reapplicant pa personal statement examples

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TIPS FOR UPDATING YOUR PERSONAL STATEMENT AS A REAPPLICANT

After spending months and months constructing a seemingly perfect 5,000-character personal statement for PA school, it may seem daunting to update it. But, as a reapplicant, it is necessary. Your personal statement is unique to you and should express important parts of your PA school application journey, which may include the experience of being a reapplicant.

You have changed and grown since the previous application cycle and your essay should reflect this. Use the opportunity of a personal statement to express “Why PA” from your current perspective, which has shifted since you lasted applied. Although you may believe your personal statement was crafted perfectly, re-writing it is highly recommended.

The whole personal essay does not have to be completely different. It may still contain similar sentences and phrases but avoid simply copying and pasting entire paragraphs. You have experienced new patients, new scenarios, new things since you wrote your previous essay. Brainstorm how the past year or few months have further contributed to your desire to be accepted to PA school and become a PA. There is a reason that after being denied in one application cycle that you are persevering as a reapplicant. Communicate this passion!

If you believe that your personal statement was an area of weakness in your overall application, read through in in the perspective of an admissions committee member. What makes you stand out? What could have any other applicant wrote that is not unique to you? What lacks depth and specificity? Was the introduction paragraph enough to make you interested in the rest of the essay? Were all words chosen meticulously? Use prompts such as these to evaluate your essay and pick it apart. It will make for a better reapplicant essay.

Ask for help! Allowing others to read through and critique your essay is essential. This can be a school advisor, a PA you previously shadowed, a member of your college’s writing center, a family member, and, most importantly, a member of myPAresource. All personal statement editors who participate in revisions through myPAresource are certified physician assistants who have been extensively trained by current and former admissions panel members. They are well aware of what PA schools look for in personal statements and can provide crucial guidance on your essay.

As for the approach to upgrade your personal statement as a reapplicant, I suggest creating a plan! Pick one part of the essay to evaluate, revamp, completely delete, etc. each week. Once all paragraphs have been considered, brainstorm which additional paragraphs can benefit the overall picture you are tying to portray. After drafting these additional paragraphs, piece the whole essay together and you have a full rough draft! This is not the end though, just the beginning! Allow yourself to step away from the essay for a few days before revisiting it. This will give you a sharper perspective of the overall flow and tone of the essay. Read the essay out loud to yourself. What sentences are clear and precise, and which need some fine-tuning? Crafting a great personal statement takes great patience and effort.

Referencing how you have grown as a person and PA school applicant since the previous cycle is key. Explain what you have learned about yourself and learned about your goals over the past year. Convey how this time has prepared you for the rigors of PA school. I do not suggest dwelling on why you may not have been accepted in the previous cycle or any specifics about doubting your abilities. Use this space as a positive way to tell your story and enlighten the reader that you are an even better candidate for a spot in the PA program than you were before!

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8 Standout PA Personal Statement Examples to Inspire Your Own

Your PA personal statement is one of the most important  PA school requirements . A well-crafted, memorable statement is your golden ticket to a PA school interview and getting into the  best PA schools in the US or even a PA program in Canad a , so in today's blog, you'll learn what to include in your PA personal statement, common mistakes to avoid and you'll even be able to review PA personal statement examples.

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Article Contents 14 min read

Pa personal statement example #1.

During my kindergarten graduation, I walked on stage and gave my exit speech: “When I grow up, I want to be a teacher because it’s easy.” Reflecting back, I see the comedy in my naivety as every profession has its own unique challenges. I had no intention to pursue medicine, as I often had a sense of jealousy towards the field. Growing up, my mother was also attending school, first undergraduate then medical school. Exposed to the rigor and competition of higher education, she felt the need to share the importance of dedicating my time to education. While my classmates had work-free weekends, I spent my time completing extra homework, assigned by my mother. Initially, I misinterpreted her teachings as favoritism for studies over spending our days indulging in games.

My passion to become a physician assistant took root the day my grandmother fell from the top of a ladder. My mother shouted for my help with two simple tasks: grab a blanket and call 911. Trapped by fear and hesitation, I was unable to react. This response may seem understandable; however, I was my harshest critic and felt shame from my inability to aid. Sitting in the hospital waiting room, I reflected on my actions and vowed to never again be a mere observer. With this experience, my outlook on the medical field began to change from that of jealousy to intrigue. I started to understand that my mother’s intentions were not to spend less time with me but rather she aspired to be in a position where she could offer herself to support others, an attribute I strive to emulate. My kindergarten dreams to teach were expanded to embody care and compassion, with goals to empower and provide protection to others feeling helpless.

Aware of my lack of knowledge pertaining to handling trauma, I enrolled in an emergency medical response course that equipped me with the skills to handle unforeseen situations, and the strength to grow from criticism. Others questioned my ability to complete this physically rigorous course, given that my stature is a mere four feet and nine inches. Using this criticism as motivation, I excelled in the course and partook in a twelve-hour responder shift. This exhilarating experience strengthened my ambition to study medicine, as my interests lie in the shortcomings of human-design.

As an emergency medical responder, I felt qualified to take care of my grandmother who had developed Alzheimer’s. Having younger siblings, I am accustomed to watching over others; however, caring for someone suffering from disease requires a greater state of patience and serenity. When her memories began to slip away, I felt uneasy trying to converse about false stories and recollections. As I spent more time with her, I became accustomed to quick-thinking and no longer felt nervous or scared. I was able to speak with her about any topic and noticed an overall improvement in my confidence. My role as a caregiver tested my ability to handle stressful situations as I learned to deal with feelings of both frustration and anxiety, improving my compassion and understanding of others.

Losing my grandmother sooner than anticipated fueled my drive to provide quality care. Physician assistants require more than academic knowledge, additionally keen characteristics of sociability, emotional and mental strength, and the ability to educate. I have been fortunate to have adopted these lessons and skills. In an effort to pay these gifts forward by healing, supporting, and teaching, I began to shadow a physician assistant in internal medicine.

My experiences alongside my grandmother are not unique to me. Through shadowing, I have seen various forms of physical and emotional trauma that patients face. However, unlike my grandmother, not everyone has a support system. When it comes to dealing with such obstacles, I have a passion to serve as a guide; always trying to consider different perspectives. Some may see my empathetic nature as a weakness, but in a healthcare setting, it is my greatest strength. When rooming patients at the doctor’s office, I would converse and inquire about not only their medical concerns, but their feelings and experiences. When nervous patients thanked me for making them feel comfortable, and patients struggling emotionally held my hand for comfort, I knew I had succeeded in passing on both strength and encouragement.

Although I was raised in a household where education was prioritized over indulgences, I matured to form my own beliefs. Life is not about choosing between learning and pleasure, but rather intertwining the two. I have found a field of study that to me is both a sweet and bitter indulgence, but gratifying nonetheless. Medicine is balanced by both miraculous and shattering moments each requiring their own forms of nurturing. Negative occurrences do not weaken my belief in medicine but rather serve as my motivation to continuously learn and be active in political and research-based medicine. Similarly, positive patient outcomes serve as a reminder for why I cannot let setbacks get in the way of working towards progress. I promise to use my knowledge and experience to foster a tangible outcome of health and manifest invaluable relationships.

• This statement utilizes strong transitional sentences to link paragraphs which creates an easy-to-read essay with excellent flow.
• At the end of each experience, this writer does an excellent job of reflecting. They discuss what they learned, why it was significant, and how it will help them in a career in medicine.
• Instead of discussing a variety of different experiences, the writer focussed on quality experiences over quantity. This allows each experience, whether the experience with their grandmother or the experience as an emergency medical responder to really develop throughout the essay, ultimately creating a unifying theme that ties together well in the conclusion.
• The essay really comes to life due to the inclusion of details that describe experiences and interactions that were significant to the writer such as time spent with their grandmother and patient interactions during shadowing.

Potential areas of improvement

Sarah’s statement was, overall, very well written—this is one we’d have a student submit with their PA application. However, we still asked an advisor to critique this statement (just to provide some perspective) and here is what they shared:

While this statement is compelling, in my opinion, it could benefit from a tighter focus by refining or trimming some earlier details to keep the narrative more concise. Additionally, balancing the emotional reflection with more specific examples of clinical skills would strengthen the overall message and showcase readiness for a PA role. It’s well done and certainly acceptable as-is, but if I had the chance to sit down with this student and offer this as a piece of final advice before they submitted it, I would!

7 More PA Personal Statement Examples

Pa personal statement example #2, pa personal statement example #3, pa personal statement example #4, pa personal statement example #5, pa personal statement example #6, pa personal statement example #7, pa personal statement example #8.

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The PA school personal statement is one of the most important of the PA school requirements.

Before you begin writing your physician assistant personal statement, it's important to understand the purpose of the personal statement. Essentially, your personal statement will serve as your introduction to admissions committees. It's a way for you to demonstrate why you have chosen to pursue medicine, and why you want to become a PA specifically.

Admissions committees want to understand where your first interest in becoming a physician assistant began, what memorable experiences you've had since that moment, and what steps you've taken towards turning that initial interest into desire and passion for the profession. As with all types of personal statements, your personal statement must address the “why” behind the profession. In this case, why do you want to be a PA? Why did you choose PA school over a related discipline, such as medical school or nursing school? What about the PA profession appeals to you and what have you done to explore the field? What contribution can you make to the PA profession?

Your PA personal statement is the first introduction of who you are and serves as a first impression to the admissions committees. It’s also a way to clinch a PA school interview and move on to the final round of admissions evaluations.

Keep in mind that you'll also be expected to answer this question, and other common PA school interview questions during your interview, so be sure to reflect a bit on your answer and craft a strong response for both your personal statement and your interview answer. Similar questions to this can come up during your PA school interview essay or you can explore your “why” when you’re asked “tell me about yourself” during your interview.

In short, your personal statement is an important tool to getting through the initial rounds of PA school admissions, it provides background information on you to admissions committees and puts a face to your application.

Here's a summary of the requirements for PA school:

How to Write an Impactful PA Personal Statement

#1 be honest.

No two personal statements should be alike, each person has had their own set of experiences that have led them to want to pursue this vocation. So don't try to fabricate your statement, butter up the admissions committees, or exaggerate your experiences. Instead, be honest, tell the admissions committees about your exposure to medicine, what you've learned, how you've grown, what you have accomplished, why it was important and how all of these experiences led to you wanting to become a PA. Stick to the main reasons why you want to be a PA and why you want to pursue the profession specifically.

#2 Highlight Your Experiences and Skills

You want to highlight a few experiences that have helped you understand more about the life and work of a PA and ultimately helped solidify your decision to pursue this field. You can talk about your reasons for choosing  PA vs MD  if its relevant to your experience. Reflect on the instances that sparked your interest in the field or made you consider a career as a PA. Think about your volunteering, shadowing, and clinical experiences and reflect on any moments that have stood out for you or were significant in developing your interest in the profession. Remember to use details and specific examples to highlight the skills and lessons you earned from these experiences, including how they’ll help you accomplish your goals as a future PA and why they motivated you in the first place. Perhaps your participation in creating a treatment plan for a particular patient stood out for you or you witnessed an interaction between a physician assistant and a patient during your shadowing that gave you further insight into the profession. In short, you need to be able to answer why the PA is the best route for you, and what you’ve done to prepare yourself for this career.

For example, if you want to work specifically with underserved communities, and you’ve taken on volunteering opportunities that put you into contact with such communities, this is a great experience to include in both your personal statement or as some of the  best extracurriculars for PA school . If you want to work among immigrant or refugee communities and took the time to learn a new language in order to better communicate with these individuals, that will not only show initiative, but also dedication to effectively communicating with patients you want to help serve in the future. Also think about which of the  PA specialties  you might want to work in and what experiences you have which can contribute to this specialty.

When it comes to sitting down and writing your PA personal statement, it's important to note that the most successful statements are those that tell a story. Not unlike a  medical school personal statement , your PA personal statement is not a recitation of your CV. Listing accomplishments, awards, and your education will not interest the admissions committee; as mentioned above, you have to be quite specific and choose only the most important experiences to touch on. Information about your life and accomplishments is already available in your  medical school resume  and elsewhere in your application; the personal statement is a piece of art, not a dry informational document. It should allow members of the admissions committee to gain insight into your personal story and take them on your journey to becoming a PA.

In addition to being captivating (humans love stories; they elicit emotional responses), writing your personal statement in the form of a story is also beneficial because it helps communicate vital information in a chronological manner. The last thing you want, other than a boring personal statement, is one that doesn’t make sense and leaves admissions committee members confused. Jumping from one point in time to the next, from one experience to the next without order will only create a disjointed, unstructured essay. Instead, tell your story chronologically, beginning with an introduction to your interest or exposure to medicine, flowing into a few significant experiences throughout your life, and ending with a powerful conclusion that ties the entire essay together.

#4 Be Original

You are not like anyone else; despite what you might think, you're an original personal with individual thoughts, experiences, and interests. Don't get sucked into using clichés, common quotes, and unoriginal statements. It's not about writing what you think the admissions committee wants to hear such as “I want to be a doctor because I want to help people” or “I've always dreamed of becoming a doctor”.

Let your personal statement highlight what makes you unique as an applicant, how your personal qualities complement the profession, and what skills and key competencies you can bring to the entering class. Overall, it's important to consider what experiences and skills distinguish you from other applicants. Admissions committees will be reviewing hundreds if not thousands of PA school personal statements; what is going to make your statement stand out? What do you have to offer? How can you contribute to the profession?

Why show, don’t tell is the #1 rule to follow for personal statements:

Common PA Personal Statement Mistakes to Avoid

#1 reciting your cv.

Admissions committees already have this information, so this isn't suitable for your personal statement. Focus on quality of experiences. When brainstorming, write down the most significant experiences, either professional or personal, which led to you pursuing a career as a PA.

#2 Casting Yourself as the Victim

Many people have experienced difficult situations, such as emigrating from another country or suffering an injury. This can be powerful to discuss in your PA personal statement, but only if you can show resilience and ensure you're not playing the victim. As a general rule of thumb, be sure to only include an experience if you can discuss how it shapes you as a person, how it helped you grow, and will help you become a better future physician assistant.

#3 Telling Instead of Showing

It's not enough to say statements such as “I am a good listener” or “My experience shadowing has made me compassionate”. You need to show, or demonstrate, how you are a good listener, and how shadowing has helped you become compassionate. Discuss how interacting with patients helped you develop compassion or how your listening skills helped a specific patient with their problem. Discuss real experiences that can support and provide evidence for any statements.

The opening sentence in your PA school personal statement is the hook for your entire essay. If it's not enticing, unique, and memorable, you risk your essay blending in with the thousands of other admissions essays and ending up at the bottom of the pile. Your opening sentence and paragraph need to be engaging, you want to create a sense of desire so that admission committee members won't want to put down your statement, they should want to continue reading to find out the rest of your story. Remember that admissions committees tend to read these essays quickly, so if you don’t grab their attention right away, your essay will be quickly forgotten. PA school personal statement editing can be a big help in rewriting or tweaking your essay so it is polished and engaging. It’s always a good idea to get another set of eyes on your essay, too, to make sure there are no mistakes or get objective feedback. For students who want professional feedback on their work, expert physician assistant application help can be a great resource to use.

Having trouble writing a good introduction? Check out our tips:

#5 Failing to Have a Strong Conclusion

Just like a strong introduction, a good conclusion bookends a strong PA personal statement. A strong concluding paragraph not only sums up the main points of your previous paragraphs, but it should end on an engaging note. You want to leave the admissions committee wanting to know more about you, as this makes them more likely to call you for an interview. Your conclusion should be more than just “this is why I’ll make a good PA”, or “and that is why the PA profession is for me.” Your conclusion should bring back your main points, but an excellent closing statement can call back to your engaging opening sentence while also inviting the reader to continue the conversation.

#6 Relying on Clichés

The purpose of your PA personal statement is to stand out, not blend in. So don't use clichés and popular quotes that are tired and dry. Be original and use your own thoughts instead of the thoughts of others. It can be easy to fall into the habit of using common phrases or cliched language, but revising your draft can help you pick these out and rewrite them.

#7 Failing to Reflect

Any experience you describe in your PA personal statement should be followed by thoughtful reflection. You can't simply state that you worked as a research assistant in a lab and contributed to a publication. Think about why you want to discuss an experience in the first place and always be answering, why was it significant? What did you learn from it? How will it help you in your career as a physician assistant? How did this experience encourage me to become a PA? Your personal statement should demonstrate a deeper understanding of yourself and your goals, so self-reflection and self-insight is key here. While you’re brainstorming ideas for your personal statement, take some time to ask yourself these questions.

#8 Grammatical Errors and Spelling Mistakes

Your PA personal statement should be free from all errors and mistakes. Keep in mind that your personal statement is a direct reflection of who you are as a person. Mistakes indicate that you rushed your statement, are not detail-oriented and that you're not really invested in your potential career. An excellent PA personal statement has been through many revisions and has had multiple reviewers. It's a good idea to seek professional help such as a medical school advisor not only to ensure your statement is free from errors but so that you can receive personalized feedback on your statement to ensure you are putting your best self forward.

Want more PA personal statement tips?

Your personal statement will be structured as a short essay, with an introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion. Your opening paragraph should serve as a short introduction of yourself and why you want to become a PA. The body paragraphs will outline specific examples or experiences you have which contributed to your journey to become a PA, and the conclusion will sum up your statement while inviting the reader to continue the conversation.

To write a good personal statement for PA school, you’ll need an intriguing and engaging introduction, 1-3 significant experiences or examples of how you are suited for the PA profession or why you want to become a PA, and a strong conclusion which invites admissions committees to learn more about you.

Your PA school personal statement should be between 500 and 750 words. The typical limit for personal statements is 5,000 characters, with spaces included.

PA school admissions committees are interested in your personal statement because they want to know more about your background, personal qualities and why you want to become a PA. It should include significant personal and professional experiences you have which led you to the profession and contributed to your desire to become a PA. Admissions committees expect to see some self-reflection and insight into your goals and motivations. They also want to see that you have the skills and qualities of a good physician assistant.

The best way to stand out in a PA personal statement is to have both strong writing and a strong story. Admission committees will read thousands of personal statements outlining many different stories, but you can stand out by providing interesting details and weaving an engaging story. The details of a personal story will be remembered more clearly by your reader than generic statements about your experience shadowing a PA, so remember to personalize your essay and make it unique!

In a PA statement, avoid reciting your resume or relying on cliches. It’s also important not to have any grammar or spelling mistakes. Most importantly, don’t talk about pursuing a career as a PA due to a failed medical school application or because you view it as a “back-up” option. You should have a strong reason for applying to PA school specifically, not because it is “easier” than medical school or related professions.

Yes. You should write out “physician assistant” in the first instance, but you can include the “PA” abbreviation in follow-up instances. 

Your opening statement needs to “hook” your reader or engage them right off the bat. A good way to start is with a personal story or statement that sums up the key theme of your essay. 

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August 2, 2023

Reapplying to PA School: Tips on Polishing and Refining Your NEW Application

An unsuccessful application cycle can feel disappointing. However, the decision to persist, continue working toward your chosen career goal, and apply in a subsequent application cycle is nothing short of the definition of resilience! 

In this blog, I’ll share some tips and suggestions for physician assistant (PA) reapplicants regarding how to update, improve, and enhance their CASPA (Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants) application.  

Highlight NEW experiences

• Perhaps this is evident, but if you have completed significant new work and/or time in patient care, healthcare, research, shadowing or volunteering, be sure to add these as new experiences in the Supporting Information section of CASPA.  You will have the opportunity to enter start and end dates; identify whether the experience was paid, volunteer, or for academic credit; and submit the total number of hours completed. Engaging in new, robust experiences will give strength to your overall application and demonstrate commitment to the process and field of healthcare.  

Review your prior Experiences section

• It’s time to take a critical look at your prior CASPA application. Should all the same experiences you included the previous time be used again? Or can you identify a few weaker entries that you can now replace with more current work experiences? 
• Ensure that every experience is categorized correctly. PA schools want to know that you clearly understand the difference between “patient care experience” and “healthcare experience” and understand that “shadowing” is different from “volunteering.”  
• Every experience needs to have an organization and supervisor associated with it, complete with contact information. Failure to include these details makes an application look rushed and incomplete.  
• Each experience offers the opportunity for a 600-character description. This text should be thoughtfully written, reflect your key responsibilities, highlight areas of growth, and, of course, be free of grammatical errors and typos.  

Update your personal statement

• Because a year (or more) has passed since your prior CASPA submission, it is safe to assume that the answer to the question “Why do you want to be a PA?” has changed. After reading your prior personal statement, you might find that you can build on some foundational material and make some editorial changes, or you might feel that you need a total rewrite. Submitting the exact same personal statement as a reapplicant is not advised because this would not demonstrate change or professional growth. 

 Pay attention to the supplemental essays

Some schools might have specific secondary or supplemental essays for reapplicants. Questions vary, but here are some examples: 

• “Address how you have improved your application from the previous cycle.”
• “Please share with us your plans and accomplishments since your last application(s) that have made you a more competitive applicant.”
• “Please highlight the specific steps you have taken to strengthen your application.”

Request a new letter of recommendation

• If you have formed a significant professional relationship during the interim since your previous application, you might want to ask this person for a new letter of recommendation. The strongest letters are typically written by individuals with whom you have recently worked, who can speak to both the depth and breadth of your skills and can advocate for your success as a PA candidate.

As the former assistant dean of student affairs and career development at the William Beaumont School of Medicine, Dr. Valerie Wherely worked directly with the dean of the School of Medicine, the associate dean of student affairs, the associate dean of clinical curriculum, and the assistant dean of admissions, as well as with Year 4 students on both residency application reviews/critiques and mock interview preparation.

Related Resources:

• How to Get into Physician Assistant Programs , podcast Episode 515
• Writing Your PA School Personal Statement with Impact [Including a Bonus PA Personal Statement Example]
• The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Physician Assistant , a free guide

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• Personal Statements

REAPPLICANT Personal statement - please critique!

By mfd09009 March 7, 2015 in Personal Statements

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Any criticism, positive or negative is appreciated. Thanks!

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My pediatrician once told me that her Physician Assistants (PAs) were like her "wingmen".

This statement truly struck a chord with me because the PA profession was still a relatively new concept to me. The idea of being someone's "wingman" rang loud in my head. At first, I understood a wingman to be much like a sidekick and wondered `Why would anybody just want to be a wingman?'. The wingman follows direction and lets others take the lead. I was unsure how this term translated to the medical sphere, but I made it my goal to find out.

I shadowed a handful of PAs throughout multiple specialties however there was one PA on the Neurosurgery Team at Hartford Hospital that truly stood out in my mind. I witnessed him perform a ventriculostomy, which in itself was fascinating. However, equally remarkable was his confidence and impressive communication skills. He explained the procedure to me step-by-step and made my time with him a valuable learning experience. He also had tremendous leadership skills; it was evident that his coworkers had a great deal of respect for him. Lastly, he was extremely empathetic with the patient's family. I could tell that they truly appreciated the extra attention that he gave them and made them feel much more comfortable and relaxed. He did this all without the presence of a doctor or supervisor. He was independent and did not seem to play the role of a sidekick or a wingman. As cliché as it may sound, it was at this moment that I decided I wanted to become a PA.

I originally entered the University of Connecticut as a nursing major however, after my time with the PA at Hartford Hospital, I felt that the world of Physician Assisting is truly where I need to be. I am drawn to the flexibility associated with the profession. It is comforting to know that it is much easier to switch between specialties as a PA. I love the idea of potentially having the opportunity to become exposed to more than one area of medicine. In addition to and more importantly, I want to have the close patient interaction that nurses do but to also be able to play a larger, more autonomous role in the diagnostic portion of medicine. I read many Nancy Drew detective books as a child and see patient treatment as being comparable to solving a mystery. For example, a patient's signs and symptoms are like the clues one finds throughout a case. Once enough clues are found, one can hopefully draw a conclusion to solve the case and formulate a proper treatment and diagnosis for the patient.

I know that PA school is going to be a great challenge, so I make sure I work hard to get the grades and experiences necessary. I will admit that my sophomore year at UConn was a great struggle for me, which reflected in a few of my grades. I believe the transition from nursing school to a much more rigorous science-based workload was difficult, however after altering my study habits, I believe that I ultimately prevailed in the end. Now I continue to make a conscientious effort to accrue experiences that can positively shape my future career as a PA. I now currently work as a Patient Care Associate (PCA) at Hartford Hospital as well as a Neonatology Research Assistant at Connecticut Children's Medical Center.

My position as a PCA is heavily clinical-based and also grants me a great deal of autonomy. It teaches me not only how to obtain accurate vitals and reports, but to also properly attend to all sorts of patients. I am on the float pool and therefore have exposure to nearly every specialty in the hospital such as surgery, neurology, cardiology, emergency and internal medicine, and much more. As for my position as a research assistant, though not as hands-on or clinically driven as my job as a PCA, teaches me how to be accurate and diligent with my work. I work with several well-acclaimed healthcare researchers on four different projects and am truly learning the importance of communication and collaboration, which are crucial skills to have in the medical world. Although these positions are vastly different from one another, I believe that I can properly interweave all the skills and lessons I have learned and use them to enhance my role as a PA.

Although I know that there is still a plethora of information for me to learn, I am more than willing and excited to continue on with my journey to PA school. I want to be able to collaborate with my fellow nurses, doctors, and other healthcare providers, but still feel a sense of autonomy with my role. I would love nothing more than to do my best to communicate, heal, and positively impact my patients, and to hopefully be much more than just a somebody's "wingman".

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This is a great start to writing a phenomenal personal statement.

A few things that struck me:

• Very very wordy.
• Your personal statement sounds like you're reciting your resume (stay away from this because it will be boring)
• A lot of space was spent talking about shadowing. Instead, use this to talk about your hands on clinical exposure (which you left for last). What in medicine that attracts you? What do you see in the PA profession that attracts?  What about caring for patients that makes you want to return?
• I know what you've done grade/research and volunteering/shadowing wise, but I know very little about you, your personality, your goals, etc.

What exactly are you trying to convey in the sentence below?

...  I felt that the world of Physician Assisting  ...

You want to make Adcom's life easy, not hard when they are reading your personal statement. Get to the point in your PS. What makes you unique and special over the next person? 

Not only can reviewing your resume in your narrative be boring, but it's also unnecessary.  You need to use the 5000 characters you have to tell your story someone CAN'T read in your resume.  

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