.

And it was just so inspiring to me to be able to see what they were able to do.

At the end, they collapsed and they kind of dispersed.

And I realized that's what I wanted to do.

After that, I decided to move up to Oregon.

I actually wanted to go to osu and I started a pre pharmacy program.

I realized that this wasn't so much for me.

After watching that group of physicians and PAs separate, I realized I wanted to be one of them.

I wanted to be there to help diagnose and treat these patients.

These different backgrounds have helped me develop a new perspective on each separate specialty, which is definitely something that we need in the field.

And when I came back to Arizona after being at osu, I started working in an emergency room.

That gave me a whole new perspective on how all these other professionals work together.

And it was so inspiring to me.

And I just want to be able to bring all those new perspectives in to this field myself so I can share that with everyone.

Nice.

All right.

The chat is loving your answers, by the way, but you all did a really, really good job.

How do you all feel about it?

That's my hardest question because it's so hard to brag about yourself or like, pick what you want to choose.

And they asked me, like, tell me about yourself outside of your application.

And I was like, this.

My life is my application.

So I.

That was a question.

I bombed.

So I'm so happy you asked that.

My anxiety just gets the Best of me.

I've been trying to my heart.

I think it's hard trying to decide how long to talk and whether or not you want to add another point or just kind of stop.

Like, for me, I wish I talked a little bit longer because I thought of more things to say afterwards that more focused on myself.

So definitely looking back and hearing other people's answers, I'm like, oh, gosh, good one.

It's so hard to choose what you want to include.

Yeah, well.

And that's where think of different things that you wish you would have said or things you want to change in the future for the next time you get asked that question.

So that's always going to happen.

I mean, no matter how many times you practice or interview, that will always happen.

And that's where videoing yourself is really helpful to see how long you're talking, because I think.

I mean, I wasn't timing it, but I would say broken.

Gracie's answers were probably around, like, 30 seconds, which isn't very long.

And that's fine.

You got a lot of information in there.

But like you said, you could have talked a little bit longer, and so Charlotte talks a little bit longer.

But even that was probably maybe right at two minutes.

We could watch this back later and time them, but that's okay.

In a group setting, you do want to be a little bit more cognizant of the other people.

I mean, you wouldn't want to talk for, like, five minutes because there are other people who need to answer.

But I think overall, y' all did a really great job, all of you, of taking different directions, which is intimidating and people find difficult, and then also highlighting yourselves, which is hard in a setting with other people.

It's hard enough when there's not other people, but to have to do it, you know, in this setting where you're comparing yourself to somebody else, it's difficult.

And so that's.

That's totally fine.

I do want to talk about a few little specific things.

So let's see.

Let's go back up to the first question somebody asked in the chat a long time ago.

Like, is this how group interviews work?

Will they make sure everybody can answer or let you volunteer?

Every school is going to be different.

Every process is going to be different.

Some schools will have you volunteer.

Some schools will tell you when to answer.

Some schools will maybe not even ask you the same question.

I know one school, they don't ask the same question of their applicants.

They have a group interview, but they ask them all different Questions.

So it's.

I mean, there are so many variations on how this could go.

So, you know, don't worry about that as much, because you may not know.

But going back up to that first question, I love that Gracie just, like, jumped in, like, hey, I'll answer.

You know, that is fine to take that initiative, but don't feel pressure, like you have to.

If you need a minute to gather your thoughts, there are some benefits to doing that, because then, you know, you're first you.

In a question like that, like, a biggest challenge to being a pa.

I talk about it in the book some, because actually, the one that comes up the most y' all didn't say, which is patients not knowing what a PA is.

I thought everyone would answer that.

That's why I kind of steered away.

That's nice.

Like, yeah.

Left that for somebody else.

Yeah.

But no, but I thought your answer was really.

Was really good.

It shows your knowledge of the profession.

One thing that I wanted to comment on, though, was that Gracie's answer was really the only one that's specific to the PA profession, and that's something that a lot of people do.

The other answers were a little bit more general to medicine, which is okay.

But if you really think about what they're asking you, they're asking about PAs specifically, and so you want to, you know, be as specific as.

And tailored in your answer as you can be.

So with, oh, I saw a comment that was funny.

So then when we're talking about this, I think Brooke then said, you know, realizing things are out of your control, which is so true in medicine.

That's why you need to do patient care.

That's something like, you could definitely back up with a personal example, if you have one.

You know, you can still incorporate your examples into the responses.

And then, Charlotte, I feel like you really brought in collaboration, which is such an important thing to talk about as a pa, and that's where you could have, like, connected it to the profession and been able to say, like, we're learning to, like, use all these different things in our collaboration, and that's just going to make our relationships better with patients, with physicians, blah, blah, blah.

Can I chime in on that?

Actually, I talked to some current PA students, and they were saying that some of the questions they got were based on optimal team practice.

Could you.

Is that.

Could you explain that a little bit?

Because I kind of researched it, but.

So, yeah, And Gracie, I think, brought that up in her answer a little bit.

So just, first of all, to preface, schools do not expect y' all to understand fully optimal team practice or all of the laws surrounding the PA profession.

I've read everything about PAs for Georgia out of our medical board stuff, and it's still confusing.

So they're not expecting y' all to be, you know, experts in that, but you need to have a understanding.

So the idea between optimal team practice is that a PA has a collaborative relationship with the physician they work with, and that that is everything that a PA can do is decided on a practice level versus on a state or corporation level.

So instead of a hospital being able to say, PAs can never do XYZ, even if a PA has tons of experience in that area, and the physician and the PA have a relationship where the PA can do that, optimal team practice says let the PA and the doctor make that decision, not the hospital or healthcare administration or the state.

And so that is the push between optimal team practice is, is that this would be a concept that all states adopt.

So kind of like Gracie said, like, there's a lot of differences in state laws, me being in Georgia versus what I can do in South Carolina, even though I'm right on the border, it's different.

And the process of getting a license is different.

And so optimal team practice is something that states are trying to adopt and have to get passed as far as legislature for these relationships to take place.

Laws in general are very complicated.

So the same thing goes for the.

What's it called?

Name change.

So that same idea, it is something that has been proposed and adopted by AAPA, but now has to be accepted by all of the states.

And that's a process that will likely take their anticipating 10 years.

So we are still physician assistants at this point and probably will be for a lot of your career.

So those are just things like the AAPA website is great for that.

For searching, go to your medical board website.

And then for the state you're either in or interviewing in Google, just I Google a lot like physician assistant, GA or, you know, things.

Things that are kind of general, just to see if there are any new laws or things I need to know about.

And I'll use kind of news section.

So those are ways to investigate that a little bit further.

But for those questions, too, if you feel stumped and you really don't know, just say you don't know, because that is better than making something up and digging a hole.

I think I put it in the book I don't know.

But there was a girl in my interview group.

And number one, don't go back to your interview group and tell them what the questions are.

Like, that's not appropriate.

But this girl came back.

She was like.

They asked me what I felt the future of health care was with current government changes or something like that.

And she was like.

And then I said, you know, I think Obamacare will be a really great thing.

And then they said, what is Obamacare?

And I didn't know.

And I'm like, well, why did you bring that up if you didn't know?

Like, you just dug a hole you couldn't get out of.

And so there are times when it's better to be a little more general if you aren't sure on the specifics.

She was not in my class the next year.

Yeah, if I chose to talk about otp, I can't really talk about, like, a personal story.

So do you think it's, like, an advantage, disadvantage to choosing to talk about that?

Okay, so you said that you can't talk about, but you could.

So that's where.

If you have shadowed or worked with pas and talked about that with them, that's a great way to bring that.

In.

And really say, like, you know, this is something I've discussed with PAs while shadowing and been able to learn from them.

That is how they feel about it.

So, yeah.

So even though you don't personally have experience with it, that's kind of that connection you can make there.

Okay, that's perfect.

And just like, so FYI, guys, when we do this in mock interviews, we, like, go through a bunch of questions and then do feedback afterwards.

This is not how mock interviews go.

If anybody.

So the next question, which is a hard, unfair question, to be honest, like, why should I pick you and not anybody else?

That's so mean.

But it happens.

That's why I asked it.

So I like Brooke.

I love how you just jumped in with, like, confidence.

And you mentioned being passionate, but I felt like that really showed in your response, which.

That's something that I always tell people in mock interviews.

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

I can't teach you to be passionate.

I can teach you to be confident, but I can't make you excited about this.

And so that's something that just like, has to come out in your interview.

And so I think if.

I mean, that was great.

I think your confidence was great.

Talking about your major was unique.

And then I liked that you said, I can't read my writing, but something along the lines of how you wanted to bring innovation to the profession.

I think that's what it said.

I like, I loved that.

That was a really good point.

I really liked that.

So I think you did a great job there.

Oh, no, we lost shot.

She's probably in class, but we can still talk about her answer.

So, yeah, so I thought that was really great.

Thank you.

Then Charlotte, I think I also used personal stories really well, so she told us a lot.

Like, we learned about her background as a patient, which is always a good thing to include.

We learned about her experience, and I think she took an opportunity to tell us something that she hadn't told us yet.

And that's what you have to try to do.

If you're sitting there going, I haven't gotten to tell them why I want to be a PA Yet.

I haven't gotten to say this.

You know, you.

You see an opening and you take it.

And even.

And.

And you just work that answer in to fit the question that's being asked.

And then.

Let's see.

Gracie.

So I really like how.

Let me see.

Okay.

So I like how you address the school specifically, too.

That was really good.

And you're like, I am like, I'm a good fit for the profession and the school.

And I think that, you know, helps them to start to visualize you as a student there and see, like, oh, she really wants, like, our program, which they want to see.

So I thought that was really good.

The one thing I was going to say about that one is don't assume that your interviewer has read your personal statement.

So I think you said something along.

Like, as you write in my personal statement, I have a lot of experience.

Well, that person may not have said, this is your time to.

And also, like, they've probably read hundreds, if they have.

So, yeah, this is your time to say, like, this is where I have experience and why I want to do that.

Another good thing you did, and I love this technique, is because.

Because it's intimidating to be like, I'm outgoing and I like, like, you emphasized your strengths by.

By using your co workers.

And that's such a great strategy.

Okay.

To say, you know, my co workers tell me they're so excited when I come to work because I'm, you know, outgoing and helpful.

That's good.

It's not a lie.

Again, you came across very genuine.

Like, I didn't think you were making it up, but that strategy just takes the pressure off of sitting there going, I'm awesome.

Everyone loves me.

I'm cool.

Like, it.

It's.

It just, you know, makes it a little easier to say, you know, this is what I hear from my.

And be honest.

This is what I hear from my co workers.

This is what I hear from the physicians I work with, the PA I work with.

You can reiterate those things, and it does really well.

So I like that.

Awesome.

But, yeah, overall, really great job, y'.

All.

Thank you so much for volunteering.

Thank you,.

And good luck.

Okay, cool.

Is this fun?

Is this helpful?

I thought that was pretty fun for a group interview.

Okay.

I think we.

This.

Oh, my gosh.

We definitely need to do this again because I've not gotten to ask as many things as I wanted, but I think we have time to get one more person up here, and we're going to do a couple of questions.

Oh, I'm gonna go ahead and put up.

Let's see.

I'm gonna put up a poll.

Do you feel prepared for interviews?

Is this helping?

And then I'm also gonna put up our last offer, which is for a discount on mock interviews.

If you have an interview coming up and you're planning on doing a mock interview, I do recommend going ahead and trying to sign up.

I've noticed that a lot of, like, our nighttime availability with our coaches or weekends have been filling up really, really quick.

So if you have a limited schedule, make sure you take advantage so that you get the time slot you want.

And if you ever don't see a time that works for you, please email me.

And our coaches are awesome.

Like, we will try to make it happen for you the best we can.

Unless you email me and say you want to do an interview at midnight the night before your interviewer or at 5:00am the day of, then I will tell you to go to sleep.

So.

All right, let's see.

Okay.

Glad.

Glad some of y' all are feeling better.

That's good.

Okay.

Yeah, I think that was good for showing a group interview.

Okay, let's see if I can get somebody up here randomly.

Oh, gosh.

There's a lot of y' all in here now.

See what happens.

Anisa, I've invited you to the stage.

That sounds really lame.

Sorry.

Oh, my email address.

So everything's on social media.

I'm on everywhere pretty much at the PA Platform.

If you contact me there or if you send an email, it's just info at the PA Platform.

Okay.

Everybody loves Allison for mock interviews.

She is really awesome.

And and we get such great feedback, so.

All right.

Some.

Some prep for the interviews.

You know, like half a nap.

Okay.

I don't know if Anisa is coming on the stage.

Let's see.

Try.

Aaron, are you there?

It, like, puts them in random order too, so I can't tell, like, when people came up.

Okay, we have Aaron on the stage.

We can get some.

There we go.

Hello.

How are you?

I'm doing well.

How are you?

Good.

Thank you for volunteering.

Absolutely.

Awesome.

Okay, so we're just gonna jump in to a couple questions here.

Ready?

Yeah, let's do it.

Do you have any interviews coming up?

I do.

I completely bombed the first quiz.

Big old fashioned.

But that was a wake up call for me, and it really motivated me to make some changes.

And I knew I had to adapt because I really wanted to excel in the course.

So some of the strategies I used was setting up a meeting with the professor, and there was also a lot of optional discussion sections for students to attend.

So I made a commitment to go to at least two of those every week to improve my skills.

And I also gave up some time, maybe like going to football games and things like that, to spend extra time in the library on problem sets.

And by really practicing to learn to understand rather than just memorization, I was able to do really well.

And I actually ended up getting A's in both semesters of ochem.

So I was pretty proud of digging myself out of the hole I. Doug in the first place.

Okay, that's a great answer.

Do you have any questions for me?

Yeah, I actually wanted to know why you decided to be a faculty member as opposed to just a clinician, and why you decided to teach at this specific program.

That's a great question.

I like it.

Okay, I'm not really going to answer, but I just wanted to see what you do with that.

So great job.

All right, some people missed the question.

The question was, tell me about a time that you struggled academically.

Okay.

How do you feel about that answer?

Am I glitching?

Oh, we can't hear you.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I think my audio turned off for a second.

How do you want that answer?

Can you.

Can you.

How do I feel about the answer to what?

Your answer that you gave.

Oh, I feel good about it.

Like, I thought you did really well.

We'll see what what Chat said.

They said, good job.

All right, we're getting some responses in now.

Did awesome.

Okay, so in this type of question, you address a lot of the things that school would be looking for if somebody's asking about your academics, they want to know that you have had a time that you struggled, because in PA school, you're likely to struggle.

So, you know, being able to say, like, you did, you know, I. I realized I was struggling.

I made some changes.

I.

You.

You showed specifics on how you took initiative.

I've developed and I'm willing to adapt.

Somebody said you sounded very confident, and I agree, like, you're very personable.

I wrote that.

That's the first thing I wrote, like, personable, which is perfect.

It's very, you know, being yourself, which I. I thought you job with.

That's really great advice of, like, bringing it full circle back to PA school.

So thank you for that comment.

Yeah.

And then I. I wanted.

So one of the questions we got was like, what to ask interviewers.

And I love that technique of asking them something personal you don't like.

They've probably already told you everything about the school, so you don't unless there is something you genuinely want to know.

But asking them, you know, about their background, their specialty, getting into academics, I think all of those are appropriate questions to ask and, you know, may start a conversation where y' all make a connection over their background as well.

So I think that's a really great technique too.

Yes.

Thank you for coming on stage.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Good luck.

All right, so we've done some questions.

How's everyone feeling?

I hope this has been helpful.

I'm about to go record a podcast interview in just a little bit.

But, yeah, after this, I'm definitely thinking October, we're just going to do more interview prep somewhere.

There are some questions about mmi.

If you Google the PA platform, mmi, there's a blog post about technique for answering questions.

There's YouTube video podcast episodes that go over MMI specifically.

There's also a chapter in the interview guide about mmi.

There's lots of resources for that.

There's a chapter about group stuff.

There's.

And there's in the course, too.

There's a whole, you know, module or whatever it's called about those things.

So there are resources for, you know, if there's something specific you're looking for.

My best advice is to just Google the PA platform and whatever it is you're looking for.

Interviews, gpa.

Just be really specific and probably something will come up.

If not, just email me, send me a message on social media.

Make sure you're following on Instagram.

I would love to know where you found this webinar and where you came from, whether it was the, you know, newsletter or wherever.

Oh, Jenna has an interview tomorrow.

You guys.

Good luck.

Yeah.

Go to.

Go to bed.

Definitely.

You know.

Oh, gosh, I'm nervous for you, but you'll do great.

I know you will.

All right, well, thank you so much for attending.

I hope to see you guys at the next webinar.

And, Sam.