24 month vs 32-36 month PA programs

[Servant_to_All]

I have been accepted to a few different programs and am having trouble deciding between them. Of these, I am torn between two: Both have awesome PANCE pass rates and I was impressed with the faculty and students when I visited. One program is 24 months, while the other is 35 months. At this point, the differences in lengths are of greatest concern.

 

Do you attend a longer or shorter program and what are your opinions regarding the differences? Is a longer program more comprehensive, or slightly less rigorous? I'm less concerned with overall cost at this point. Any comments are greatly appreciated.

[EMEDPA]

if you have lots of hce a shorter program like stanford should be fine. if not a longer program like USC is a good idea due to the extra 6 months of rotations.

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

If the clinical year was longer at the 32 month one, I would go there. More rotations, longer rotations, more electives = better in my eyes. Otherwise, I would go with the cheaper one. Highly unlikely that it would be the long one.

[EMEDPA]

the only 33 mo program I know of is USC. they offer 48 weeks of rotations.

not cheap, but good.

interesting that my program offered 54 weeks of rotations in a shorter 27 mo program. but then again, no summer vacation after yr 1.

my old program now offers 50 weeks of rotations instead of 54 in order to make room for a masters project. (it was a bs program when I attended).

[Servant_to_All]

I only have volunteer HCE. The 24 mo program has 48 weeks of rotations and the other 52 weeks. The shorter program is actually about 20% more expensive than the longer program. I was accepted to another 24 month program, but it is nearly 300% more expensive than the 35 month program.

[SHU-CH]

We have a 33 month program for two primary reasons:

 

1. For the research component of the program, we ask our students to conduct an actual study. Due to time contraints it will usually wind up being survey research or chart review, but we ask students to develop a hypothesis, design a study, collect data, analyze it and draw a conclusion. This all takes time.

 

2. More important, we try to get students into the clinical environment as much as possible. Students complete a minumum of 60 weeks of rotation with the opportunity for up to 70.

[EMEDPA]

 

2. More important, we try to get students into the clinical environment as much as possible. Students complete a minumum of 60 weeks of rotation with the opportunity for up to 70.

excellent! I didn't know any programs had that option. will have to research your program.

[True Anomaly]

E- my program was also 33 months, which included 13 months of rotations in addition to the "clinical preceptorship" we would do once a week at the beginning of the second year of didactic. So all told, it probably added up to the same amount of time as SHU-CH describes at Seton Hall.

 

FWIW, we also had to do an actual study with all those steps in addition to defending it to faculty along with revisions.

[cinntsp]

Compare the curriculum timelines and rotation opportunities and decide what fits you best and what you believe will make you a better provider. The longer one may be cheaper but you are also not making a paycheck that you would be otherwise, so take that into consideration also.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

 

[patachok]

the only 33 mo program I know of is USC. they offer 48 weeks of rotations.

not cheap, but good.

interesting that my program offered 54 weeks of rotations in a shorter 27 mo program. but then again, no summer vacation after yr 1.

my old program now offers 50 weeks of rotations instead of 54 in order to make room for a masters project. (it was a bs program when I attended).

I am at Rush, and our program is 33 month. In addition to a year of didactic, and a year of clinicals, we have extra nine months of specialized rotations, where we choose a specialty, and do it for extra nine months.

[patachok]

I have been accepted to a few different programs and am having trouble deciding between them. Of these, I am torn between two: Both have awesome PANCE pass rates and I was impressed with the faculty and students when I visited. One program is 24 months, while the other is 35 months. At this point, the differences in lengths are of greatest concern.

 

Do you attend a longer or shorter program and what are your opinions regarding the differences? Is a longer program more comprehensive, or slightly less rigorous? I'm less concerned with overall cost at this point. Any comments are greatly appreciated.

IMHO, you should be concerned about the length. 11 months is a big deal! Unless you have a generous sponsor or very rich parents, than of course it does not matter. Also, why is the 11 months difference? Are there extra clinicals? An extra degree?

Finally, you can always apply for residency after 24 months, and extend your learning, but also get paid for it.

Just my 2 cents.

[narmstro]

I am in my last year at USC and I would not trade it for anything. I appreciated the summer off after yr 1, it was much needed after a very rigorous first year. It gave me time to re-group, study my weak points, and enjoy my family. My second year was all clinical with a one week vacation after each 3rd rotation. After rotations, we get a 3 week break during the Christmas/New Year Holiday and start our final semester to complete our capstone research project, advanced rotation, and pance review. I am sure our website spells it out better, but as a current student I couldnt imagine attending any other PA program.

[EMEDPA]

I think eventually all programs will go to this model of 33-36 months. it just makes sense with more folks coming in without significant experience for programs to build extra clinical exposure into their programs.

[rpackelly]

It is amazing that the rush model is little different than the 36 month program Stoneybrook had for medical school is the 1970s.

[patachok]

I think eventually all programs will go to this model of 33-36 months. it just makes sense with more folks coming in without significant experience for programs to build extra clinical exposure into their programs.

That is partly true, however in our program the average amount of experience is 2500 hours...i personally had about 10000 hrs. Rush itself is pretty big on experience.

[dht88169]

I attend a 24 month program.  If I was going to go to a 36 month program, I would seriously reconsider medical school.  You also have to take into account nearly 1 year of lost wages and remember that there is nothing stopping you from continuing to study just as hard on the job as you did in school and rotations.

[EMEDPA]

 remember that there is nothing stopping you from continuing to study just as hard on the job as you did in school and rotations.

yes and no. sure you can get more book knowledge on your own but the value I see in a longer program (for folks not going into residency) is the added clinical exposure. you can't do that on your own. very hard to just decide to go get more anesthesiology or trauma surgery experience for example.

for those planning on a residency I would agree that the shorter program is fine.

[winterallsummer]

Regarding money, wouldn't you actually "save" more money by attending the shorter program, because you would be earning money a lot sooner?

[LabMouse]

I'm currently attending a 24 month program, but also had the same trouble deciding between my other top school, which was 30 months.  I decided on the 24 month program because I'm an older student, with a fair amount of experience, and I wanted to be done sooner.  Those extra 6 months did not go into clinical rotations, just a lighter course load during the first summer semester that added time to the didactic year and included more breaks.  My 24 month program included much more flexibility in choosing specific rotations, and the ability to set your own up, and three electives, including an international.  Because I can fine tune even my core rotations to what I'm interested in and where, and will be done early (and thus be in the job market before other graduates) I feel like the 24 month program was a good choice.  PA school is hard no matter what.  It's stressful always, overwhelming often, but worth it.  I feel like, in ten years, it won't matter whether I had chose the 24- vs 30-month program.  You end up getting out what you put in.

[taotaox1]

I would say do the 24 months and then a residency.  Future employers are not going to know or care if your program was 24 or 35 months.  They WILL however notice quite a bit if you have done a residency.  I feel safe assuming that the experience you would get in most residencies would be superior to the variable experience of rotations.  On top of this you would be getting paid during your training.  

[WanderlustPA]

So 11 months longer for 1 extra month of rotations?  21 months of didactic?  My program is 27 months, 14 didactic, 13 rotations.  While didactic is pretty fast-paced at 14 months, I would be bored if it were stretched out another 7 months.  Unless they're adding other courses to the curriculum, I'd personally pick the shorter program.  Way more benefits graduating 11 months earlier (assuming they start at the same time).  But that's just my opinion!

[KMD16]

24 vs 36. No difference. Do the 24 and save $$.

[fakingpatience]

I'm currently attending a 24 month program, but also had the same trouble deciding between my other top school, which was 30 months.  I decided on the 24 month program because I'm an older student, with a fair amount of experience, and I wanted to be done sooner.  Those extra 6 months did not go into clinical rotations, just a lighter course load during the first summer semester that added time to the didactic year and included more breaks.  My 24 month program included much more flexibility in choosing specific rotations, and the ability to set your own up, and three electives, including an international.  Because I can fine tune even my core rotations to what I'm interested in and where, and will be done early (and thus be in the job market before other graduates) I feel like the 24 month program was a good choice.  PA school is hard no matter what.  It's stressful always, overwhelming often, but worth it.  I feel like, in ten years, it won't matter whether I had chose the 24- vs 30-month program.  You end up getting out what you put in.

 

Which program are you attending?