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Worried about when I finish PA school...


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Hello all, I hope to not ruffle any feathers but wanted some advice and maybe some understanding on a topic. I live in Oklahoma, but I attend a hybrid/online PA program out of state, (I am sure that many can figure out the few schools out there). I have been told, and even scolded by some of the PA's I work with and around, I work as a Flight Paramedic and also do some shifts in the ED when I have the time by the way. Some of the PA's that I work around say that my schooling in insufficient and that I will be a terrible PA when I finish because I have not had any in-depth classroom or clinical practice. Although our clinical hours match and exceed in a few areas, it makes me pissed off. I did have a surgeon tell me a good quote, "Good schools put out terrible PA's, and bad schools put out great PA's," I do see were he is coming from but I feel I have a stigma against me when I finish finding a job here. I do know that one of the directors of the PA program locally hates the school I attend, sits on the medical licensure board, and has made efforts to have any graduates from this program have a hard time getting licensed in my state. This has come from a few alumni of the school I attend that practice here, and said they caught the same crap as stated previously. I guess I am asking, am I going to be looked down upon, or do I just need to keep trucking and feed the haters fish heads?

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Just curious but your school (If i'm guessing correctly) has a traditional on-campus program as well. How would anyone know which program you were in? Can they tell by looking at transcripts?

 

I understand the underlying question. I too wonder if the distance education would produce a less qualified PA. Looking for others who have gone through PA school to reply.

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This question frustrates me a little, because you've already answered it, haven't you? All the evidence you provided says that you will have a more difficult time once you graduate, at least if you try to gain employment in your immediate area (although who knows how these people are getting their information... sounds like conjecture). It's unlikely that many folks here will know better than those who have graduated from your program recently and experienced the job hunt firsthand. You asked if you should "keep trucking"... is there another option on the table for you? If we all reply and agree with your PA alumni that it will be harder for you, would it change how you plan to proceed? Are you going to quit?

 

I'm not aware of any hard evidence supporting the assertion that PAs graduating from distance programs are less prepared than those graduating from traditional programs. Of course, I'm not aware of any evidence that they are as well-prepared, either. All of it on either side seems to be anecdotal.

 

Try your best. Learn to master and apply concepts, not to pass tests.

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I probably should have clarified, I will keep on trucking, but what I was trying to say was should I keep on trucking to obtain employment here in my state or look more towards a PA friendly state? I wrote the post out of frustration, so my writing tends to flow like verbal diarrhea versus clear concise babble. I would never quit my program because of the state I live in not being able to obtain employment. I do know some of the ER groups could care less where I went to school, but I also know the local university has locked down most of the jobs in the area with heavy advertising to many practices and through alumni channels and so forth. I guess my post was more or less a venting session. I should have addressed the initial question more like this, "Will I have a hard time obtaining employment in my area or anywhere secondary to the school I graduated from?"

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The local employers will have their opinions, but typically once you go out of a certain area, most employers have no opinion/idea which PA programs are better than other. A PA school name like Stanford or Yale may impress, but most PA's know medical school prestige does not usually translate to PA school quality/prestige.

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First, Dr Eugene Stead had high hopes for distance learning education. If you scour the web, you'd probably find the direct quote.

 

From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_A._Stead (I know--not a real good source but it gives you an idea where to start). He actually had good things to say about the distance education that East Carolina had. However, the distance educ at ECU has since been discontinued. I wonder if some of those alumni are on this forum and may help you a little bit more.

 

"Dr. Stead had high hopes for distance education in medical education. He believed and talked regularly about the "politics of medical education" and believed that distance education could replace the first two years of medical school. After studying at home and passing national boards, he believed that medicine could be taught in the clinics and offices of private practices. While he worked and helped build the medical education institutions, he had some disdain for the way they practiced and acted as gatekeepers to the medical profession."

Realistically, I have found that I got more job offers even before graduation before I even took the PANCE because of the name of the school I graduated from. Now if and when you pass the PANCE, and you've kept lots of network during your clinicals, then you should not have any problems with job after graduation.

Chin up!

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