Duke Physician Assistant Program News & Blogs

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.

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.

One step along the path to PA school is to choose who you will ask to be a reference for your application. For some, this is one of the more daunting parts of the process, as you select the people you think will give you the most powerful recommendations and then actually ask them!

My own recent experiences have made me realize how little I used to comprehend and appreciate the magnitude of the challenges that people with disabilities or chronic illnesses face daily, but also how important it is to ask for help when we need it and acknowledge the support we receive.

On August 4th, the Duke Physician Assistant (PA) Program held a ceremony for its 56th

We ended our last blog post by saying you are interviewing schools almost as much as they are interviewing you.   What do we mean by that?  

“165/95, that’s a bit elevated,” I say to the patient, a gentleman in his 50s, after checking his blood pressure. In Spanish, he tells me he’s nervous since he’s “never really seen a doctor.”