eluch15

Charleston Southern University (Charleston, SC), Saint Francis University (Loretto, PA), MUSC (Charleston, SC)

Also declined my seat, so you watilistees will hopefully be hearing some good news soon!

I don't know if anyone will be able to help me here, but I am having a dilemma choosing a program and I want to hear any advice that I can get. I was accepted into three programs Thomas Jefferson-East Falls, Saint Francis, and Charleston Southern University. So I was initially (still am?) planning to go to Charleston Southern University (in Charleston SC) which starts this January and is 24 months long. However, I am now having second doubts which is either because I am making the wrong choice or because it starts in 2 weeks and I did not have much time to prepare/take a break as I was pulled off the waitlist in November. What I like about CSU is the location, it uses an organ-based curriculum, the shorter daily didactic schedule (8-3, 8-1 some days), the faculty, and it has a 30 person cohort. However, it is a newer program (fourth year and still provisional status) and I am now wondering if it would be more beneficial for me to wait a few more months until July so I can take a break from work, mentally prepare for PA schoo,l and wait until COVID-19 settles down for a greater chance for classes to be back to normal and in-person. I am having doubts and am not sure if that is a sign that I should attend the other programs (most likely Jefferson) or if it means that I am nervous because the CSU program starts this upcoming January and I barely had any time to prepare (since I was pulled off the waitlist in late fall). I am also nervous that it is a newer program (I would be the fourth cohort) vs Thomas Jefferson- East Falls (used to be Philadelphia University) which has been around for several decades. I was originally thinking that I can go to CSU to experience living down south and that I would graduate 7 months earlier, but maybe waiting until July to gain more experience and possibly travel would be a better option. What are your thoughts on this? What would you do if you were in my place and did you ever have to decide between two programs? How did you decide where to go and did you like your program? I appreciate any advice you can give me!

waitlisted for a second time lol but it is okay because I realized I no longer wanted to go here on interview day! Congrats to the accepted

That is insane! Unfortunately, all of my programs that I have been accepted to are around the 100k mark so really, looks like I will be broke for a few years

Would love to hear insight about each type of curriculum! Can any students speak to this?

Did anyone attend school out of state? What are the obstacles? Does it affect job search if you decide to go back home? Or does it not matter much?

Surprisingly, I did not see any threads about this! As an incoming student that has no idea how this pandemic will affect PA school during the spring/summer, I want to hear how your school dealt with COVID-19 and the pros/cons of things transferring online!

I wasn't sure in which section I should ask this question. I am not a PA yet, but it seems like the professional PA section is where I would get the most educated responses. I scribe for a geriatrician at nursing homes, so this month, we will have the opportunity to get the COVID vaccine. The physician I work with gave me the option to get the vaccine, but I am not sure if I even need it since I already had COVID, thus am already immune. His response was that we do not know the level of antibodies that are needed to be immune from the virus and that we do not know how long those antibodies last. Personally, I feel nervous being the first in line to get the vaccine and a bit selfish to get the vaccine first when I am most likely immune from the virus at this point. At the same time, the COVID vaccine might be mandated eventually so why wait? What are your thoughts? I also want to add that I am in my 20s and am healthy, so I am not part of the vulnerable population. I was also asymptomatic when I had COVID so it did not affect me at all.

They said that they had about 10 seats open fro grad students, however, during the 11/2 interview, they only had 4 spots open. So you most likely will be interviewing for the waitlist, but do not lose hope because they said they pull a good number off of the waitlist!

Waitlisted from the 10/28 interview

Also trying to find this out. It is impossible to find a social media page for their PA program! I am trying to find current students to talk to!

Once a program receives provisional accreditation, it means that the student can sit for the PANCE even if the program ends up losing accreditation. That being said, I would definitely attend your next interview! It definitely would not hurt!

Thank you! That is what I noticed too, but was not 100% sure. The one that teaches with medicine modules has different courses for each system such as a cardiology module or musculoskeletal module. In each module they teach you everything you need to know about that system and they finish the lectures off with anatomy cadaver instruction. It seems like the organ based system school is what you said it is. You have several different courses in one day, but learning about the same organ. It seems like most schools go by the organ based system curriculum.

Can someone explain the difference between a medicine module and organ based curriculum? How are they different if they are different at all? I am deciding between two schools that have these two differing curriculums and want to know the pros and cons of each type of curriculum! I would love to hear current students' thoughts on these teaching methods! Thank you in advance!