Free 30-day Audible Trial with free book of your choice: PA Startup Audible Trial Meet Stephen Pasquini, PA-C! He’s not only a Family Practice PA with over 10 years experience, he’s also the founder of The PA Life.com (https://www.thepalife.com/), an AWESOME resource for PAs. But his reach doesn’t stop there, he’s also the founder of SmartyPance (https://smartypance.com/) (which is a great PANCE/PANRE review course!!), PANCE/PANRE Academy, author of TWO Essay books for pre-PA applicants,...

Don't forget our sponsor: Audible Get your free 30-day trial at www.pastartup.co/audible As Nick says, pulmonary patients are often the “sickest of the sick”, which is a great mindset to have when selecting rotations: if you can handle the sickest patients, then the rest won’t be as intimidating. Nick has a great job with a great group, where he not only has a good mix of job responsibilities, but also a great group of supervising physicians. In today’s episode, he discusses how he chose...

A Day in the Life: General Surgery, featuring Jessica Harper, PA-C Subscribe here: https://apple.co/2FEMQ8y Audible trial: http://www.pastartup.co/audible Jessica started out in cardiac rehab and personal training before PA school, but met military PAs along the way who provided excellent care. After going to PA school, she was set on cardiology only to find she didn’t particularly enjoy it like she thought she should. She loved surgery and hasn’t looked back. She hits the highlights of...

Send YOUR questions to [email protected] Free 30 day trial, www.pastartup.co/audible THANKS for the questions--Great questions all! Salary vs. RVUs: 2:28 Some of my classmates have worked out compensation using RVUs, but all the jobs I’ve interviewed for discuss Salary. What’s the difference between RVUs and plain Salary? -Sally RVU: Relative Value Units Medicare uses it as a reimbursement figure It’s a way to track and reward productivity (they’re collecting RVUs for the...

Welcome to the first “day in the life of” series. This is probably my favorite type of podcast episode I have planned and want to offer you as listeners of the PA start a podcast. When I was a student, I always wanted to know what my life would be like working in different specialties. The goal of this series is to shed some light on what an actual position in these specialties might entail. Today we are starting with my friend and coworker Eric Sprague, PA– C, who is a cardiothoracic PA....

Free 30-day trial with free book: http://www.pastartup.co/audible Negotiating sounds like it’s only for contracts or getting a job, but you’ll find you will have to negotiate in every aspect of your career: getting your job, finding common ground with patients, managing teams or even being managed, outside administrators, work life balance, the list goes on and on. Negotiating tips from Chris Voss, Never Split the Difference: Everyone is someone, and we all want to be respected. Remember...

Don’t wait, free 30-day Audible Trial with free audiobook download of your choice: http://www.pastartup.co/audible Subscribe: http://bit.ly/pastartup Twitter: @pastartupDOTco http://www.twitter.com/pastartupDOTco   CONTRACTS and STUFF TO CONSIDER Contracts and/or offer letters are something you usually only see once, so it’s hard to get up to speed on what should be included, and if you miss an opportunity to include something, it’s usually too late by the time you realize it. SO, here...

I have been lucky enough to watch Garner grow from new grad to now experienced practitioner. I felt it would be great to have him on the podcast to talk about the learning curve right out of school. Often times we perceive something that is challenging but when you look back it was something different entirely. Garner talks about how he chose the PA profession, how he chose his school, his goals during school for graduation, expectations as a new grad, and the actuality of what he learned as...

Preparing For the PANCE/PANRE Exam: Conversation with Certified Medical Educators The thing standing between you and becoming a PA, other than school of course, is the PANCE exam. The Physician Assistant National Certification Exam is the ultimate goal of your PA training; it is THE comprehensive review of everything you learned in PA school. Passing this test is the last hurdle to becoming a Certified Physician Assistant and getting started in your career. There are multiple tactics people...

Shadowing is an exceptional way to learn more about the PA profession and stay motivated throughout your academic journey. It can help you explore the PA profession, find letters of recommendation, arrange elective rotations, and even a potential job in the future. In this week's episode of the PA Startup Podcast, we look at the benefits of shadowing, with reasons why it’s hard to arrange, 4 ways to find shadowing opportunities, and what to do before/during/after shadowing. Here are the...

  Today we talk finances with Mike “The Finance Fellow”.  Mike writes a blog (www.thefinancefellow.com) about his journey from the financial world to now being a Trauma PA, discussing all different types of financial info for pre-PAs, current PA students, and practicing PAs.  We cover a ton of information in this episode, for everyone from pre-PA students choosing schools and obtaining loans, living frugally in school, and how to balance paying student loans and retirement contributions.  ...

Congratulations to all the graduating PA students out there!  Way to go!  You did it...just pass that exam (you'll do great) and start that career! Today's episode is with a graduating PA student, Ricky Amimo, who was a stellar PA student with me for a month. There are a lot of things to balance as you get close to graduation, so Ricky explains where he’s focusing, what he learned on rotations, what advice he’d give himself at the beginning of school, and more! Originally from Nairobi,...

  Welcome to our first Q & A episode! These questions were submitted via email at [email protected]. We have four excellent questions today, I didn’t have time to feature everything that has been sent in, but please keep sending questions and we will get to them in a future episode. Brett asks how to decide between a more expensive but highly regarded school vs. a local, more affordable program. Emma didn't get into school this time around; what should she do now and if it looks...

Job interviews Just like cover letters and resumes, job interviews are an art form. Practice makes perfect, and this episode has several different tips to help you perfect that art. The whole purpose of the job interview is to show whoever is hiring why you were the best fit for the job. That goes both ways, you need to make sure that the job is a good fit for you as well. There are two choices when it comes to jobs, and their importance is up to you. Most people have to decide between...

Today’s episode is all about getting the job! FREE RESOURCES: pastartup.co/resume Subscribe on iTunes; leave us a rating and review! The whole purpose of going to PA school is to get a job as a practicing PA. But before you can start treating patients, you have to actually be offered a job. This process starts very early and for most people, requires putting yourself out there and chasing jobs you want. (On occasion, people know someone who is hiring which is really neat for them, but...

In today's episode, we hear from Richard Thompson, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon with Bryan Heart, cofounder of Together+Clinic (an online application for chronic care management), MBA and adjunct faculty at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Rick (who is also one of my supervising physicians) has always been focused on enhancing performance of his team, whether in the operating room or in his tech startup. Rick offers some practical tips to think about to help you grow from good to great.

There are a lot of different allied health positions or provider roles can choose from; how do you know if the PA profession is right for you? In today’s episode, we dig into FIVE reasons why you should be excited to become a Physician Assistant. Many pre-health students are exploring options to find out what fits them best. But differentiating between an NP and PA and an MD can seem a little confusing. Today we hit some of the top reasons that drew me and others to the Physician Assistant...

Hosted by Chris Darst, MPAS, PA-C, a practicing PA with over 10 years experience, the PA Startup Podcast explores the features of PA School and starting practice as a PA that aren't taught elsewhere--applying to school, staying motivated in school, boards, job search, graduation, and beyond. Check us out more at PAstartup.co!