Reply With QuoteMost schools that I've interviewed at say that you are theirs from 8-5 M-F. Somedays are longer than others. Sometimes you will have a class that gets moved because a prof is working. But this seems pretty standard.
Hi there! I was wondering if students from other schools could give some insight on their weekly schedules. A couple of schools have told me their schedules are subject to change - is this the norm? For the school, it's because their professors are working PAs who at times get stuck at work. Thanks!
- "In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways." -Edith Wharton
A PA Journey @ apajourney.wordpress.com
Most schools that I've interviewed at say that you are theirs from 8-5 M-F. Somedays are longer than others. Sometimes you will have a class that gets moved because a prof is working. But this seems pretty standard.
Our didactic spring semester is Monday thru Friday 8-5 except Tuesdays which is 8am to 9 pm....but we are told to be prepared to meet any time from 7am to 7pm while we are in the program... you never know when a lecture needs to change times or something comes up and needs to be added in, etc. Fall semester was different, and winter semester also had a different schedule. It's kind of like military... your butt belongs to them for the duration. Whenever they want it. LOL
Pam
Class president RCRMC/RCCD Class of 2013.
Autobiography: http://www.pamelajeanwhiteley.com/biography.html
Path to PA blog: http://fyrelight74.blogspot.com
As was mentioned earlier, our program states early on that they consider you their property between 8 AM and 5 PM. We have semi-frequent things until 6 PM and an uncommon thing later or on the weekend. All of our faculty are in active practice but we have never had our schedule changed due to work conflicts. I think that would be really annoying if it happened a lot.
During the clinical portion of the program all bets are off when it comes to a schedule. It could be anytime of day or night and go from 8hrs to 24 hrs. depending on where you go.
9-4 with some days running later
I see. They say for the didactic year it's 8-5 or 9-4, but that it sometimes changes or classes are cancelled at the last minute. But I guess it's like what fyrelight74 is saying, that we're subject to their scheduling.
- "In spite of illness, in spite even of the archenemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways." -Edith Wharton
A PA Journey @ apajourney.wordpress.com
I have a follow up to this scheduling question. How many people have kept or tried to keep their full time jobs while in school?
IMHO this is almost impossible...Originally Posted by trev9901
I'm going to try to work 8-12 hours/week (overnights as a paramedic) and THAT'S considered a lot. Most people don't work at all.
Winter and spring quarter are both 19 credit quarters. To work full time and carry that load at school...is it really worth it? My school is not flexible on it's hours. Your bottom must be in the chair every day for all the hours of the day with a very rare exception for pre approved reasons. Work is not one of those reasons. Most of my classmates study for 3-5 hours a night, every night. Quick round of math shows that if I sit in class for 7 hours, study for another 4 hours, that's 11 hours down. Work an 8 hour shift, that's 19 hours, leaving 5 hours a day to commute, eat, run errands, bath, decompress, and sleep. Sounds healthy :-/
Our school doesn't expressly forbid working during class but they HIGHLY discourage it.
Our school also highly discourages working. The only people I knew who were trying to work full time while in school dropped from the program. There are maybe 4-5 students out of our group that work the occasional shift on a weekend. That's about it. I don't know anyone who works during the week.
Pam
Class president RCRMC/RCCD Class of 2013.
Autobiography: http://www.pamelajeanwhiteley.com/biography.html
Path to PA blog: http://fyrelight74.blogspot.com
We were required to gain approval from the director of the program in order to maintain a job. The only person I know of that kept working had a pizza delivery job that required only a few hours per week, mostly on weekends. That was only during didactic though. Once clinicals come calling then you don't have a choice. I pulled a few 24 hours shifts while on my Gen Surg rotation not to mention the multiple overnights during my ER rotation. Getting to school late and leaving early from lecture is one thing, doing that on a rotation is a quick way to get kicked off that particular rotation. They won't care if you are tired from your other job, you will be expected to give 100% while you are there. I treated my rotations as actual jobs, I arrived 15 min early and left only when I was told to do so. If you have a job that you have to leave early for, you will be held accountable.
"Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight. Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight"
~Barenaked Ladies via B.C.
Trying to work while in school is one of the greatest contributors to student attrition out there. If your finances are not in order, you should take a year off and get them in order.
Thanks for the insight. I know another firefighter / medic that kept his full time job while he was in school and was checking to see how close he was to the exception vs the rule. I appreciate the responses.
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