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Normally I don’t respond to these type of forum posts because it usually does no good. But since you used my name (Jim Van Rhee) in the post I feel obligated. So, a few points: 1. Diversity- so for you, diversity is based on the school photos. Did you recognize the LGBTQ students in the photos? Did you recognize the military veterans in the photos? Did you recognize the students from rural underserved communities in the photo? There is more to diversity than any photo can show. 2. Money and Tuition- yes, the Yale tuition is $105,812. So, and I quote “ALMOST 30% higher tuition than every school!!!” To be 30% higher than every school that means all other school tuitions are around $74,069. So, I looked at a few other programs. A program in California tuition is $174,380. If you say just schools in the Northeast, then a program in Massachusetts I found has a tuition of $109,039 and a program in Connecticut at $102,955. None of these are 30% lower, some are higher. 3. Money again- application fees and I quote again “I really advise Pre PAs to spend their money wisely before applying to a school that’s making well over a quarter million in application fees just so they can tell you no .” Yes, the more people who apply the more admission fees are collected and yes, the more people that apply the more people are denied because we can only take a certain number of students. I think this is the same for every PA program in the country. Using your number of $250,000, you said over but I will use $250,000, with the application fee for the program being $50 that means 5000 applied and submitted a fee to the program. We have not even have half of that number of completed applicants. 4. No respect and faculty and staff a mess- this based on your online interview with us and may be some interactions with the admission team. How dare you. The faculty and I work incredibly hard every day, as do all PA faculty around the country, to make sure students have a great experience. And it starts with admission. We have an admission team that works with students through the admission process, we were doing interviews online before COVID saving students travel money, we revisited the prereqs to remove hurdles to students applying. Once in the program we have created a Well Being program for students to help them with the stress that comes with PA school and life. We have a Career services team to help students with CV writing, interviewing and job placement for after graduation. One last thing- you said last 5 years of school photos. We have only admitted 3 classes. Are you even talking about the right program? You said 1-6 out of 50ish or so, if you mean 50 classes then you really have the wrong program. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but they are not entitled to present false or misleading information or information without context. If you discover you are wrong I hope you apologize and post it to the forum.

Guys....I got the call!!!! Just waiting for follow up administrative emails but I'm so excited to join the crew!

Hello everyone! I am a current first year at MBKU (I also have a pre-PA IG, @whitecoatchasing) to give you all a little context, I submitted August 25th, received an interview November 6th, interviewed December 7th and was accepted December 10th! I wish you all the best of luck

Alright gang, I just got the acceptance call! 336 area code! Best of luck to everyone else.

https://www.aapa.org/news-central/2020/08/aapa-asks-cms-to-make-permanent-covid-19-waivers-and-regulatory-changes/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=aapa_post&utm_campaign=aapacms_update&utm_content=news_central_article AAPA call out physician organizations for trying to roll back Covid-19 CMS expansions. if you have ever called out the current AAPA for not pushing hard enough, you need to say good job here or I’m just going to consider you a complainer from now on.

Hey everyone I got the rejection email this morning . I did the interviews as well. Back To the grind ! Everyone that got accepted I’m sending a million smiles to you all! I want to help one student with part of their seat deposit . Spreading goodness in light of the rejection is the only way to move forward . If you are a student in need and are worried about this seat deposit . Email me ! No questions asked . Reach me at Angela.giovinazzo01@gmail.com you guys and gals take care out there and I’ll be applying next year . Sending love and all the blessings to those that are embarking on their journey this year ! Sincerely, Angela

I just got the call - ACCEPTED to the University of Florida PA program!! Interviewed September 14th and 15th. I literally cannot believe it, I am still in shock. I will definitely be attending. So excited to be a Gator PA!!

Everyone, this is a fake account. @ScullyAMA had a point when she saw that you just created your profile less than 24 hours ago and the only post you put was slamming this school. I did a reverse image search on your profile picture and found the original picture. It’s posted on blackmanmd.com and it profiles a PA student. She is VERY articulate and says she wants to be a writer. Her tone, word choice, sentence structure, and punctuation are very different from yours. I clicked the link to her blog. Her last post is in 2019. In it she says that she graduated in 2019, passed her PANCE, and has a job already. You said that you just finished rotations and are in your first year. You can also find the picture if you google “black woman physician assistant”. There’s a lot of anger and inflammatory language in your posts as well as obvious attention seeking behavior. Creating a fake profile with matching picture also indicates cunning, manipulation, intent to deceive, and planning ahead. That’s a lot of work to go through to post on here. As a licensed medical professional, I would suggest that you seek counseling to get to the bottom of why you’re doing this. Best of luck to you. I hope you get the help you need.

Hi all, current student here. If you have specific questions about the program from someone who is going through it currently, I would be more than happy to answer them. Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion about the school, but having been through the program for 9 months now has provided me an opportunity to give you a fair assessment of what it is like to attend. (I have nothing but positive things to say, fwiw).

I also got an acceptance call! So excited!

Hey all! First year PA student here. I didn’t hear about an interview until 9/23/19 and they gave us four days in October to choose from. With COVID, idk what that means for you guys but thought I’d share the process. Good luck! If anyone has any questions about anything feel free to ask!

Class of 2020 here - I'd like to respectfully disagree that all Yale PA Online students are people who can't attend on campus programs. I could have, and so could other students I know. I got into a local program and turned down other local interviews. I chose Yale PA Online because it allowed me to get a Yale education in my home community. I don't want people to think that this program is *only* for those who can't attend other programs, are a certain age or have certain circumstances, although it happens to be a great program for many for those reasons. This is an innovative way of delivering medical education, not an alternative method for people with extenuating circumstances. In fact, extending the reach of higher education is one of the goals and arguably the responsibility of private universities like Yale with large endowments. To the people who got in: Congratulations. To the people who didn't: Keep your chin up. Admission is not a perfect reflection of your strength or worthiness. It's just not. There are elements of admission that no matter how hard you work or how hard admissions committees try, is a crapshoot. I speak to you as a PA-C who was rejected from 10x as many programs as I was admitted to. Keep going. What's meant to be will be. To people who think they're safe making anonymous accounts on the internet and slandering programs and their staff: LOL

Maybe this will help... I don’t know what your situation is, but I’d look at the answer to your question of “why online learning”. The majority of us (actually almost every single one of us with the exception of one or two) that have been admitted all have very similar stats to yours but with over five years or more experience in healthcare being the average (there are some with less) and a lot of us have 8+ years. We are also older. I was told the average age they admit is 31. All of us have reasons why we can’t really attend a traditional PA school. We have kids and can’t relocate. We move every few years because we are in military families. We have extenuating family circumstances. Etc. I have also noticed that a lot of my classmates (myself included) had to fight and struggle to get where we are at. We definitely didn’t take the traditional route to get here. For example, I gave birth to my second child in the middle of finishing prerequisites, while my husband was deployed. I would breastfeed my baby by holding him in one arm and I’d be simultaneously scribbling down notes from my online classes with the other while my toddler ran around the room. The day I took the GRE I was on the phone with my husband when the call got dropped because his base was bombed. I didn’t know if he was alive or if my kids had a father anymore. I took the GRE with that question looming over my head and I still scored a 325. You’d better believe that I made damn sure Yale knew that. This is just one example and doesn’t even begin to hit the tip of the iceberg. I communicated everything I could to Yale. For me, Yale was THE ONLY CHANCE I had of going to PA school. I made sure they understood why I needed to apply to their school. I can’t speak for admissions because I’m not affiliated with them, but if I was in their shoes, I would not be giving my spots to people who have great stats but have copious opportunities to go anywhere. I’d be giving them to people like my classmates: great stats, tons of experience, good test scores, that magical “x factor” Ivy League schools look for, and demonstrated need for online learning. In other words, people who are good enough but haven’t had the opportunity and deserve a chance. That’s just my two cents though.

Super new to this forum, but I have been checking in after the recent interviews. I also got the acceptance call this morning. Best of luck to everyone!

For those of you getting nervous (like me), from what an admissions counselor told me they've only scheduled 4 out of 10 interview conferences for 2020-2021 app cycle, so don't lose hope!

OMG! I just received my acceptance call!! Still can't believe it!!

I thought about this all night and hesitated to revisit this today, but I'm so glad I did. So I just wanted to jump back and say thank you to everyone else for stepping in. I hesitated to "feed the troll" initially, but felt so personally insulted by that person's remarks -- especially since they tried to insult me directly. I can take a hit, though. Their comments very obviously have no merit, which is why I think it is important to take the intellectual high road while forcing them to own up. There is someone behind that account who feels wronged, but they are obviously and irretrievably immature and irrational. That is why it is much easier to expose their lack of understanding and grasp on reality by making them answer for themselves. Lastly, I feel protective of those who have poured their hearts out this summer, and in all the years past, to better themselves and to set a precedent through this program. I am proud to be part of this program and to learn from those who stand for their convictions while keeping their minds and hearts open. Everyone has something valuable to give. But, in life, when our minds are made up from the get-go, we won't be open to learning from anyone else. Then we'd be cheating ourselves.

Wanted to share that I'm an author on a case report accepted for publication in Annals of Emergency Medicine! It is a case report with accompanied image findings in a patient I saw in the ED with a saddle and sub-massive PE. The report was written with two of my physician colleagues and the plain film shows all of the classic PE findings (Westermark sign, Fleischner sign, Knuckle sign and Hamptom's hump) in one film. It's seldom that some of these signs are seen, let alone all in the same film! Just excited and wanted to share. This is my first publication, and although it's not research, it is a cool case to learn from.

PA-1 here! I’ll be one of your social hour hosts! We can’t wait to “meet” you guys and answer your questions! Some of us will also be your panelist the next day :)) Good luck on your interview!

I interviewed on 8/27 and received my acceptance letter this morning!

I got the call!!! I can’t believe it, I’m so excited!!! Praying for everyone still waiting, I know it’s hard!

I love the amount of positivity in this thread. It's such an arduous process to apply to PA school. Everything that lead up to your CASPA submission is daunting. The countless hours spent studying for tests to complete all the pre requisites plus additional hours spent at work and shadowing/volunteering. It's a long journey, one that shouldn't stop after a rejection. I strongly encourage all of you to push forward. All it takes is one acceptance. I am humbled by everything shared on this forum and I greatly appreciate all that was shared here. With all that being said, push forward! If being a PA is your dream don't ever stop from trying to achieve that goal. Use your experiences and passion to further fuel your desire to become a PA. This year has been one of the worst years of our lives, yet one shining moment that can be recollected is our abilities to push forward despite the challenges we were all faced with. You got this! You made it this far, don't stop!

Wow!!! Accepted from today’s interview!!!!!!!!!

Yes I did submit a CASPer with my application, but I unfortunately received an rejection email a few weeks ago without an interview offer. Stings, but I want to emphasize why previous and current applicants love to say "one door closes but another one opens".... because I got an interview elsewhere! Please do not be discouraged or lose hope, I know everyone here has something unique and amazing to contribute to any program and who knows what tomorrow brings. Goodluck to those who are still waiting, interviewing, and waiting post-interview!

To those who are waiting to hear about interviews - regardless of the date you submitted, don’t lose hope! There was another program that I was sure had bypassed me for an interview, especially after I saw that people who submitted way after me were receiving them left and right. I ended up still receiving an invitation 3 months after I submitted. Don’t count yourself out until you know for sure. Keep the faith, you can do this! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just got the email! I got so scared because they never called! Good luck and congratulations to everyone!

Schools recruiting high GPAs without any quality health care experience. EDIT: this applies to both male and female.

Gotchya. At the risk of being called mysogenistic/etcetera (and making a statistical inference about the OP), our profession is going in two opposite directions at once. There is a growing movement toward autonomy, yet we are moving further toward being a profession of very young women with no real life experience who has just 2 years of medical education.

I mean i didn't think it was hard but that depends on how you are under pressure because it is still nerve-racking. The faculty seems super relaxed though. I'm assuming it's not being discussed on here due to people not wanting to unknowingly give some an advantage over others, so we just keep to ourselves lol. I thought it went superb for me, but is that what they will think? Who knows. One thing I will say is that they did explain that notifications won't go out for acceptance this year till November and all interviews are done(last year was mid sept first acceptances). Also, they are interviewing almost 200 people in comparison to the about 150 last year.

ACCEPTED TO GLENSIDE!!!!! I am beyond grateful and cannot wait to connect with some of you (insta maybe?)!!! Congrats everyone!!

Just got the call! Accepted! Look forward to connecting with all you guys!

Good luck to all those waiting to hear back this week! Can't wait to welcome new faces into our c/o 2023 Facebook group!

I know how you feel...even though this is my first time applying. I thought I did the best I could. I tried to think back on any mistakes that I may have made during the interview. But I feel like, because it’s such a competitive process, it may not be something that you did wrong. It could be just that other people did it better: had better presentation, more articulate, what they were looking for, etc.. I would think if you received an interview, you are already ahead of the curve...Anyhow, probably this is just how I cope with the rejection I also feel discouraged, but not defeated. Let’s be sad for a day, then move on and be better the next!

I just got an email invitation to interview on October 8th!! Freaking out!!

Of course! More than happy to help! I cannot speak for our program vs any other program since I have only attended Yale PA Online, but I'll share some of my own experience. - Strengths/Weaknesses of the education overall? “Weakness” doesnt mean bad per se, but the thing you may say the student may want to cover a little more ground on. Strengths? Anything they’re particularly good at? Strengths: The design of the curriculum just makes good sense to me. We have an organ-system based curriculum, so we learn everything related to a specific organ system together. When we're on cardiology, for example, we learn all of the anatomy, embryology, disease processes, pathophysiology, pharmacology, physical exam, diagnostic tests, etc, for the heart. It helps make it relevant in a way that you can actually remember. I know some other programs teach by subject so you get all of the anatomy early on, followed by physiology, etc and then they go back to the pathology later. I think I'd find it very difficult to learn something and then have to remember it in a way that is applicable over 6-9 months later. The next strength of the program is Problem-Based learning. I think this is one of the most exceptional features of the program and one that is fairly unique to PA Online. We get to spend 6 hours a week working through actual cases and it allows us to try and fail and succeed all in an environment where we can actually learn and grow. Not to mention, our faculty are exceptional, and getting to spend 6 hours with them learning from their (very diverse and interesting) experiences, is extremely valuable. I also find it helps us to get to know faculty and our classmates better. I really don't have any complaints about the program - the only dissatisfaction I've experienced with the program was that the social parts of our first immersion got a bit truncated due to COVID (we were literally in New Haven in the first week of March as NYC COVID was exploding) but this is not the fault of the program, rather is a feature of COVID making everything uncertain. Important to note that all of the academic parts we DID get to do. - Ive read that they have used a production company to help produce the online lessons. What do you think of the lessons generally? Compared to, say, an educational channel on youtube; compared to, say, the fairly low-quality “camera in a classroom” setup common elsewhere? The production is better than any online educational experience I have ever had. They are filmed in a studio, the slides are picture-in-picture (and they are provided at the beginning of every week so you can mark them up, add them to an online notetaking software, or print them). The thing I actually like the most is that there is a transcript provided that is searchable. So if a lecturer says something and I remember that I want to go back to it later, I can search up a keyword and every time the lecturer said it will be highlighted. It saves me HOURS. Also, you can listen to the lectures on any speed you want, so if someone is talking fast you can slow down, or of course, you can speed up if someone is a slower talker. - What has the early clinical stuff been like? Is it really site dependent on how much you can learn and what you can pick up? Or is there a, um...rubric(?) for it? The early patient contact is one of the big draws for a lot of us, I think, because most of us have a lot of work experience CEED is by far the best part of the program. There is certainly variability in what people get to do in their CEED sites, for example, I don't see any peds at my clinic and some people do. Some preceptors are more liberal while others prefer to be more hands on, but nonetheless, we have an opportunity to practice Physical Exam skills, taking histories, etc. This is a huge benefit since we are all scattered across the country. I have never heard of a program that offers as much clinical experience in the first year as Yale does. So, at my particular CEED site, I work with a Nurse Practitioner 1:1 6 hours a week. I've been there since May and currently, I go in and go through the history, do all of the physical exam, and come out and present to my preceptor. She almost always asks what I want to do, and many times, my plan is what we use. Obviously if I don't know something she will tell me and we will talk about it, but generally I have a LOT of latitude. I have done pap tests, breast exams, small derm procedures, etc, on my own (with a chaperone) so far. I don't think it is really much different than what I would be doing during clinical year, tbh. - Can you comment on the Problem Based Learning? In my imagination this sounds awesome and very clever - can you comment on how this works out in actuality? There is some fear I think with group experiences because, frankly, we’ve probably all been in tough group situations. Though, PA applicants are a pretty distinct subset where effort isn’t usually an issue Yes - if you are going into the PA profession, you need to not only be comfortable working in a group, but you need to enjoy it. Your colleagues at PAO will be some of the most interesting and smart people you will ever be in a group with, so there is very little worry about those nightmarish group projects we all had in undergrad where we did 99% of the work (I know you've all been there!) In terms of PBL, it is not unstructured - you will learn that there is a very specific way that you want to go about asking questions related to the patient history, there's a systematic way that you want to approach physical exam, etc. The professors will spend a lot of time teaching this approach to your group in the first semester. Now, we are a lot more experienced doing this so our group format is a bit looser. At first we were all terrified that we would miss something so we asked every single question. Now we know a lot better how to take a focused history, but that's through just doing it a lot. For each PBL, we all log into our professor's zoom room three times a week. The first day, we get our case, can ask any questions of our patients that we want (literally anything from "where does it hurt?" to "have you ever had any surgeries?" to "what are your hopes and dreams?" (not kidding on that last one - it's my favorite!). After we go through the history, we can do physical exam (our professor "drives" the software, so we ask for what we want and they share their screen or give us the results). Usually we stop there on Monday and we each take a "Learning Issue" which can be something that we didn't know in the case (there is always a large list of things we don't know), or something you're interested in. You put together your LI and on Wednesday's PBL each person presents their LI. After everyone goes, you get any additional physical exams done that you want and you may order labs and/or do other diagnostic tests. Sometimes, you'll know right away what the diagnosis is based on the labs you ordered, sometimes you have to do more testing. Everyone takes another LI on Wednesday. On Fridays, we come up with the treatment plan and everyone presents their LI from Wednesday. The great part is that after each week, you get a ready-made study guide that has 24 different aspects of the topic (because we all put our learning issues in a shared onenote). AND you get to go through the case with a professor there to help answer questions. They allow us to flail and oftentimes (especially in the beginning) it can be frustrating, but it really teaches you how to think instead of just regurgitating facts or guidelines. I have found it has really translated to my success at my CEED site. - Are there any other educational tips you think would be relevant? Is there something you wish you had reviewed before beginning that you didnt think of beforehand? Etc.? Not really - your time will be limited in PA school, so I'd encourage you to take care of personal things now that you can. Make sure you have an office space that is set up for you to work in and prepare your family for what is coming. I hadn't had anatomy in over 5 years and hadn't had chemistry and bio in 6 and I did just fine with the coursework. My last piece of advice is that PA school is like a gas - it will take up whatever container you provide for it. If you give it 100 hours a week, you will easily find things to study. It can be done in 40 hours a week. You can have a life. You can stay married or have a hobby, you just have to make the time! Please do reach out if you have more questions - I know it can seem like a daunting process! Thanks for taking the time when you are able to

Omg! I didn’t think I had gotten in but I did! And I asked Jed if we’ll be in person in January and he said they are planning to be in person but that if the state of California mandates we be online then we’ll do that. I am so excited to meet all of you!

Got my acceptance call an hour ago!! Congrats to everyone who got in and plans to accept as well! Can't wait to meet you all!

I just received a call offering me a seat!

First round interviews were sent out this time last year! Good luck everyone!

I just called them right now and they said the they haven’t sent out interview invites yet because it’s taking longer for CASPA to verify them. They are hoping for the end of this week to send out invites. And he said that interview will most likely still be the 21st. Hope this helps!

ACCEPTED! Happiest day of my life!! I fell in love with Campbell at the interview and I can’t wait to study alongside all you beautiful people!

Just got my acceptance email, God is so good!!! Congratulations to everyone, you deserve it!

Females have more babies than males. Females take more sick leave than males, often to care for their kids or parents rather than just themselves. Females are less likely to settle for a ridiculous work-life imbalance than males. If I'm a practice, I want someone who has horrible work-life balance, derives their sense of self from their job, never takes leave, and treats their families as an afterthought. Not many women fit that bill.

To piggyback off of what @Kikime06 said. Your grades and schooling is what gets you invited to the party but it isn't what gets your crush to notice you enough to score a dance (OK enough with the bad metaphor) Most everyone who is applying has a great GPA or they wouldn't even be thinking about applying to PA schools so there isn't anything distinguishing about that in itself. While its a great personal accomplishment having a 3.9 GPA there isn't anything memorable about it. The admissions committee has been looking at hundreds of applications and doing 80ish interviews at a time you have to have something that will make you stand out in a sea of highly qualified applicants. I really feel that Yale is looking for the personal story that shows why you: 1) Won't quit no matter how sucky it gets. 2) Have experience with online learning (more than getting forced into it because of COVID) or are adaptable enough to do well with it. Part of this is showing you are a self-motivated learner. 3) Will do something to help your community and not just take the highest paying job that comes along. A lot of these things come with age and experience that can't be found in the college classroom. While your stats are impressive you're competing with people who have 10+ years of PCE, and thousands of hours of volunteer experience. My story doesn't tug at the heart strings as much as @Kikime06 does but I did all of my undergrad work while taking 12 credits a semester (mostly online), working 84 hours a week as a medic/educator/training officer/supervisor (we're not super busy so I could do a lot of schooling at work), teaching 4-6 credit hours a semester at my local community college, picking up some extra specialty certifications, running my own CPR/First Aid training business, trying to be a decent parent and spouse, volunteering with my church and local school all the while having an identity crisis and coming out as gender non-binary in a very conservative part of the country. I made sure that Yale knew that I could take whatever their program could throw at me and I will use that to help the people in my community that I have served for the last 14 years. I said it way more eloquently in my personal essays I don't think my story is unique nor do I think I'm better than anyone else applying, I've just have had more time and chances to prove my abilities or insanity . Listening to some of the life stories of the people that have been accepted makes me feel inadequate and I wonder how I got in because there are some kick ass people that have gotten accepted. TL:DR My point here for anyone that didn't get accepted is to don't just focus on grades and schooling for next application cycle. Yes, GPA is important but start living life, find a cause that you are passionate about and volunteer in that, challenge yourself and showcase personal growth by expanding your skill set, or go for that promotion at work. Most importantly start building a personal story that shows your tenacity and how you can use that plus a PA degree to make the world (or at least your little corner of it) a better place.

ACCEPTED TO ROSALIND FRANKLIN UNIVERSITY!!!! This has been my dream program and a symbol for so many years through my PA school journey. I can’t express how honored I am for this achievement. I hope for the opportunity to meet many of you talented and amazing individuals. Congrats to everyone, you should be so proud of yourselves!

Also accepted from the 8/6 session! Congrats to the others who were accepted!

I JUST GOT AN ACCEPTANCE CALL AHHHHHH

I wouldn’t say how I define myself is by working in medicine, but I certainly derive most of my self worth and satisfaction from how well I do my job, how good I am at it, and whether my patients do well or not. I wasn’t a talented kid growing up other being maybe slightly smarter than average, but definitely not the smartest. So finding medicine, something that came naturally, did well, and contributed to the world, made me put a lot of myself in there. If I couldnt do medicine, but still was healthy, I think I could find something else like engineer, though I would be really down if I never found anything I was equally good at that did as much good.

It's happening! Just got the acceptance call 30 mins ago!!

OMG!! I just got my phone call!! I was accepted!!! I can't wait to meet all my new classmates! Congrats everyone!!