1 answer
Luna
Student
Miami, Florida
1
Question
Updated
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How challenging is PA school and what does it take to get through it?
I am a high school senior and I am trying to figure out if PA school is really for me
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1 answer
Hwal Lee
DMSc, PA-C
275
Answers
Albany, New York
Updated
Hwal’s Answer
Luna,
I'm a primary care internal medicine PA and a 2020 graduate, so let me share some insights with you. Firstly, what makes you consider PA school? For me, I wanted to practice medicine and that's how I wanted to help others. I'm from Australia where the PA profession as we know it doesn't yet exist, so when I first moved to the U.S., I had planned in applying to medical schools because I thought that was the only way I could learn and practice medicine. Fast forward to 2025, I feel that I made the right choice by going to PA school, and there are several reasons for that. First, I got rigorous medical training that prepared me well for practice and lifelong learning after graduation. Just as importantly, I was able to start practicing medicine as a fully licensed and certified PA several years sooner than if I had chosen medical school.
With that said, PA school was no walk in the park, and I never expected or wanted it to be. I was in classroom, clinical skills lab, or cadaver lab 8am-5pm Monday to Friday through the didactic training, and there were lots of tests and exams. Then, I had 14 months of clinical rotations in internal medicine, general surgery, women's health, emergency medicine, general medicine, orthopaedics, paediatrics, psychiatry, and electives. Hundreds of thousands of PAs have done it, so I hope you feel confident about your own PA journey, if you decide to pursue it. In terms of how to navigate PA training, I recommend this blog by a PA, who basically documented his own journey from a pre-PA student to where he is now. The Pre-PA and PA-S sections may be particularly relevant to you:
https://doseofpa.blogspot.com/?m=1
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any specific questions I can help with.
Good luck!
Hwal
I'm a primary care internal medicine PA and a 2020 graduate, so let me share some insights with you. Firstly, what makes you consider PA school? For me, I wanted to practice medicine and that's how I wanted to help others. I'm from Australia where the PA profession as we know it doesn't yet exist, so when I first moved to the U.S., I had planned in applying to medical schools because I thought that was the only way I could learn and practice medicine. Fast forward to 2025, I feel that I made the right choice by going to PA school, and there are several reasons for that. First, I got rigorous medical training that prepared me well for practice and lifelong learning after graduation. Just as importantly, I was able to start practicing medicine as a fully licensed and certified PA several years sooner than if I had chosen medical school.
With that said, PA school was no walk in the park, and I never expected or wanted it to be. I was in classroom, clinical skills lab, or cadaver lab 8am-5pm Monday to Friday through the didactic training, and there were lots of tests and exams. Then, I had 14 months of clinical rotations in internal medicine, general surgery, women's health, emergency medicine, general medicine, orthopaedics, paediatrics, psychiatry, and electives. Hundreds of thousands of PAs have done it, so I hope you feel confident about your own PA journey, if you decide to pursue it. In terms of how to navigate PA training, I recommend this blog by a PA, who basically documented his own journey from a pre-PA student to where he is now. The Pre-PA and PA-S sections may be particularly relevant to you:
https://doseofpa.blogspot.com/?m=1
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any specific questions I can help with.
Good luck!
Hwal