Barry University PA Program Interview: Format and Prep

Invitations come only at the discretion of the Admissions Committee, which consists of program faculty. Because the program uses rolling admissions to fill the cohort that starts every August, earlier applications are reviewed first, and the committee strongly recommends having all of your application documentation complete before your interview date.

Barry's admissions pages state that you meet with the faculty Admissions Committee and require the PA-CAT along with a highly recommended Casper exam, while your invitation email provides the exact day-of structure, such as whether you will do one-on-one, group, MMI, or video sessions. If you applied under the dual-campus option listed in the Graduate Catalog (Miami Shores or St. Petersburg), you may apply to only one campus and, if invited, you interview only at your first-choice site. While the main PA webpage and ARC-PA accreditation history list 100 total seats split as 76 at Miami Shores and 24 at St. Petersburg, the program's June 2026 FAQ document states that the program has one location at the Miami Shores campus with 100 total seats. Check your invitation email to confirm the exact format and location for your interview day.

Every communication you have with the admissions team contributes to the Admissions Committee's assessment of whether you meet the Technical and Professional Standards for the profession. Treat every phone call and email to paadmissions@barry.edu as part of your evaluation.

To rehearse out loud before your interview date, Confetto offers PA school interview questions and mock interviews with follow-up questions on your experiences. Start your free week.

The faculty committee reviews your overall GPA, science GPA, PA-CAT scores, letters of recommendation, writing ability, and personal statement, along with your interpersonal skills and physical, psychological, and behavioral capacities to handle a demanding 28-month curriculum. The committee favors applicants likely to extend care to underserved patients, crediting military and other service, leadership, mission congruence, diversity, disadvantaged status, and fluency in multiple languages. During your interview and in every email leading up to it, faculty weigh the program's Technical and Professional Standards:

• Communicate effectively in English with patients, families and all members of the healthcare team, and read non-verbal responses
• Create rapport, develop therapeutic relationships, and recognize boundaries and authority
• Handle physically and emotionally taxing workloads with emotional stability, responsibility, tolerance and flexibility
• Self-assess, recognize your own bias, respect scope of practice, and accept and incorporate feedback

Barry is a Catholic university founded in the Dominican tradition in 1940. Its university mission centers on four core commitments reinforced across the PA curriculum: knowledge and truth, inclusive community, social justice, and collaborative service.

The PA program's vision is that graduates will be PA leaders in health care technology and clinical practice. Its mission is to educate students in collaborative medicine, encourage life-long learning and professional development, and foster a technology-rich environment and clinical training among diverse and underserved patient populations, with an emphasis on primary care. The 28-month Master of Clinical Medical Science (MCMSc) program starts every August and consists of 124 total credits on the main webpage (126 total credits in the Graduate Catalog).

When faculty ask why you chose Barry or how you learn best, connect your background to these curriculum features:

• Technology-rich learning and no cadaver lab: Lectures use interactive videoconferencing (IAV) so students and professors interact live across campuses. For anatomy, Barry does not use a cadaver lab and instead uses 3D layered imaging software and a full-sized Anatomage table.
• Medical Spanish for every student: All students complete 45 hours (3 credits) of Medical Spanish (PHA 552), which trains you to take a history and conduct a physical exam in Spanish with no prior Spanish required.
• Full-day didactic schedule: First-year classes run Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 6 PM, and until about 9 PM on lab days. Students are strongly discouraged from working while enrolled.
• Eight 6-week clinical rotations procured by the program: Second-year students complete eight 6-week rotations across Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine/Geriatrics, Prenatal Care and Women's Health, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Surgery, and one Elective. The program procures clinical sites across South Florida, Florida's west coast, and on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• Advanced Didactic final semester: Your last semester covers 16 credits, including Thanatology (end-of-life care, living wills, DNRs and hospice with a long-term care practicum), Biomedical Ethics, a 7-credit Library Research Paper, Clinical Therapeutics, and a Primary Care Review Course aligned with the PANCE blueprint.

Our team wrote these 12 practice questions and example answers around Barry's Dominican core commitments, Technical Standards, and 28-month curriculum. Question 1 is answered in the example answer section below, and questions 2 through 12 include our team's labeled example answers right under each prompt. For a wider set of prompts, see our guide to PA school interview questions.

• 1. Why do you want to become a physician assistant, and what makes Barry University's program the right fit for you?
• 2. Barry University's mission is built on four core commitments: knowledge and truth, inclusive community, social justice, and collaborative service. Which of these four connects most closely to your own experience? Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: Collaborative service connects most closely to my background. For the past two years, I volunteered at a mobile foot-care clinic serving unhoused residents, while also working as an emergency department tech. At the clinic, no single person could meet a patient's needs alone. I cleaned wounds and took vitals, the PA evaluated infections, and our social work volunteer arranged shelter beds and pharmacy vouchers. Seeing how collaborative service restored patients' dignity taught me that good medicine depends on teamwork across disciplines, which is why Barry's Dominican mission feels like home to me.
• 3. Tell us about a time you cared for a patient from a medically underserved or disadvantaged background. What barrier did they face, and what did you do? Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: While working as a medical assistant at a community clinic, I cared for an agricultural worker whose blood sugar remained dangerously high. He seemed hesitant to answer questions until I realized he worked twelve-hour shifts and could not refrigerate his insulin in the fields. Instead of lecturing him on compliance, I brought that detail to our clinic PA. Together, we switched him to a medication regimen that fit his work hours and connected him with our patient assistance program. It taught me to always ask about a patient's daily reality before assuming noncompliance.
• 4. Our curriculum uses interactive videoconferencing and 3D layered anatomy software with an Anatomage table instead of a cadaver lab. Tell us about a time you had to adapt to a new technology or learning method. Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: When our hospital switched to a new electronic health record system during my second month as an ER technician, our triage times initially slowed down. Rather than waiting for someone else to troubleshoot during busy shifts, I stayed after work for two evenings to practice in the training module and mapped out the fastest clicks for ordering EKGs and labs. Within a week, I was helping our unit nurses navigate the new layout. I learn best when I can manipulate visual tools directly, so rotating 3D structures on Barry's Anatomage table fits how I study.
• 5. All Barry PA students take 45 hours of Medical Spanish and train in multicultural communities. Describe a time you worked through a language or cultural barrier with a patient or coworker. Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: As a phlebotomist, I met an older Spanish-speaking patient who pulled her arm back every time I prepared for a blood draw. Her daughter had stepped out, and my conversational Spanish was limited. I paused, lowered my tools, and dialed our video medical interpreter on the tablet. Through the interpreter, the patient explained that she had fainted during a fasted draw years ago. We reclined her chair, gave her a cold cloth, and completed the draw safely. Taking Barry's 45-hour Medical Spanish course will help me build that bedside trust directly in South Florida clinics.
• 6. During the didactic year, classes run Monday through Friday from 8 AM to 6 PM, and until 9 PM on lab days. How have you prepared yourself and your support system for that schedule without working? Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: Over the past two years, I worked full-time night shifts as a certified nursing assistant while taking Microbiology and Anatomy with labs during the day, which meant 65-hour weeks. To prepare for Barry's 28-month schedule, I saved a dedicated living fund to supplement financial aid so I will not work at all during the program. I also sat down with my partner and family to review the 8 AM to 9 PM lab schedule and the clinical rotation travel requirements, so everyone understands my study hours in advance.
• 7. Our Technical Standards require the ability to accept and incorporate feedback. Tell us about a piece of constructive criticism you received from a clinical supervisor or professor and what you changed afterward. Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: During my first month as a medical scribe in an urgent care clinic, the supervising PA told me after a shift that my history of present illness notes were too wordy and buried the key timeline. Instead of getting defensive, I asked if we could review two charts together so I could see how she scanned them. From that day on, I organized every note chronologically with onset, duration, and red-flag symptoms in the first two lines. By my next monthly check-in, my charts required almost no edits, and I learned how valuable direct feedback is.
• 8. Describe a situation in your hands-on patient care experience where you had to collaborate with different members of the healthcare team to solve a patient problem. Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: While working as a physical therapy aide in an inpatient rehab unit, I noticed a post-stroke patient who had been making steady progress suddenly seemed drowsy and confused during morning transfers. I stopped the exercise, checked his vitals, and immediately alerted his primary nurse. The nurse paged the unit PA, who ordered a urinalysis that revealed an early urinary tract infection. Because the aide, nurse, and PA communicated quickly and respected each role on the floor, the patient started antibiotics that afternoon and avoided an acute hospital readmission.
• 9. Tell us about a time you recognized a personal bias or assumption while working with a patient, classmate, or colleague. How did you handle it? Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: Early in my time as an EMT, we responded to a frequent caller who often requested transport for minor aches. Before walking into the apartment, I caught myself assuming it was another routine non-urgent visit. When I checked his vitals and listened to his lungs, however, his oxygen saturation was 88 percent and he had a new fever. Catching my own assumption reminded me how dangerous complacency is in medicine. Now, I deliberately treat every repeat patient encounter as a brand-new assessment until the history and vitals prove otherwise.
• 10. In your final semester, you will take Thanatology, which covers end-of-life care, living wills, and hospice. Have you been around a patient or family facing end-of-life decisions, and what did that teach you about the PA role? Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: As a hospital CNA on an oncology and palliative floor, I helped care for a patient whose family was overwhelmed when transitioning him to comfort care. While I provided bed baths and oral care, I watched our palliative PA sit at eye level with the family to explain his DNR order and pain medication in plain, gentle terms. It taught me that when cure is no longer the goal, a PA's clearest duty is relieving fear and honoring the patient's wishes. I look forward to Barry's Thanatology seminar and long-term care practicum.
• 11. Imagine a patient in a primary care clinic tells you they stopped taking their blood pressure medication because they cannot afford the copay. As a PA student on rotation, how do you approach the conversation? Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: First, I would thank the patient for being honest with me, because many people feel embarrassed to bring up cost. Next, I would check their current blood pressure and ask if they have had any headaches, chest pain, or vision changes since stopping the pills. I would remind them that as a PA student, I will review their options with my preceptor. Then I would present the case to my preceptor so we could switch the prescription to an affordable four-dollar generic list medication or connect the patient with clinic samples and pharmacy assistance.
• 12. Barry expects reapplicants to show clear improvement between cycles. If you were not accepted this year, what specific part of your application would you strengthen before reapplying? Example answer written by our team. The applicant is invented: If I am not accepted this cycle, I will ask the admissions office if any feedback is available and focus on two concrete areas. First, while I have over 1,100 hours as a medical assistant in orthopedics, I would transition into a primary care or federally qualified health center role to gain deeper experience with chronic disease management in underserved communities. Second, I would complete an upper-level Immunology course and continue practicing Spanish so that when I reapply to Barry next April, my file shows measurable growth toward your primary care mission.

Use this six-step checklist in the two weeks leading up to your interview date.

• Audit your CASPA file: Confirm your PA-CAT score and three letters of recommendation are in, as the committee recommends completing all documentation before interviewing.
• Match four clinical stories to Barry's priorities: Pick brief moments from your patient care hours showing mission congruence, primary care teamwork, underserved care, and cross-cultural communication.
• Prepare for the 8 AM to 9 PM schedule: Be ready to explain how you will handle the full-time curriculum without working.
• Review Technical Standards stories: Prepare one real example each for accepting feedback, respecting scope of practice, and adapting to sudden clinical changes.
• Check email etiquette: Every message to the admissions office counts toward your Technical Standards assessment, so reply promptly and courteously.
• Run a mock interview out loud: Practice answering questions out loud with a partner so you leave room for faculty follow-ups.

When you meet with Barry's faculty Admissions Committee between September and March, your goal is to give clear, grounded answers that show your readiness for a full-time 28-month curriculum and primary care rotations in underserved communities.

Confetto lets you practice mock PA interviews out loud with an AI interviewer that asks follow-up questions on your answers and scores your performance against a structured rubric. Start your free week.

Why do you want to become a physician assistant, and why specifically at Barry University?

• Barry University Physician Assistant Program (Main Page)
• Barry University PA Program Frequently Asked Questions (Revised June 2026)
• Barry University PA Prospective Student Information Packet
• Barry University Graduate Catalog (Physician Assistant Program)
• Barry University Student Accounts: 2026-2027 Tuition and Fees
• Barry University PA Course Curriculum
• ARC-PA Accreditation History: Barry University