A GUIDE FOR PARENTS OF FUTURE PAS
Your child wants to be a PA. Here is what that really means, and how you can help.
Physician assistants are one of the fastest-growing, best-paid careers in medicine, and getting into PA school is harder than most families expect. This page explains the profession in plain English, lays out the road to acceptance, and shows the specific ways parents make the biggest difference.
Prefer to choose the pieces yourself? Build a custom package.
THE PROFESSION
What exactly is a PA?
A PA (physician assistant, also called physician associate) is a licensed medical provider who diagnoses illness, orders and interprets tests, develops treatment plans, performs procedures, and prescribes medication. PAs train in the medical model, the same approach physicians use, and practice in collaboration with physicians across every specialty, from family medicine and dermatology to surgery, emergency medicine, and psychiatry.
$135,880
Median annual pay for PAs (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025)
21% growth
Projected job growth from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average
About 27 months
Typical length of a master's-level PA program after a bachelor's degree
Every specialty
PAs can change specialties without retraining, a flexibility most medical careers do not offer
How PAs become PAs. After a bachelor's degree, students complete an accredited master's program (roughly two to three years of classroom study plus clinical rotations), pass a national certifying exam (the PANCE) to earn the PA-C credential, and obtain a state license. From there, PAs keep their certification through continuing education and periodic recertification.
Why so many students choose it. Compared with medical school, the PA route gets your child practicing medicine years sooner and with far less debt, while still offering a six-figure income, real clinical responsibility, and the freedom to move between specialties. It also tends to allow a more predictable schedule, which matters to students who want a life outside of medicine.
THE COMPARISON EVERY PARENT ASKS ABOUT
PA vs. physician vs. nurse practitioner
These three roles overlap in what they do day to day, but the path to each one looks very different. Here is the short version.
- Training: bachelor's degree, then a 2 to 3 year master's program
- Model: medical model, generalist training
- Specialty: choose after graduation and switch freely
- Total time after high school: about 6 to 7 years, plus patient care experience
- Training: bachelor's degree, 4 years of medical school, then 3 to 7 years of residency
- Model: medical model, deepest training and full autonomy
- Specialty: locked in at residency; switching means retraining
- Total time after high school: 11 to 15 years
- Training: nursing degree (BSN), RN experience, then a master's or doctorate in nursing
- Model: nursing model, population-focused (family, pediatrics, psychiatry, etc.)
- Specialty: chosen during school; changing usually requires another certification
- Total time after high school: about 6 to 8 years
Bottom line for parents: if your child wants to practice medicine, wants flexibility, and does not want to spend their twenties in training, PA is often the best fit. Our counselors talk through this exact decision with students every week.
WHAT YOUR STUDENT IS UP AGAINST
The road to PA school, step by step
PA school is competitive. Programs typically fill a small class from hundreds of applicants, and most successful students spend two or more years building their application before they ever apply. Here is what the journey involves.
Any major works, but programs look closely at the overall GPA and the science GPA. Prerequisite courses usually include anatomy, physiology, chemistry, biology, microbiology, statistics, and psychology. Grades earned early matter, so freshman and sophomore year count.
This is the requirement that surprises families most. Many programs expect 1,000 to 2,000 or more hours of direct patient care, earned in roles like medical assistant, EMT, CNA, scribe, or phlebotomist. Students often work these jobs during school, summers, or a gap year.
Admissions committees want proof your student understands what a PA actually does. That means shadowing PAs in multiple settings, being able to explain why PA and not MD or NP, and often documenting those hours in the application.
Some programs require the GRE or the PA-CAT; many have dropped testing entirely. Knowing which schools require what is part of building a smart school list.
Most PA programs use one centralized application (CASPA) that opens in late April each year. Many programs review applications on a rolling basis, so submitting early and complete matters. The application includes transcripts, experience hours, references, and the personal statement.
A 5,000-character essay that has to explain who your student is and why they belong in this profession, followed by school-specific supplemental essays. This is where strong applicants separate themselves, and where most students most need an experienced editor.
Programs interview only a fraction of applicants. Formats range from traditional one-on-one to group and multiple mini interviews (MMI), and preparation makes a measurable difference. Savanna wrote the bestselling book on PA school interviews for exactly this reason.
Acceptances arrive on a rolling basis from late summer through spring. Many excellent PAs did not get in on their first cycle. A reapplication done strategically, with honest feedback on what to fix, is very often successful.
Free places to start: download our application timeline or explore the PA Program Map to see every program by state.
YOUR ROLE
Where parents help most (and where to step back)
After more than a decade of working with pre-PA students, we have watched which kinds of parent support actually move the needle. It is not what most people assume.
- Make the experience hours possible. Helping your student get certified as an EMT or CNA, or supporting a gap year in a patient care job, is one of the highest-return things a family can do.
- Fund expert eyes, not just tuition. A complete coaching package, covering strategy, essays, interviews, and ongoing support, costs a fraction of one semester of PA school and can decide whether your student applies once or twice.
- Be the calendar. Deadlines, prerequisite planning, and CASPA timing are where students slip. Gentle accountability on timeline is a real gift.
- Ask good questions. "Why PA and not NP?" "Which programs fit your stats?" Practicing those answers at the dinner table is interview prep.
- Normalize the long game. Two application cycles is common. A parent who treats a rejection as information, not failure, keeps a future PA in the game.
- The personal statement. Admissions readers can tell when a parent wrote or heavily edited an essay. Your student's voice has to carry it. Let a professional editor coach them instead.
- Contacting programs. Emails or calls from parents to admissions offices hurt applicants. Programs want to see an independent adult.
- Choosing the school list for them. Prestige is not the goal; fit and acceptance odds are. A counselor who knows the programs will build a list around your student's actual numbers.
- Managing every detail. The application process is itself a test of whether your student can run a complex project. Support the structure, then let them own it.
- Carrying the anxiety. This process is stressful for everyone. Students do better when at least one person at home is calm and steady.
HOW THE PA PLATFORM HELPS
One investment that covers the whole journey
Getting into PA school is not one problem. It is a strategy problem, then a writing problem, then an interview problem, with a long stretch of accountability in between. Families who buy one session at a time end up paying more and getting less. Our packages give your student a team of board-certified PAs from the first prerequisite to the final interview.
The most complete support we offer, and the only way to get one-on-one time with Savanna. Built for students at any stage: high schoolers exploring the path, undergrads mapping prerequisites, career changers, and reapplicants.
- 2 strategy sessions with Savanna Perry, PA-C, founder of The PA Platform
- 4 Pre-PA Counseling sessions with board-certified PAs for school lists, timeline, and strategy
- 20,000 characters of essay editing for the personal statement and supplemental essays, with 24-hour rush turnaround on every submission
- 2 mock interviews with written feedback
- Lifetime access to Pre-PA Academy: weekly live sessions, private community, full resource library
- All 3 Pre-PA guide books shipped to your home, plus the online course bundle
- Unlimited email support for the full duration of prep
One-time payment, no subscription. Full details and pricing on the package page.
Already know where your student needs help? Choose from counseling sessions, essay editing, mock interviews, Pre-PA Academy access, and rush review, and combine them into one package. The more you bundle, the more you save: 10% off for 2 to 3 services, 15% off for 4, and 25% off for 5 or more.
A good fit when your student is mid-cycle and needs, for example, heavy essay editing plus interview prep, or a year of Academy accountability plus a set of counseling sessions.
Not sure which package fits? Email [email protected] and our team will help you decide.
WHO YOU ARE TRUSTING WITH THIS
The longest-running pre-PA mentoring service, started by a PA
The PA Platform was founded in 2015 by Savanna Perry, PA-C, a practicing dermatology PA and the author of the Amazon bestselling book on PA school interviews. Since then, our team of board-certified PAs has helped tens of thousands of students navigate the path to PA school. Every coach your student works with is a PA who has been where they are trying to go.
QUESTIONS PARENTS ASK US
Frequently asked questions
No. High school and early college are the ideal time to confirm PA is the right goal, choose a college and major with prerequisites in mind, and plan how patient care hours will fit around school. The Full Package is built to be used across the whole journey, so a student who starts early simply gets more out of it.
Yes. Most parents do. Purchase the package, and your student schedules sessions and submits essays on their own timeline. Use your student's personal email at checkout (not a school .edu address) so their access and materials go to them. If you would like help setting it up, email [email protected].
Sessions are between your student and their coach. That is deliberate: admissions committees want to see an independent adult, and students are more candid one-on-one. Every session is recorded, though, and with your student's approval they can share the recording with you so you can watch it back and stay in the loop on the plan.
This is common, and it is fixable. The Full Package is a strong fit for reapplicants because it covers the honest diagnosis of what held the application back, a rebuilt strategy with Savanna and our counselors, fresh essays, and interview prep, all in one place.
Yes. Full pricing, everything included, and secure checkout are on the package pages linked above. Both packages are a one-time payment with no subscription.
Give your future PA an experienced guide.
The Full Package puts a team of practicing PAs, including Savanna herself, behind your student from now until their acceptance letter. It is the most complete support we offer, and it is designed to be bought once.
Want to pick the pieces? Build a custom package. Questions first? Email [email protected].
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