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I got my interview offer last year on Oct 10th (my birthday! ) so we are still probably about a month out from hearing anything.

Important, helpful hint: with this attitude, don't apply to a program where I'm on the admissions committee, sweetheart.

Hi guys! I have an interview coming up this Friday too. Hope to meet some of you there. I have a coworker who is actually about to start in their next class. A couple of tips she gave me for the interview: -Mingle during the breakfast/ meet and greet. She said they are watching everything you do so even if it doesn't seem formal so make sure you're presentable and personable with the staff and potential future classmates. Put your phone away and don't even look at it for the whole day! - The group interview is a panel style interview with fairly standard questions. What is your strength, weakness, etc. -There is a medical terminology quiz at the interview. She said not to stress though! It does not weigh in on your decision, but I think is just to gauge where you are. -They tell you that day if you made it into the program or not, but they take you individually and then escort you out right after regardless of the decision so you can deal with any emotions good or bad on your own. This is my first interview so I'm pretty nervous. I'm not sure if any of this is going to change at all this year, but hopefully this helps a little and we're all in this together!

Received an interview invite yesterday for 10/5! I'm coming in from California early Friday and hope to see you all at the Friday get together!

Hello everyone, I received the call last week and I've also been admitted to the program. I can't wait to meet all of you .. btw anyone looking for a roommate?? : )

Any calls??

My biggest paramedic lesson was that you go with what you and your crew have, even if you don’t know the answer to every question, and to be comfortable with that. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

@GMOTM - my PA program very briefly went over intubation as opposed my paramedic training that went over it in depth, including required anesthesiology rotations and required numbers of field intubations. I don't know about the whole class, but I did intubate during my OR rotation. Since I was and am a medic I asked the anesthesiologist who graciously let me intubate on a case I was already part of. @everyone: General comments on paramedics becoming PA's. Every program director has their own perspective based on their personal experiences. It's a natural tendency to generalize based on those. However, there's really no data to confirm that generalization. My personal experience: my years of experience as a medic was very helpful in certain similar portions of my training, especially cardiology, where I'd probably already had 90%+ of what was taught. It also was very helpful on the interpersonal aspect of dealing with patients, especially upset or seriously ill ones during my clinicals. However, there were large portions of the program that covered areas new to me. That's why I went to PA school. The consistent story I hear from preceptors and also physicians I work with in EM is that PA's who are or were medics are much more comfortable and eager to dive into complicated procedures and to manage sicker patients. My take away: prior experience is very helpful to a PA - in my case that was paramedic to EM. I have a classmate that did nuclear medicine who's now doing IR - she's clearly the square peg for the square hole. However, ability to learn and interpersonal skills, which are far more difficult for an admission process to judge, are also very relevant. Because of their position, each admission team gets to pick in their own way. My reco for the OP: try to find a program that attaches particular importance to prior healthcare experience, possibly particularly to EMS and or military experience. I've heard there are some that do. There are posters here who have better data that I do on that. Also, look at how you present yourself, especially when you're angry or disappointed. For better or worse, people hear how you say things much louder than what you're saying.

Received an interview invite for September 30th!! So excited.

I recommend staying along the orange or silver metro line. Uber is also a great option which I used to get the interview since I didn't want to worry about getting lost or being late. There's really no way to prepare to the prompt so I wouldn't worry about that part.

I got accepted too! Congrats!

I did not attend FSU as an undergrad. As for the interview, the best way I can describe the MMI is that it's similar to taking the CASPER, but in person. I did a handful of practice MMI questions beforehand, but I don't think I was any more or less prepared because of it.

I don't know how much I'm supposed to say because I spoke to a graduate of the program before hand and she was told not to give too much away about the process. But basically, you go through a case together to simulate their IBL style and then you have the structural interview. It's not nearly as scary or formal as other programs. Hope that helps!

Accepted!! Midwestern was my top choice so I can’t believe it. I just got the call.

Looks like they have wrap up/departure from 4:15pm to 4:30pm.

We had a speaker tellong us how to do abortion and joeseff asked if the ever survived the abortion, then he said, "sometimes but then we just give them a shot of methotrexate they stop breathing." Joeseff ended up saying, "this is bull@@##." Then he walked out. A few minutes later I did too. I am just appalled when we try to save a brain dead old person but when a fetus starts growing the brain and spinal cord the 1st trimester I for one am against it and would rather not partake in the festivities. Then my coordinator still tried to set me up with Planned Parenthood. I told them to kick me out if it means so much for me to be at planned parenthood which promotes optional abortions. Then they pulled another OB out of their butts to place me. Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

We had to go through a forced (do it or you dont graduate) diversity course, AND a group diversity "immersion experience" that involved living a mock lifestyle of someone else for a day, AND had to sit through a mandatory "gay day", where people of various LGBTQ persuasions came in and talked to us about their lives and how we can treat them better. Listen , I seriously could not care any less about my patient's sexual/gender orientation unless it is somehow pertinent to the clinical scenario, nor do I need to be force-fed all this propaganda to know that you should treat all of your patients as equal human beings. 99.99% of all providers do not need to be taught this, at least in their formative years.

In EKG interpretation you don't specifically reference a vascular structure, only areas of ischemia/infarction. For example, if an EKG shows an inferior wall infarction is it from the RCA or posterior descending branch? Anterior wall MI? LAD or diagonal? Posterolateral? LCx or an obtuse marginal branch?

That is good: focusing on something with the end in mind. On the other hand, studying PANCE pearls now might be putting the cart before the horse. If you don’t focus on the basics now, pearls may make little sense. I’d recommend reviewing anatomy and physiology. If you’re comfortable with those subjects, try some pathophysiology. And get some sleep, make some money, and spend time with family and friends! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Just got out of the interview a few minutes ago and it was pretty laid back. There are breaks so it’s not too much all at once. Good luck everyone!

Once you get to the MMI portion there are a total of 8 rooms each with a Prompt (sheet of paper with something written on it) ranging from an ethical dilemma you might encounter at work to quirky questions about yourself. You knock on the door, go in, introduce yourself and begin talking. It is more similar to you speaking to someone for 7 minutes rather than a conversation. Some of the people will ask you follow up questions but not necessarily. Also I got my acceptance voicemail yesterday!! (was in another interview so didn't answer).

I also applied back in June and just received an interview offer! Don’t lose hope if you’re not rejected

Interviewed Sept 9th and received a call and email of acceptance earlier tonight! Good luck to all, and looking forward to meeting everyone

I just received an invite!!! My chest is pounding so hard right now.

Yes they have one but from what they told us during the presentation we as PAs won't have much interaction. They will explain that they want to teach us anatomy in a more realistic manner that we will use in clinical settings rather than in an autopsy setting.

Hi Everyone, Just wanted to say good luck with the application process. Last year I got an interview offer in mid October so I think we are probably still a few weeks out from hearing anything.

The experience was pretty good! I was definitely super nervous but the entire staff and faculty were really encouraging. You're basically one on one the whole time when they ask you questions, and the only time you're with a group is for the exam and when you're waiting to go into an MMI station. The staff and faculty are extremely open to answering any questions or concerns you have. If you have a personal question (had a few about prerequisites that I forgot to ask during my 1:1 file review), they'll immediately call someone over and make sure it's addressed. During the MMI each person I encountered was extremely nice and engaging, and made sure you feel like your answer is addressed. Good luck and don't forget to have fun!

yes they held the luggage for me! they basically stored it in one of the interview rooms. if you want to do the tour though you'll have to lug it around with you. There were plenty of people that left it with the hotel, but I didn't want to have to uber back to the hotel, and then to the airport. my luggage was a carryon size so it wasn't that much of a hassle for me.

Overall the day went pretty smoothly and how they said it was going to in the email they sent out with your invite to interview. I won't / can't say exactly which questions were asked in the MMI portion but they were pretty standard. This was my first MMI experience and I was thoroughly pleased. I enjoyed the opportunity to make an impression with multiple staff/Professors. 1 in the file review and 8 in the MMI portion, and of course everybody else that was there that you interacted with. I feel like I was articulate and answered the questions sufficiently but ultimately I don't know how I did or how everyone else did that I will be compared to, but one thing I can say is that EVERYONE that was involved with the entire process was extremely nice and pleasant. I know you have probably heard this countless times and I know I didn't truly relax until 1/3 through the day, but really don't stress. If you have prepared for the MMI and also traditional questions then you will do fine. They want to see how you handle yourself in stressful situations, your communication/people skills, as well as critical thinking as it pertains to ethical situations. Wish everyone the best of luck!! It is still very early in the cycle and plenty of opportunities to get a seat. Joel

I sent the following letter to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on March 17th: Dear WDFW legal counsel: I am a physician assistant (my license number) licensed to practice medicine in Washington State. Completing paperwork on behalf of my patients is a substantial part of my regular duties in both family and occupational medicine. In the scope of my practice, I attest to current worker disability status for the Department of Labor and Industries, certify data on deceased Washington residents for the Department of Health’s Electronic Death Reporting System (the modern equivalent of ‘signing a death certificate’), and attest to disability status for disabled parking permits for the Department of Licensing. All of these other departments comply with both the spirit and letter of the RCW governing physician assistant practice, specifically the clause on documentation completion, RCW 18.71A.090, which states: "A physician assistant may sign and attest to any certificates, cards, forms, or other required documentation that the physician assistant's supervising physician or physician group may sign, provided that it is within the physician assistant's scope of practice and is consistent with the terms of the physician assistant's practice arrangement plan as required by this chapter." http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=18.71A.090 I note specifically the legislative intent from 2007, as documented on that web page: "The legislature finds that some state agencies and departments do not accept the signature of physician assistants on certain certificates, reports, and other documents that their supervising physician is permitted to sign, notwithstanding the fact that the signing of such documents is within the physician assistant's scope of practice, covered under their practice arrangement plan, and permitted pursuant to WAC 246-918-140. "It is therefore the intent of the legislature to clarify in statute what was adopted by rule in WAC 246-918-140, that a physician assistant may sign and attest to any document that might ordinarily be signed by the supervising physician and that is consistent with the terms of the practice arrangement plan.” By requiring only a physician’s signature on a Washington State Disabled Hunter/Fisher application, the department appears to be in direct violation of RCW 18.71A.090. Attached is a copy of a recent letter sent back to my patient, with personally identifying info redacted, demonstrating that rejecting physician assistant certification of disability status is both current, and sufficiently common that there is a corresponding box on the attendant form letter. Please educate me as to a specific RCW which exempts the Disabled Hunter/Fisher application process from RCW 18.71A.090, or amend the department’s current practices to match the decade-old law. Cordially, (me) I got a written letter from the WDFW Disabilities section the next week, saying essentially "yes, we know". And then yesterday, I got a nice letter back from WAPA (whom I had CC:'ed on the initial email) confirming that WDFW, after correspondence with the responsible state assistant attorneys general, had agreed to revise the practice. Oh, and I helped win one for the NP's, too, as they were also previously prohibited from certifying residents as disabled for the purpose of hunting/fishing licenses... :-) Moral of the story? Know your laws, argue politely but directly, and bring up the impact on real patients in real situations rather than theoretical problems.