Hi — I’m Kelly McGuire, a practicing Physician Assistant with experience in both primary and urgent care. But before any of that, I was exactly where you are now.

My path into PA school wasn’t a straight line. I worked as an EMT to build my experience, applied twice to PA school before I got in, and interviewed three times before I received a PA school acceptance. So when I say I understand how stressful and uncertain this process feels, I mean it from experience.

Mentoring has been a part of my life for almost as long as I’ve been on this path. I started in college, where I mentored younger pre-PA students, and it never really stopped. Over the years I’ve helped friends, colleagues, and friends-of-friends find their way into PA school through advice, letters of recommendation, and long phone calls talking through what to do next. I also tutored throughout PA school, because helping people achieve their goals is something I genuinely love to do.

Here’s the part I want to be honest about: when I was offered my interviews to PA school, I was too nervous to practice with anyone. I “practiced” alone in my own head. By the time I sat across from a real admissions committee, my answers still had plenty of kinks I never got the chance to work out. I made it through eventually, but it was not the smooth journey that I had wished.

That’s exactly why this exists. I want to give others the opportunity to practice in a low-pressure space, with someone who has been through it all. You can work out your kinks here—not in the room that decides your future.

— Kelly McGuire, PA-C