CALIFORNIA: USC, Keck School of Medicine
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Congrats on the acceptance. Usually the current president of the class will get with the faculty and start a FB page for the class. Maybe @PAzeke can help? -
(GA PCOM 2nd year PA-S here) The curriculum is organ/system based, cardiology, endo, pulmonolgy, you move from system to system. During the fall your main classes are A&P (plus a bunch of other little classes), the winter is H&P (plus more little classes), then it becomes all about clinical medicine until you are done with didactic. You also have a separate pharmacology course. Sprinkled into the clinical courses you have specialty courses like surgery, ER, psych, etc. When I went through my didactic the exams weren't always right after you finished covering a topic (sometimes up to 3 weeks after) but that may be fixed by now. It was really annoying because you were expected to continue learning about a different system then be tested in the previous system. There are plenty of organizations to belong to, the PA association is the closest related one, but you also have others like Surgery club, ER club, PCOM Fit, etc. Faculty doesnt recommend jumping on ship with the organizations until you have a feel for how much time you need to spend studying. Some organizations are more relaxed than others. Im part of the ER club and we rarely ever meet. Others meet weekly. The campus has a play room with Xbox, PS4, ping pong tables, and a pool table. Those are all free to use 24/7. Like PAzeke said, chelsea 88 seems to be favored. My suggestion is live as close to the school as you can, you will spend a lot of time there and may need to go in to study or other short-timed activities. The area around the campus is safe, I lived in Lawerenceville (15 mins from campus) and never had a problem. It is suburban Atlanta so anywhere within 15 minutes from campus is fine.
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By gochargers · Posted
Anyone else interviewing 9/27 and want to meet up on the 26th?? Can't wait to meet everyone :) -
This was funnier than it probably deserved to be. points to gryffindor I do agree with much of what is said above re: debt, but there is all kinds of middle ground here. Debt is a tool, just as a power tool or a firearm is. With proper education and common sense, these can help you out when they are needed. But when they are not truly (TRULY!) needed, they need to be put away. If these items are used improperly or in haste, the results can be disastrous. I personally love ol' Dave Ramsey PA-C, who has chimed in above, and he is doing vitally important work, but I don't agree with absolutely everything he says. Get the books, and you'll take something away from each that will stick with you. For instance, Kiyosaki was clearly made by blind luck, and fabricated great whacks of his personal history (including his military service). But he is completely against the idea that your home (with mortgage) is an asset, and I'll never forget this. Back on subject. High paying / loan repayment new grad jobs might be found in undesirable places - all you have to do is look. Interview with a few and find out how bad they suck. Recruiters - the bane of most of our existence - might come in handy here. They exist to find and hire candidates for hard-to-fill jobs. Your main goal right now is to gain experience - not make the big money. In 18 months or so, you can start considering Alaska oil rig jobs or something. Liking the way you think, but think it through. Having less than a year of experience is a major league bugaboo. Trust me on this. Try not to worry about it. Good luck. -
Hey everyone,
I have been going through the topics for some time now, and I think I need some tailored advice for my situation. It's a little long, but I would appreciate some help. The primary points are this: I am in undergrad, have a bad GPA, and want to be a PA. Regarding my GPA, I have acknowledged and recognized WHY, and have eliminated all of those negative factors from my life -- this is an important step in both improving, AND in offering an explanation to a PA school application committee. I also want to preface that I'll be offering some of the causal factors involved in my poor academic performance, but I won't be using them as "excuses".
First, my background. I started undegrad about 6 years ago, with the intention to pursue something vaguely healthcare-related. I had poor guidance, with no knowledge of where to get advice, and under-performed as a result. About a year and a half in, I got pressured into going for a BioEngineering degree, and got beat up by Physics and Math classes for which I had insufficient interest in to spur good performance. I recognized that my lack of interest in BioEngineering was partly to blame for my poor performance. I determined I would go into healthcare as a PA, when I learned about the profession from a work colleague, as this interested me greatly. When I started down the route for the PA pre-requisites, I started doing better, and found I had a much greater interest in my courses. The only major detriment was Organic Chemistry 1, which was a definite pre-req for PA, as well as for my Biology degree. This class was just so unlike anything I had ever taken, although I eventually passed. I have also worked throughout my entire time as a student, and had a few "house life" issues, although none of those are "excuses"; they're simply obstacles that made it more difficult for me to perform optimally. After that, I knew I had to re-structure myself, and completely turned over a new leaf. Since then, for the past year and a half, I have gotten nothing but A's, taking upper-level advanced science courses and writing-intensives to boost myself. I got a better job, with better pay and better scheduling, and am exhibiting the upward trend that can help lighten poor early academic performance. I put 110% into all of my classwork, I am always one of the top students in the class, have gotten on good terms with all of my professors, and even got a great Letter of Recommendation from one in order to volunteer in the ER at a local hospital (for which I can attain a maximum of 150 Patient Care Hours). My GPA is 2.7. I understand that this is well below the minimum for PA schools, not even mentioning being competitive. I know the reality of the situation -- I would like advice on how I can FIX it. My current Plan of Action is this: -Finish my last two PA-pre-reqs (A&P 1 + 2), and continue taking upper level science courses and getting A's to raise my GPA. -Continue volunteering as much as possible, including shadowing. -Train for and become an EMT-B, in order to meet AND exceed the Patient Care Hours for most PA schools. -Continue obtaining glowing Letters of Recommendation, and write an outstanding Personal Statement/Letter -Eventually apply to MANY PA schools So, there it is. I already went through the period where I felt like trash about my academic performance; I am now focused on fixing it. I am willing to do whatever it takes. Help is greatly appreciated.
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