College sports as an Extracurricular

[Contigo75]

I played division 1 football for 4 years. Can this be added under the experiences section in CASPA? It really helped to shape me as a person and also the teamwork aspect of the PA profession is something that really appeals to me because of my background in the sport, so I think it should be included but just wanted to get input from others. 

[ProSpectre]

Yes you should absolutely highlight that experience; I think it would go in the section for extracurricular experiences. In addition to all of the benefits that come directly from playing sports (learning teamwork, discipline, leadership, commitment, etc), it's also a time-suck from your studies that other students don't have. This means you can use it to show that you learned how to balance a large time-commitment on top of your academic schedule -- this can either help to highlight your good grades (being able to keep your grades high on top of playing sports), or in some cases may help explain a slightly lower GPA (since the practice/travel/game schedule takes substantial time away from studying). It won't make up for a poor GPA, but may give a little boost to your app if your grades are just average. 

Also, if playing team-sports really did factor in to your decision to be a PA, you can highlight how in your personal statement. I did this in mine, albeit with my time in the Army instead; I talked about how being part of a team and working in a team environment was important to me, and how I'd already built qualities that allowed me to work effectively on multidisciplinary teams while I was in the military. Working as part of a team is built into the PA profession, so using this approach allows you to show that you have these qualities without explicitly saying it, and also helps to answer the question of why you chose PA over other healthcare professions.