harden4mvp

I'll be doing a derm rotation in a few months and the office has never had a PA. There are 2 physicians at the office- one of them I used to work for as a medical assistant at another derm office prior to PA school, and is the reason I landed this rotation. He doesn't make any decisions though as he isn't the owner, so I'm wondering how to approach this rotation in terms of trying to land a job offer. Does anyone have any advice or have been in a similar situation? If they don't offer me a job at some point during or at the end of the rotation, should I ask for one myself at the end of the rotation or just leave it and wait a few months until I graduate? Thanks so much!

Hello all, I'm looking for any preceptors in core specialties, in Boston and the surrounding areas that would be willing to host me for a 4-week rotation. Please let me know if anyone on here is interested, or knows someone who takes students. Thanks so much!!

Try to remember that the people interviewing you want to get to know you more than you want to interview. They want to fill their class with not the best interviewers, but the best candidates. I interviewed with the program director and during my interview, I dropped a piece of paper, picked it up (actually bent down out of my seat to get it), lost my train of thought and was humiliated. Safe to say after that the conversation went way more smoothly after my guard was let down accidentally lol. I got accepted 2 days later. It truly has nothing to do with how you interview but more about if you can be genuine and answer questions truthfully. Just try to realize they're people too and don't want a robot script, so it's okay if you can't remember everything you want to say. Just take a few seconds pause after they ask you a question, collect your thoughts then answer.

How many exams do you usually have per week? we have 1 exam day about every 2 months. exams are PANCE styled, 300 questions total, spread throughout 4 hrs. Does your class schedule stay the same or change week to week (sometimes changing last minute)? some days have more lectures scheduled than others. sometimes we have off days (rare). just depends on the organ system we are learning but nothing changes last minute Do you ever feel that professors are presenting info one way and testing you in a completely different way? Do you ever feel that tests aren't "fair" and, if so, do you just suck it up? yes, usually happens when the professor who lectures the content doesn't actually make the exams. unfair quizzes happen all the time, program director usually does a good job of giving us points back if that happens. Do you feel the need to look to other resources (books, youtube, articles) to supplement your education? Or is the classroom enough? everyone has to supplement, classroom designated time is not enough time to teach medicine. plus, what works for 1 student may not work for another, so some will definitely have to supplemental lectures with other books and youtube for example. How challenging are your exams? Are you usually tested on "bigger picture" concepts? i would say its neither big picture or detail oriented, but tested in a way that is clinically relevant if that makes sense. they are difficult though, for sure. Do professors often make mistakes on exams such that the exams have to often be re-graded? yes, and they are not re-graded, rather points just added back to exams Are your exams curved? What is a failing grade? What is grounds for dismissal from your program? no, you get what you get unless there was an exam error. failing is a 72 and that is the same grade for dismissal from program. Do your classmates ever express negativity towards the format of your program and, if so, do you have a formal way to submit grievances? sometimes we vent to each other about quiz or exam content as compared to what we are tested on. we bring it up with faculty and they are appreciative of our concerns. Do you ever think that other PA programs are better than yours or are you happy to be in your program? happy to be where i am

no problem! and by post-bacc i meant that i didn't do a formal program. i went to my community college and took all of the above courses listed. i was never asked about why i chose CC vs a regular university in interviews

To give you some hope, I had similar stats as you and got 6 interviews and 3 acceptances. I took 2 years off after graduating and worked as a MA all while taking classes post-bacc to boost my GPA. I took nutrition, sociology, Spanish 1 and 2, pharmacology, pathophysiology, genetics, anatomy 1 & 2 (i took these in college but didn't take the lab, so i had to redo both courses). My GRE score was >50% percentile in all 3 sections, and I spent a great deal of time working to make sure my PS was perfect. Like the previous poster said, apply smart (programs who accept students with similar stats as yours), and apply early. Make sure you answer all supplemental questions to the fullest because they can also help boost your app. And get good letters of recommendation (by good, that means personal recs, people who know you and can attest to why you'd be a good PA)

I interviewed September 2017!

I just got pulled from the waitlist today, for anyone still waiting to hear back!

Your PhD seems to be very similar to this program. It's hard and lots of material. I have friends who say they could never study at home, they'd be tempted to sleep or do other things so you're right that it's tailored to the very disciplined, dedicated and motivated. I prefer learning this way because I can pause lectures if I miss something, don't have to frantically race with the professor to take notes, can pause to go to the bathroom, get a snack, etc, can watch from my couch or a coffee shop... you get the point! Plus I save a ton of time by not having to get dressed every morning, gather all my study materials everyday, go to campus, sit in class etc etc. So in short, I love it!

They went out in August for last cycle and stats haven't been published yet

Kevin Bolton in admissions is really helpful and answers most questions/gives advice. He helped me a lot during the application cycle - I emailed him almost everyday and he is happy to answer questions!! Plus it gives him a chance to get to know you/remember you. (my GRE scores were all above the 50th percentile)

You could, but by looking off the screen to another tablet you'd get flagged for cheating and you'd fail the exam and probably kicked out of the program.

So there isn't an actual lock-down browser, but with your screen being recorded, faculty will be able to clearly see if you open up another browser while taking the exam and you get flagged for cheating. Taping stuff causes you to look off to the screen (even if it's just a little bit) and that's a cause for a flag as well. I think we're all too scared to try anything, risk cheating and jeopardize our future careers. We spend 4 hours a week (I personally do 6 and requested this from my adviser independently) in clinical sites during didactic year, totaling 160 hours. We spent 30 hours doing cadaver dissection in groups of 5, covering all body systems. We removed the brain last month at our first immersion (what it's called when we visit the Yale campus) and are doing the actual brain dissection at the second immersion in December. For skills, we spent around 30 hours this last immersion week doing physical exams. In December we'll learn more practical skills, and since we've completed majority of the dissection, I assume more time will be spent performing these skills over the week.

This is all so sad and presumptuous. We have proctored exams. We are recorded by a system called ProctorTrack and any time our eyes go off the screen we get flagged. Anytime we look down we are flagged. Opening a web browser flags you for cheating. So no, the PANCE IS NOT OPEN BOOK and our exams ARE proctored and there is no cheating. Hope this answers your question! Next?

No, we have no input in where we have our rotations and are not expected to find our own sites. Yale reaches out, connects and sets these up on their own. There is an entire placement team dedicated to finding sites, establishing contracts and creating relationships with future sites, so that not only we can use them, but so can future students. Each site undergoes thorough vetting before a relationship is initiated. Further, your guess is incorrect. We are in didactic year but have already started working in clinical sites where most students are performing histories and exams, coming up with appropriate plans to discuss with their preceptors, and some even performing Pap smears and other minor procedures. We have certain goals and assignments to complete each week as we complete our clinical education in our didactic year. The issue is so many people comparing our education standards to NP's. It would be helpful for you to visit the Yale PA online site before making comments like these public forums.