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New PA to DO Bridge Programs


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  • 4 months later...

I find that most of my job satisfaction issues largely are shared by the doctors I work with.  NNT, "managing" non-illnesses (eg diagnosing normal IUP in the ED), being helpless to cure illnesses (cancer), worries about a bad patient outcome with or without being sued, dealing with ill behaved colleagues and patients, and the list goes on.  Sure the bigger paycheck and the "better" title are something to be desired, however the collaboration and opportunities afforded to PAs as well as ability for lateral movement to different specialties more than make up for it.  

Respect for health care professionals must be earned regardless of the title.  I have more issues with my status as an authority figure being a woman than being thought of less than because I am a PA.  I have seen may doctors (more female than male) struggle with lack of respect from nurses.  I don't blame my profession.  

Just some thoughts.  Thanks!

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  • 5 months later...

If you regret becoming a PA then you made the wrong career choice. I am perfectly content with not having to spend 10 years of my life in training. I am happy making 90k a year working 40hrs a week. I am becoming a PA for the balance of it. I get to practice medicine and I don't have to work 6 days a week and see my family 6 hours on Sunday like a lot of our physician counterparts. I will have time to actually be there for my wife and kids. Lots of divorced physicians out there. They have a lot of $$$$ but multiple marriages takes care of that. My best friend's father in college was a CT surgeon. She doesn't even know him. It is sad. Not work the $500k a year to me. Also, I have noticed a lot of negativity in this forum. Why don't we make a negativity only channel? So you guys don't bring down the rest of us who are PERFECTLY HAPPY WITH WHERE WE ARE AT IN LIFE!

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I wouldn't tell the people that are attending or considering a bridge program that they must have made the wrong career choice. As we grow in our personal and professional life our goals may simply change and evolve. What we may have wanted as a young 20 y/o may not be what we want as a 30+ y/o. As someone that is changing career paths after working as PA I absolutely do not regret becoming a PA. It was not wasted time. I loved what I did, just wanted to alter the direction I was heading. 

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  • 4 months later...

I may have missed this in the past, but to the best of my knowledge the APAP program was only offered in Erie. However I just noticed on the schools website that APAP is now offered at the Greensburg campus as well!!!

 

Would anyone happen to know if the APAP at Greensburg is also directed by Dr. Kauffman? And any differences between the APAP programs at the two locations?

 

Also, I had thought that the MCAT was completely a non-requirement. But, based on what I read on the their website it seems like it is still a evaluative factor and is taken into account for those who have actually taken the exam in the past. This raises the question as to whether APAP applicants with an MCAT score are evaluated differently (not based on SAT, ACT, etc...) than those without an MCAT?

 

I will appreciate if someone could shed some light on all of this!

 

Thanks

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It's offered at both the main campus in Erie and the Seton Hill campus, but not in Bradenton. Dr Kauffman is program director for all of APAP. The main difference between 2 campuses is that in Erie, all learning tracks are available whereas Seton Hill is all PBL, all the time.

As far as the MCAT, I really don't know how that shakes down since it was changed sometime during my senior year and I have no knowledge of how that works.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

 

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It's offered at both the main campus in Erie and the Seton Hill campus, but not in Bradenton. Dr Kauffman is program director for all of APAP. The main difference between 2 campuses is that in Erie, all learning tracks are available whereas Seton Hill is all PBL, all the time.

As far as the MCAT, I really don't know how that shakes down since it was changed sometime during my senior year and I have no knowledge of how that works.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

Thank you Primadonna.  

So, are there 12 slots at each location? Also, does everyone interview at the Erie campus?

 

I hope residency is going well!

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No, 12 slots total, although I thought that number was going to expand. I don't know how interviews happen now. ..I interviewed well over 5 years ago before anybody knew about this program. It was just me at that time.

 

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congrats on starting pgy-2! I have less than a month left for my DHSc and a few part time teaching gigs potentially lined up for after.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm in the same boat of not being able to swing the bridge program, albeit the details are different. Under 30yrs old but married and with very young kiddos. I went through with the whole application process/interview and got accepted for this upcoming fall. And after all of that I've decided not to do it. For myself personally, I felt I'd be giving up too much for not enough in return. So as a PA, I, and we, muddle on....

Was the program competitive for acceptance?

When in the cycle did you apply and interview?

mind sharing your stats?

thank you

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focus on developing PA profession. Advocating for PA to MD programs is ridiculous. Further damaging our healthcare system. We need PA and APRN to grow to manage general medicine and assist physician driver specialty care. Total waste of time and money. I hope federal funds are not supporting this in anyway. Lets focus on a proven cost effective model.

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  • 7 months later...

Which specialties do PAs get the most disrespect in?  I have seen young female PAs get severely disrespected in the ED by nurses but they were overall liked by the physicians.

That's a difficult question to answer, but I believe it can depend on the PA's background and training regardless of what specialty they're practicing in. Case in point, I had a classmate that was an OB/GYN nurse for 7 years before becoming a PA with me and I have no doubt that she is going to be sharp in that specialty; she works for a large Ob/Gyn practice in Dallas now with a lot of autonomy. I'm about to start practicing with an orthopedic/sports medicine group in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and all their mid-levels are also certified athletic trainers (ATC) or physical therapists (PT); I think only one was also a PT. I had a master's degree in athletic training & sport's medicine and practiced as an ATC for five years prior to becoming a PA. I knew the surgeon that ill be working with before PA school when I was an ATC because I sent him a lot of athletes and he became familiar with me. Every provider in this group (mid-levels included) are provided with their own scribe and get to see their own patients. The PA that I'm replacing (he's moving out of state) saw around 25-30 patients a day, both new and post-op, and has his own pod. The doctors also support their mid-levels fully and they make sure the support staff listens to them. SIDE-NOTE - obviously we all know if you respect the nursing and support staff, then they will respect you!

 

I'm not even sure if I answered the question, but my ADHD is to blame haha!

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