5 Things I Wish I Knew Before PA School (From a PA-C)

For most PA students, loans are a fact of life, and since most programs prohibit working (and the schedule makes it unrealistic anyway), there's little you can do about the balance while enrolled. So don't let it weigh on you daily.

But awareness matters. Take out only what you need, because money within reach gets spent. Skip the loan-funded restaurant meals every day, and definitely skip the post-graduation new car until you've seen your payoff math. Interest accrues fast, and your future self will thank you for every dollar you didn't borrow.

Your program's faculty are your support system, your future references, and often your pipeline to jobs, so don't be intimidated by them. Find the advisor, professor, or preceptor you can be honest with, and actually use them: if a section isn't clicking or you're not sure how to study effectively, ask.

Visiting an advisor just to decompress is a legitimate use of their door. They've watched hundreds of students survive what you're surviving, and talking to someone who's been there helps so much. Keep those relationships warm after graduation too.

Yes, and it matters more than you'd think. The study-every-waking-minute approach backfires: 30 extra minutes of studying while exhausted and hungry won't change your grade, but constantly refusing to live your life will absolutely raise your stress.

It sounds counterintuitive, but loosening up mid-didactic year (dinners out, the occasional concert, an actual hobby) often goes hand in hand with grades improving. Schedule the break the way you'd schedule a study block, and don't apologize for it.

There's a temptation during clinical year to tell every preceptor you want to work in their field, hoping it leads to a job. It usually leads nowhere, and it costs you the help you'd get by being honest.

The moment you start telling teachers and preceptors what you actually want, the network starts working for you: they know about openings in that field, they introduce you to colleagues, and they tailor advice to where you're really going. Being honest about your goals is actually a job-search strategy.

You're representing your program and the PA profession before you ever hold the credential, and that applies in class, on campus, on rotations, on weekends, and absolutely on social media. Healthcare communities are small. Preceptors talk, program directors talk, and future employers know both.

You don't have to be boring! Just never give anyone a story about you that you wouldn't want repeated in a job interview.

Answer to question/header

PA school is a firehose, but thousands of students survive it every year, and the ones who thrive treat their wellbeing, their relationships, and their honesty as part of the curriculum. If you're pre-PA and want the first five lessons, the original "5 Things I Wish I Knew" guest post pairs with this one.