Duke Physician Assistant Program News & Blogs

‘Tis the time of year for buying gifts. Whether you are shopping for Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, or just out of a vague need to participate in the holiday season, you might find yourself wondering what to give the PA student in your life.

We asked our students to tell us what gifts they would like and what would have been great before matriculating into PA school.

More than a dozen Duke PA Program faculty members attended the 2023 forum in New Orleans from October 11 to 14th

One of the main reasons I chose the Duke PA Program is its holistic approach to medicine. The curriculum focuses on the social determinants of health as well as the clinical reasoning required to practice medicine. Both are important to me, as I have been on both ends of what it is like to not be “the perfect patient.”

We are taking a break this month from the more instructional blog posts to touch base with the foundation of the PA profession: Veterans.

From September 28-30, 2023, I had the honor and privilege of attending the 2023 AAPA Leadership and Advocacy Summit (LAS) in Washington, D.C. I joined over 200 advocates from 41 states and was one of 75 students and 129 first-time attendees! PAs and PA students visited 191 Congressional offices to promote PA representation and discuss two pieces of vital PA-relevant legislation.

If you have spent time applying or planning to apply to college or graduate school, you have probably come across the phrase “holistic admissions process.”

But what does “holistic admissions” really mean?

Schools that look at applicants holistically look at the whole person, not just their grades and scores.

My name is Tesakiah Harjo, and I am THAT physician assistant (PA) student you always worry you might end up being. I generally did well in school, and then PA school hit me like a brick wall. I never really had to study in undergrad. I always did well on exams and was lucky enough to get into Duke on my first try. At the beginning of preclinical year, I expected to have to put in the work, but I did not foresee the struggles I would face – and ultimately, overcome.

Physician Assistant (PA) Micaela Marker was looking for somewhere to donate her time when she saw an article in the Denver Post about a nonprofit organization called Global Care Force that was looking for volunteers for medical trips to Ukraine.