UCLan Physician Associate Studies (MPAS)

Hey have you had the interview 🌸

Hey yeh I had the interview back in December and got the offer not long after, put it down as my firm choice not that long ago. wbu?

I’m only in year 12 so I’m going to apply next year. I was wondering whether you have any information on the course and the interview process 🌸 Is it an MMI interview and is it extremely hard? Also did you only apply to the Physician Associate undergraduate course or other courses too? Have you got any tips for me to make my personal statement stand out? Also if you don’t mind me asking, what subjects do you do? 💖

Ah ok I see 🙂 You probably already know the course itself is the only undergraduate one in the country the rest of the PA courses in the UK are all 2 year postgraduate course (requiring a previous degree), the majority of the information regarding this course is available on the UCLan website and that's where I got most of it from - https://www.uclan.ac.uk/courses/mpas-hons-physician-associate-studies.php

This is the first year of this course so not much known about the how the first two years will be laid out but the guidelines are on the website.The last two years will closely follow the set up of the postgraduate UCLan PA course.

The interview wasn't MMI, it was more of a discussion. I can't remember exact questions but it was about them finding out more about you, like how you've applied your skills in the past with examples, general things about the university and why you chose it, then there's obvious questions like why this course and career rather than medicine or another healthcare career (only lasts about 20-30mins). I just stayed confident and tried to answer all the questions to the best of my ability. I can't remember any ethics or situational judgment questions but it could be a possibility next year when you apply so maybe learn some medical ethics (the basic principles) might make it easier for you. The main thing is to practice and be confident with yourself and your answers, it wasn't too hard. (could change for next year idk)

I applied for pharmacy, this physician associate course and medicine (at UCLan aswell), got an interview for med but didn't get the offer whereas PA did send me an offer and pharmacy was more for getting interview practice, wasn't actually gonna do it.

My personal statement was mainly directed towards medicine coz that was my original plan but fell short on predicted grades. But I mentioned my different work experiences and briefly physician associates. I think if you want this to be your 1st choice then fully direct your personal statement towards this course. Do relevant work experiences in healthcare environments and mention them in your PS, about what you learned and gained then link your skills back to how they are relevant in a PA career. Also mention any part time job/charity/extra curricular work you've done and how it'll help you in a PA career. Make it all about you and how YOU can have a positive impact on PA's and other people, what can you bring to the team that's different, use key terms such as 'multi disciplinary team' etc. But this is the only undergraduate one in the country so if you're applying for other courses aswell make sure you involve details about them in your PS.

Finally, the subjects I do are Chemistry, Biology and Psychology 😊

If you have any other questions let me know x

Thankyou so much ♥️ you’re literally a life saver xx Hopefully they don’t change how they interview students 🤞 because it would make it extremely difficult especially since the career is quite new and so is the course. I was planning on applying to the Physician Associate course and the Biomedical course so if I don’t get in I could always do it as a post graduate degree. Do you know anyway I could interlink the two and make one personal statement without making it sound like it’s fully centred for the Physician Associate course 💖 It says the entry requirements are ABB but doesn’t mention that you have to get this grade in this subject e.g A in Biology so just say I’m predicted an A in Psychology instead will it make a difference 🌸

Yeh don't think it'll change much tbh because it's still a quiet course and not many people are aware of the undergraduate UCLan one whereas the postgraduate ones in the UK are more popular, it's a small course aswell think around 25 people in the first year I'll be going into.

With the personal statement just try to balance it out, mention enough about biomed and enough about PA's. Basically when you make points about yourself and your skills/qualities say how they'd help you in both careers. My PS was mainly healthcare related anyway so I didn't have to put much in about PA's because I linked back how my skills are relevant in a healthcare career, but bring in about how you'd make a good PA. Have you got a caring, enthusiastic nature? Do you gain satisfaction from helping other people, is it rewarding? How will you have a good impact on patients and your team members like with your skills (e.g. good communication?) etc. But yeh you'd have to link back to the biomed side aswell if you want offers for biomed aswell lol sorry don't know much about biomed. But you sound passionate about this PA course so I'm sure with a good enough personal statement showing your passion you'll get an interview.

Nah don't think it matters which subjects you get the grades in because you're right it just says ABB in "Chemistry, a further science & an academic subject". Like my offer is just ABB. 😊 x

Hi, just wondering if anyone has put the UCLan undergraduate Physician Associate Studies (MPAS) course down as their firm choice on ucas as I've not found any other threads like this, I've put it down as my firm choice 🙂