Questions to Ask PA Programs
Questions for physician assistant applicants to ask on an interview day, at an open house, or in a follow-up email. The focus is how the program teaches, how rotations are arranged, and what happens to students who struggle.
The questions
Open any question for the note
How is the didactic year structured, by body system or by discipline?
Why ask it
An easy opening question that reveals a great deal. Systems-based courses integrate anatomy, pharmacology, and clinical medicine together, while discipline-based courses teach them as separate subjects. Neither is better, but they suit different learners and the difference shapes how you will study for a year.
How many hours a week are students in class or lab during the didactic year?
Why ask it
Ask for the number rather than a description, and ask whether attendance is required. Programs vary widely, and the answer determines whether you can hold any outside commitment, from a part-time job to caring responsibilities.
Are lectures recorded, and can students access them afterwards?
Why ask it
Small and practical, but it affects a whole year. Some programs record everything, others deliberately do not in order to protect attendance. Ask directly rather than assuming, because it changes how you can catch up after illness.
How much of the teaching is done by PAs, and how much by physicians or basic scientists?
Why ask it
A mixed faculty is normal. What you want to know is whether PAs teach the clinical reasoning courses, since they teach to the scope you will practise in. Programs staffed almost entirely by non-PAs sometimes teach to a different standard than the certification exam.
How many clinical rotations are there, and which are required?
Why ask it
The required set is usually similar across programs, so the informative part is what sits beyond it: how many electives, and whether you can build a second elective in an area you want to work in. Ask for the actual list of this year's rotations.
Who arranges rotation placements, and are any of them competitive between students?
Why ask it
This is one of the biggest practical differences between programs. Some assign every placement centrally with guaranteed sites, others require students to find their own preceptors. The second arrangement costs students a great deal of time and produces uneven experiences.
How far do students typically travel for rotations, and is housing provided?
Why ask it
Ask for the furthest common placement and whether relocation is expected for any block. A program that looks affordable becomes expensive when two rotations require a second rented room, and this rarely appears in the published cost.
What does a typical week on a core rotation look like for a student here?
Why ask it
Ask about hours, call, and how much responsibility students actually carry. The useful detail is whether students see patients and present them, or mostly observe, since the difference determines how prepared you feel in your first job.
How are students assessed, and what happens after a failed exam?
Why ask it
Ask about the remediation policy in specifics: how many attempts, whether a retake caps your grade, and whether it delays graduation. Every program has students who fail something, and the policy tells you whether the program's instinct is to support or to filter.
How many students started in the most recent cohorts, and how many graduated on time?
Why ask it
Attrition and delayed graduation are the numbers programs discuss least readily, and they are published in the program's required student outcomes. Ask what the common reasons were, since academic dismissal and personal leave point at very different environments.
What support exists for a student who is struggling academically, and when does it start?
Why ask it
Look for something proactive: early identification after the first exam, assigned tutoring, a learning specialist. Programs that wait for the student to ask for help tend to lose students who did not know how far behind they were.
What mental health support do students have access to, and is it separate from the faculty who grade them?
Why ask it
Confidentiality matters here. Ask whether counselling is available through the university, whether it is included in fees, and whether faculty involved in academic decisions are also involved in wellbeing referrals. PA programs are intense and this becomes relevant for more students than expect it.
How does the program prepare students for the certification exam?
Why ask it
Ask what is built into the curriculum rather than what is recommended. End of rotation exams, a summative assessment, and a structured review period are concrete. A program whose main answer is an external question bank is leaving the preparation to you.
What is the current accreditation status, and when is the next review?
Why ask it
Provisional, continued, and probationary status carry different implications, and a program under review may change while you are enrolled. This is public information, so ask about any past citations and what changed in response.
Where do graduates from the last two classes work now, and in which specialties?
Why ask it
Ask for the distribution rather than the placement rate, which is usually high everywhere. If most graduates stay in the region, that tells you where the program's clinical relationships are, which matters if you plan to move away.
What is a class of students here like, and how competitive does it get between them?
Why ask it
Ask this of current students rather than faculty. Programs differ in whether cohorts share resources or compete for ranking and rotations, and that atmosphere is what you will live in for two years.
Is there anything about this program that students consistently complain about?
Why ask it
The most useful question of the day, and current students usually answer it honestly if faculty are not in the room. A program where nobody can name anything either has an unusually good year or students who have been briefed.
What would you change about the program if you could?
Why ask it
Ask both students and faculty and compare the answers. Faculty who name the same problem students do, and describe what is being done, are describing a program that listens. Very different answers suggest the two groups are not talking.
How does the program handle a student who needs a leave of absence?
Why ask it
Nobody plans this, but illness, bereavement, and pregnancy happen during a two year program. Ask whether a student can rejoin the following cohort, what happens to financial aid, and whether it has been done recently.
What kind of applicant does well here, and what would you want to see in my application?
Why ask it
A good closing question because the answer is actionable either way. Specific advice about your file is worth more than encouragement, and if you are reapplying, ask whether the program offers feedback to unsuccessful candidates.
Using an interview day well
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the visit
Read the published student outcomes first
Accredited programs publish attrition, graduation, and certification exam pass rates. Reading them beforehand converts your questions from "what is your pass rate" into "your first-time pass rate dipped two years ago, what changed", which gets a much more informative answer.
Work out your own constraints in advance
Whether you can relocate for a rotation, whether you need recorded lectures, whether you have caring responsibilities. Programs cannot tell you which of them fits until you know what you actually need.
Prepare three questions you will ask everyone
Asking the same question of faculty, current students, and recent graduates is the fastest way to find where a program's description and its reality diverge.
On the day
Save the honest questions for students without faculty present
Attrition, competitiveness, workload, and complaints all get different answers in a corridor than in a panel. If the day includes a student-only session, hold your real questions for it.
Ask the same question twice, differently
"How are rotations assigned" and "has anyone in your class had to find their own preceptor" can produce contradictory answers. The second version is the one to trust.
Write notes between sessions, not at the end
Programs blur together quickly, especially if you interview at several. Note the specifics while you can still attribute them to the right place.
What applicants get wrong
Only asking questions designed to impress
Interview days run both ways and you are choosing too. A question about remediation policy is not a weak question, and programs that treat it as one have told you something.
Comparing tuition without comparing the rest
Rotation travel, required equipment, relocation, exam fees, and lost income during a longer program change the real total substantially. Ask each program the same list.
Ignoring where the program's clinical network is
Rotation sites and alumni employers cluster geographically, and that network is a large part of what you are buying. If you intend to practise elsewhere, ask how graduates have managed that.
What to have written down before you decide
- Attrition and on-time graduation figures for the last three cohorts.
- Who arranges rotations, and the furthest placement a student had last year.
- The remediation policy, in the program's own words.
- The full cost including travel, housing, equipment, and fees.
- One specific thing current students would change.