You finally get an email from a PA program.

Your heart rate immediately hits 147. 😂

You open it expecting to see something about an MMI or traditional interview and instead you see:

Kira Assessment.

And your immediate thought is probably…What is Kira?!

If a PA school has invited you to complete a Kira assessment, first: CONGRATS.

Second: don’t let the format freak you out.

Kira is simply a platform that schools can use as part of their admissions and interview process. Depending on how the PA program has set it up, you may be asked to complete timed video responses, written responses, or participate in a live virtual interview.

And while talking to your laptop instead of an actual human can feel a little awkward at first, this is absolutely something you can prepare for.

The key?

Do NOT prepare by memorizing a bunch of ‘perfect’ answers.

Let’s talk about what you should do instead to prepare for this.

What is the Kira assessment?

Kira Talent is an admissions platform used by health professions programs and other graduate programs to evaluate applicants beyond what they can see on a written application. Schools can customize their Kira process around the competencies they want to evaluate.

Kira currently supports two main formats:

1. Asynchronous assessment

Think: one-way interview.

You complete the assessment on your own rather than speaking with a live interviewer. You may receive video questions, written questions, or both.

For video questions, you’ll typically see or hear a question, receive a designated amount of preparation time, and then have a limited amount of time to record your response.

For written questions, you’ll type your answer within the allotted response time.

2. Live interview

Kira can also be used for real-time interviews. You may move through different questions or interview stations and speak directly with an interviewer. Kira’s live platform can support formats including one-on-one interviews, panels and MMIs.

IMPORTANT: Not every PA school’s Kira assessment will look the same.

This is where applicants get into trouble.

Your friend might tell you:

“Mine had ___ questions and I had ___ seconds to prepare!”

That does NOT mean yours will.

The PA school determines how its assessment is configured, including the questions and timing. If you’ve already received your invitation, Kira says you can check the Assessment Details section to see information such as the number and type of questions and expected duration.

Prepare for YOUR assessment based on the structure the specific PA school gives you. 👏

What are PA schools looking for on Kira?

Remember why interviews exist in the first place.

Your CASPA already told the program a LOT about you.

They’ve seen your:

• GPA
• Patient care experience
• Shadowing
• Activities
• Essays
• Experiences
• Academic history

An interview gives them another opportunity to evaluate YOU beyond the information sitting on the page.

Kira specifically describes its platform as allowing programs to assess applicants through customized, competency-based questions and structured interviews, including qualities that may help predict success in the classroom and as a future healthcare professional.

Translation?

This is not just a test of whether you can give the “correct” answer.

Depending on the question, a program may be learning more about things like your:

Communication. Judgment. Self-awareness. Motivation. Professionalism. Interpersonal skills. Creativity. Ability to think through a situation. And overall fit with what THEY value.

Which brings us to the biggest mistake we see applicants make…

STOP trying to memorize the perfect Kira answers.

We know it feels safer.

You find 47 potential questions online.

You write a beautiful answer to every single one.

You practice them until you could recite them in your sleep.

And then Kira gives you a question you didn’t prepare for…

…and suddenly your brain goes:

Totally completely BLANK. 😵‍💫

Or worse—you get a question you DID prepare for and sound like you’re reading your personal statement from memory.

Kira’s own applicant guidance specifically recommends focusing on your authentic perspective rather than giving rehearsed or scripted answers. It also notes that squeezing more words into your allotted time does not necessarily make an answer stronger.

That’s exactly how we want you thinking about PA school interview prep in general.

Don’t memorize answers.

Prepare your STORIES.

Know your experiences well enough that you can pull from them when you’re asked something unexpected.

Think through situations involving:

• Conflict
• Failure
• Feedback
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Difficult patients or interactions
• Ethical challenges
• Mistakes
• Growth
• Resilience
• Advocacy
• Communication

You don’t need a script for every possible question.

You need a bank of experiences you understand well enough to adapt.

Our 2 biggest tips for your Kira PA school assessment

If we could only give you TWO pieces of advice, these would be them.

TIP #1: Practice answering UNKNOWN questions with a timer.

This is probably the most important thing you can do.

Don’t only practice the questions you’ve prepared.

Have someone give you a question you haven’t seen before.

Give yourself a short period to gather your thoughts.

Then:

GO.

Answer it on camera.

Why?

Because THAT is the skill you’re actually trying to develop.

Not memorization.

Thinking → organizing → communicating clearly under a time constraint.

If your Kira invitation includes a Practice step, USE IT.

Kira says practice questions can help you become comfortable with the platform and test your camera and microphone. During practice, you can redo questions and replay your responses; during the real assessment, you generally only get one attempt and cannot replay your completed response.

Practice until the timer feels normal instead of terrifying. 😂

TIP #2: Give your answer a STRUCTURE.

One of the hardest things about timed interviews is that applicants start talking before they know where they’re going.

Thirty seconds later…

They’re somewhere in 2019 explaining what their roommate’s cousin said during sophomore year.

Instead, take a moment and decide:

What is my main point?

Then build your answer around it.

For a behavioral question, a simple framework might look like:

Situation → What YOU did → Result → What you learned

For an opinion or scenario question:

Position → Why → Example/reasoning → Takeaway

The exact framework matters less than having a beginning, middle and END.

Clear > complicated.

Don’t forget the boring stuff.

You can prepare the greatest PA school interview answer of your LIFE…

but if your microphone doesn’t work, we’ve got a problem. 😂

Before your assessment:

• Test your camera + microphone.
• Make sure your browser and operating system are updated.
• Close unnecessary apps and browser tabs.
• Disable browser extensions that could interfere with the platform.
• Choose a quiet space.
• Use a clean, non-distracting background.
• Make sure your face is well lit.
• Position your camera appropriately.
• Look toward the camera when speaking rather than staring at your own face the entire time.

These recommendations align with Kira’s current applicant preparation and camera-setup guidance.

And please don’t wait until 11:42 PM when your assessment is due at midnight to discover your laptop suddenly doesn’t recognize its own microphone.

What if you completely mess up one Kira question?

KEEP. GOING.

Seriously.

You may stumble over a sentence.

You may realize afterward that you could have answered something better.

You may finish a response and immediately think:

WHY DID I SAY THAT?!

Welcome to interviewing.

You do not need every answer to be flawless.

And spending the next question mentally replaying the previous one is only going to hurt the answer you’re giving NOW.

Once you submit an answer:

It’s done. Mentally move on.

Your job is not to deliver a TED Talk every time the camera turns on.

Your job is to communicate thoughtfully, professionally and authentically.

One more thing: KNOW THE PA PROGRAM.

This sounds obvious.

And yet it’s also a mistake we see frequently.

Before you complete an assessment for a PA school, you should know why you applied there.

Not:

“It’s a great program.”

Not:

“I really like your mission.”

Okay…WHY?

Know the program’s:

• Mission
• Values
• Curriculum
• Clinical opportunities
• Community
• Patient populations
• Unique program features

And most importantly:

Know where YOUR experiences genuinely connect with those things.

You don’t need to force yourself into their mission.

But you should be able to articulate why this particular program makes sense for the future PA you’re trying to become.

Your Kira assessment is NOT something to wing.

Yes, we want you to sound natural.

No, that does NOT mean you should open the assessment having practiced approximately zero questions because you “didn’t want to sound rehearsed.”

There is a huge difference between:

PREPARED

and

SCRIPTED.

Prepared means you’ve practiced thinking on your feet.

You’ve reflected on your experiences.

You know your strengths.

You know your weaknesses.

You understand why PA.

You know why THAT program.

You’ve practiced telling stories.

And you’ve gotten comfortable answering questions when a camera + countdown clock are staring back at you.

THAT is how you walk into Kira feeling more confident.

Want help preparing for your PA school interview?

You worked WAY too hard on your prerequisites, PCE, CASPA, essays and school list to finally get an interview opportunity…

and then wing the part that could turn that interview into an ACCEPTANCE. 🔥

Our PA School Mock Interviews are designed to help you practice answering real interview-style questions, identify the habits that may be weakening your responses + learn how to communicate your experiences in a way that actually sounds like YOU.

GET YOUR PA SCHOOL MOCK INTERVIEW HERE

You got the interview.

let’s help you turn it into an acceptance. 🥼🔥