Brand New Innovative PA Program! Lake Erie College in Ohio

[ProfessorKramer]

Hello, my name is Sean Kramer and I am the academic coordinator for a new PA program that will matriculate its first group of students May 2014. Admissions are currently open and on CASPA.

 

 

Lake Erie College Physician Assistant Program

www.lec.edu/pa

 

Lake Erie College will award a masters of physician assistant sciences in an innovative, comprehensive 27 month program. We have an affiliation agreement with University Hospitals in Cleveland (#18 ranked hospital in the United States). The program will feature early clinical experiences, problem based learning, module based format, student faculty ratio better than 8:1. Below is a list of admission requirements. The deadline for all information to be verified (by CASPA) is December 1st, 2013. I would highly suggest submitting before October 15th as it may take 4-6 weeks to verify. Below is a list of admission requirements.

 

Degree Requirements Prior to Admission

A baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution with a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale is required for admissions. All required pre-requisite courses must be "B” or better with the exception of Organic Chemistry which must be "C”or better.

No grade of "B-" or "C-" will be accepted.

 

Academic Course Pre-Requisites

 

• Should be completed within last 7 years:
  
  • Human Anatomy & Physiology with lab (2 courses)
    
  • Microbiology with lab (1 course)
    
  • Genetics with lab (1 course)
    

   

  • General Chemistry I and II with labs (1 course each)
    
  • Organic Chemistry with lab (1 course)
    
  • Biology I and II with labs (1 course each)
    
  • Statistics (1 course)
    
    • Note: Preference given to students with advanced statistics, biostatistics or health-related statistics courses
      

     

    [*]Psychology (1 course)

 

• No Time Limit:
  
  • English to include communication or speech (2 courses)
    
  • College Algebra (1 course)
    

 

• Tested out during interviews:
  
  • Medical Terminology (course recommended)
    

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

 

• GRE in last 5 years – no minimum score requirement
  

Students whose first language is not English must achieve:

 

• TOEFL: The current LEC graduate degree minimum required is a paper score of 600, a computer score of 250, or an internet score of 100.
  

Healthcare Experience Requirement

Applicants are required to complete a minimum of 250 hours observing or participating in the delivery of healthcare in a clinical environment.

At least 50 of the 250 hours must be from direct shadowing of a licensed Physician Assistant.

 

The Lake Erie College PA Program is not accredited at this time, but has entered the process to receive accreditation through Accreditation Review Commission for Physician Assistants, Higher Learning Commission, and Ohio Board of Regents.

 

 

Check out our website for more information, http://www.lec.edu/pa. If anyone has a question regarding the program or profession let me know!

[Just Steve]

Hi Mr. Kramer. I am wondering as academic coordinator if you would mind talking about the required health care experience. I am a soon to be grad of a program that has a very high benchmark for health care experience (4000 hours) and I feel that experience is what really helped me succeed in PA school. I am wondering if you could touch on how your program will bring your students up to speed as clinicians when they are essentially starting from ground zero in their medical careers. We also did PBL and module based format, however there were not as many science classes required prior to admission.

 

I look forward to continuing the conversation, thank you for your time.

 

Steve Revier

[mbalaban]

Umm, am I understanding this correctly? If I was arrested for underage drinking in 1990, that I am not eligible for admission to your program? Also, with 15 yrs as a medic, I would still be required to shadow a PA for 250 hours?

[ProfessorKramer]

Steve,

 

Thank you for your response. I agree that 4000 hours is a very high benchmark for healthcare experience. This requirement is complicated in many ways.

 

I think it would be wonderful to expect everyone to have 4000 hours of health care experience, but that is not always realistic. I agree that this experience is very valuable and would make you more likely to succeed as a PA. However, as healthcare extenders we are trying to fill a need and the majority of applicants do not have that experience.

 

The question you need to ask is whether it is 100% necessary. I am confident that given we have students with great potential we can fully prepare them to be great PA's no matter what their experience is. I know I can speak for myself. I went back to PA school as a career change with minimal healthcare experience. Dedicating yourself to the didactic phase, making the most of clinicals, good teachers, and finding an appropriate job after school will set you up for success.

 

It is also important to note that despite graduating from PA school it does not mean a PA is completely prepared to practice on their own. You will find out the longer you do this you will find the less you know. Actually practicing and not just going through clinicals forces you to know the medicine at a completely different level. And this is no matter what your background is.

 

As for your school's requirement it only benefits them. A student with 4000 hours tells me two things. They are motivated and that they have a base to work with. Essentially, you are making their job easier. It is pretty easy to teach a strongly motivated, experienced person. As a new program, I do not think it would be reasonable to expect students to have this.

 

As for getting students up to speed, it was not long ago I sat in their shoes. I graduated in 2009 with little previous experience and know what it takes. We are making the format very logical, organized, and opportunities to identify any deficiencies. We are implementing early clinical opportunities during the didactic phase so students will actually get to see what they are learning in action. Problem based learning will be used right before clinicals for 10 weeks for students to prepare. They will go through case scenarios and it will benefit them in two ways. It will help them get more familiar with the complete evaluation process and identify any deficiencies in learning. Students will also need to pass a summative exam to move on to clinicals. These students will be extremely prepared for day 1 of clinicals.

 

I appreciate your thoughts. Thank you for your time. Respectfully,

[ProfessorKramer]

mbalaban,

 

Thank you for your response. The 250 hours is shadowing or healthcare experience. 50 hours of this specifically needs to be shadowing a PA. You would only need to shadow a PA for 50 hours with your experience.

 

Thank you,

[mbalaban]

The FAQ says specifically 250 hrs of shadowing. I might suggest double checking that. And what about things that may have happened 20+ years ago? The program intrigues me as I grew up in that area and have thought about moving back.

[Just Steve]

Thank you for your response Mr. Kramer.

[ProfessorKramer]

mbalaban,

 

Thank you for finding the discrepancy. It was worded poorly in the context of someone having no prior healthcare experience they could shadow for all of their 250 hours. I will touch that up. Just to confirm, we require is 250 hours of healthcare experience or shadowing, 50 hours of which must be shadowing a PA. The 50 hours of shadowing must be documented.

 

Thank you!

[cinntsp]

mbalaban,

 

Thank you for your response. The 250 hours is shadowing or healthcare experience. 50 hours of this specifically needs to be shadowing a PA. You would only need to shadow a PA for 50 hours with your experience.

 

Thank you,

 

This is a terrible requirement that makes no sense. Why does this(and a few other) program require shadowing hours even for those that have actual healthcare experience? Why would someone need to follow a PA around if they work with PAs and understand the role?

[futurePAS]

This is a terrible requirement that makes no sense. Why does this(and a few other) program require shadowing hours even for those that have actual healthcare experience? Why would someone need to follow a PA around if they work with PAs and understand the role?

 

Many medical schools have similar requirements. Stop your *****ing.

[mbalaban]

Yes, medical schools don't have that requirement. But in med school you have 2 years of clinicals before you start your residency which is another 3-10 years. So med students have 5-12 years of being a student and learning how to talk to patients before they are off on their own. How long do PA students have? 12 months? Let's also not forget that the PA profession was started as a way to take EXPERIENCED medics and corpsmen and expand their scope of practice. That's why the school model is as short as it is, because an experienced medic doesn't have to be taught CPR or how to interview a patient. They need to expand on assessing patients.

[Super Duper]

Many medical schools have similar requirements. Stop your *****ing.

 

Many medical schools require that you shadow a PA for 50 hours? That is very odd.

[cinntsp]

Many medical schools have similar requirements. Stop your *****ing.

 

I think my post went over your head.

[EMEDPA]

given the low hours of hce required I think early clinical exposure will be very beneficial to your students. at my program we had first yr clinical exposure in the history taking, physicial exam, and emergency medicine courses.

I would also recommend lots of PBL type sections. these "real world " scenarios help students go from book knowledge to creating a reasonable ddx on a real patient. I think pbl is underutilized at most schools.

When done with my doctorate I hope to work with students at local schools doing small group discussions/PBLs/emergency medicine case study presentations, etc.

[ProfessorKramer]

This is a terrible requirement that makes no sense. Why does this(and a few other) program require shadowing hours even for those that have actual healthcare experience? Why would someone need to follow a PA around if they work with PAs and understand the role?

 

Wutthechris,

 

Thank you for your input. I disagree with the sentiment that shadowing for individuals with healthcare experience is a terrible requirement and makes no sense.

For Lake Erie College, we require 250 hours of shadowing or healthcare experience. 50 hours need to be shadowing a licensed PA. So someone with previous experience only needs to shadow a PA for 50 hours. Although he or she may work with PA's or see what they do, it is an opportunity to walk by their shoes and see everything they do. It is also a chance to ask them questions and see different specialties. I think most people considering the profession would think it wise to evaluate what they are actually getting themselves into.

 

I might add that individuals making statements like this comes across in a confrontational way. It suggests that one thinks they know better. As someone on admissions committee I see this as a red flag. With this type of thinking one would also assume he or she knows everything after graduating PA school. I believe most of us know that is a dangerous assumption. I do not think 50 hours is a ridiculous commitment. If a potential student refuses to do this they are free to apply elsewhere.

 

Respectfully,

[cinntsp]

I might add that individuals making statements like this comes across in a confrontational way. It suggests that one thinks they know better. As someone on admissions committee I see this as a red flag. With this type of thinking one would also assume he or she knows everything after graduating PA school. I believe most of us know that is a dangerous assumption. I do not think 50 hours is a ridiculous commitment. If a potential student refuses to do this they are free to apply elsewhere.

 

Respectfully,

 

Please don't mistake straightforwardness as being confrontational. That wasn't my intention. I don't think it's safe to make the assumption that an opinion about admission requirements translates into that person believing they know everything about practicing medicine upon graduation. You will see practicing PAs on this board that also view shadowing as a silly requirement for those with healthcare experience, so it's not localized to know-it-all PA students. The question was a legitimate one--I think it can be reasoned that someone who interacts with PAs in a medical setting will have an understanding of what PAs do, which I'm assuming is the point of shadowing. From my personal experience, while one is working full time in healthcare interacting with providers of all sorts, it's hard to find the time(and doesn't seem beneficial) to take the equivalent of 5+ full work days to follow someone around. Then of course there is HIPAA, which has turned off many institutions to the idea of shadowing. Those that choose not to shadow can certainly go to a program that doesn't require it(as I did), but it seems like a hurdle that should have a little more flexibility based on the individual's situation.

[ProfessorKramer]

All,

 

I had a question in regards to interviews. So I could fairly respond about this to everyone, I am posting it on the forum.

 

If you are granted an interview you will be notified. Upon acceptance of the interview you will be sent a packet that outlines your schedule of events for the day. There will be a medical terminology test out. I can not give any more details at this time.

 

Thank you,

[kris_]

Hello Mr. Kramer,

 

Thank you for posting about this new program- it sounds like you have a lot to offer!

 

I have a few questions about the application process. At the time I submitted my CASPA application in June I had 42 hours of shadowing experience and over 2000 hours of HCE. Since then, I have continued to shadow PAs and I now have over 50 hours which would meet your requirement. I have not sent my CASPA application to your program yet, but could I simply email the program to update the amount of hours I have?

 

Also, I saw online that there is a shadowing verification form. When do we need to fill that out?

 

Thanks for your help and all of the information you've shared!

Kris

[sotaskimmer]

I might add that individuals making statements like this comes across in a confrontational way. It suggests that one thinks they know better. As someone on admissions committee I see this as a red flag. With this type of thinking one would also assume he or she knows everything after graduating PA school. I believe most of us know that is a dangerous assumption. I do not think 50 hours is a ridiculous commitment. If a potential student refuses to do this they are free to apply elsewhere.

 

I wanted to post something positive about a new program opening to counteract the negativity in this thread, until I read this.

 

Even if the poster was being confrontational, this statement serves no other purpose than to be passive-aggressive.

 

Candor is one thing; passing judgment on someone over the internet, based on the phrasing of their statement, is entirely another.

[ProfessorKramer]

Hello Mr. Kramer,

 

Thank you for posting about this new program- it sounds like you have a lot to offer!

 

I have a few questions about the application process. At the time I submitted my CASPA application in June I had 42 hours of shadowing experience and over 2000 hours of HCE. Since then, I have continued to shadow PAs and I now have over 50 hours which would meet your requirement. I have not sent my CASPA application to your program yet, but could I simply email the program to update the amount of hours I have?

 

Also, I saw online that there is a shadowing verification form. When do we need to fill that out?

 

Thanks for your help and all of the information you've shared!

Kris

 

Kris,

 

Thank you for your post. The shadowing hours will just need to be completed by matriculation. You do not have to be concerned about this in your situation. You will not have to send any more information to the program. For shadowing, you can either use the Lake Erie College form or any other signed documents for proof. The form is nice for the PA you are shadowing because they will not have to type up a specific letter. You can pre-fill most of the information and they just need to sign and enter the hours.

 

We updated the requirements to clear up any confusion. It is available on the web page. Thank you!