PacificU vs. Loma Linda

[Z PA-C]

I am having a really hard time deciding between these two schools. I know that they are both reputable programs but is one "better" than the other? I don't know where I would want to live after school. Are laws in Oregon or CA more PA-friendly?

What I do know:

Pacific:
-27 months, starts in May
-Not affiliated with a med school (good or bad?)
-Module Based Learning by organ systems
-Has a rural track, many rural rotation sites (more "hands on" experience?)
-Elective rotation must be in Pediatrics, Women's Health, Geriatrics, or Family Medicine
-Rotations require a lot of traveling, even to different states (diverse but costly/stressful to move constantly)

LLU:
-24 months, starts in Sept
-Affiliated with a good med school
-More traditional learning set-up (not so much by organ systems)
-closer to home (2 hours)
-get choice of one elective rotation in any specialty
-20K more tuition but could save some money by doing a few rotations near home

I am all ears and open to hearing any and all input whether it be good, bad, or ugly. This is definitely one of the biggest decisions I've had to make and I really appreciate being able to get feedback from people on this forum. Thank you!
 

[Elmers]

I probably won't be able to give you a good insight, but Pacific was my dream school. I was denied, because I didn't have enough hours. 

I liked the global rotations and I felt like Pacific really cared about their students. They have pass/no pass, they  have a lot of practice from the problem based learning enforcement after lectures. Also, the faculty members are super nice. I spoke to Leah and she has helped me a lot throughout the PA application process, even though I wasn't accepted to Pacific. 

 

I don't know much about Loma Linda, but I've heard both good and bad things. I heard they're unorganized and messy, but they have pretty good rotations.

 

If I was as lucky as you, I would definitely choose Pacific. 

[Z PA-C]

I probably won't be able to give you a good insight, but Pacific was my dream school. I was denied, because I didn't have enough hours. 

I liked the global rotations and I felt like Pacific really cared about their students. They have pass/no pass, they  have a lot of practice from the problem based learning enforcement after lectures. Also, the faculty members are super nice. I spoke to Leah and she has helped me a lot throughout the PA application process, even though I wasn't accepted to Pacific. 

 

I don't know much about Loma Linda, but I've heard both good and bad things. I heard they're unorganized and messy, but they have pretty good rotations.

 

If I was as lucky as you, I would definitely choose Pacific. 

Thanks Elmers! I completely agree with your impression of Pacific. I got that same feeling. I'm a big fan of the global rotations. LLU also has international sites but Pacific is developing one in Vietnam which I'm very excited about since I'm bilingual.

 

Can you elaborate on why you think Loma Linda is unorganized/messy?

[S Brake]

Pacific was my top choice and I was lucky enough to be accepted. After talking to several pacific grads and after the interview weekend, I felt like there was no way I wouldn't succeed at pacific. Had I not gotten in I would have withdrawn my applications to other schools just so I could reapply next year.

[Elmers]

Thanks Elmers! I completely agree with your impression of Pacific. I got that same feeling. I'm a big fan of the global rotations. LLU also has international sites but Pacific is developing one in Vietnam which I'm very excited about since I'm bilingual.

 

Can you elaborate on why you think Loma Linda is unorganized/messy?

I heard it from another pre-PA student. He said he was visiting the office and there were papers stacked all over the table, and he was supposed to schedule a school tour, but he just sat in a cramped up office and had to wait a long time until the staff came in. He said admissions were pretty rude. I don't know much about LLU, so take what I say about LLU lightly. I'm more biased towards Pacific.

[Derbingle]

You can PM w specifics. I went to LLU. Got a solid education. Unless things have changed, it was very organized. Everything pretty much mapped out but no program is perfect. A couple of times i rotated in a large teaching hospital (arrowhead regional) with students from Keck, Western and Touro for surgery and ER, most of us thought it was trial by fire, learn on the fly for rotations, but this forum reiterates that all over for most programs. Rotated in CV surg and was honored to to surg next to Dr Bailey and his crew, (arranged by the school for my elective) never thought I would get chance. However, The rurual rotations are pretty good too from what I hear.

 

In general, You would prob never run in to any students with the characteristics of the one you were having a forum war with a while back. LLU would weed them out in a second. LLU has far reaching global hands and connections which help in the long run with special projects, like if you want to go work in Africa on mission etc. I didnt go elsewhere of course so can only tell you my experience. Hope this insight helps. Pm me for more detais.

[Z PA-C]

Wow that is amazing that you were able to rotate with Dr. Bailey. What an honor!

 

Thank you for your perspective Derbingle. I am still not sure if I am any closer to making a decision though. This is really tough.

[CorpsmanUP]

I had the same decisions to make concerning Loma Linda and Pacific, as well as GWU, Duke and Wake Forest.  Ultimately Pacific was the place I decided to attend.  For me it came down to a couple of factors.

• Location as I love the area and it has better practice rights/environment for PAs in my opinion
• The Staff and how quickly they have been available to help with some issues and how accommodating they have been.  One example among many is that I needed some paperwork taken care of for the Navy and the Director of admissions had it completed and returned to me within four hours of my request
• The rural and new global health tracks that are available to fit career goals, concerning the rotations I can understand the apprehension of moving a lot; however, I have been to over 20 countries in the past three years and see it as an opportunity to truly grow in experience and perhaps see another place I may enjoy living more.
• The curriculum: I have been in a fast paced academic environment taking 3-6 tests every two weeks and maintaining that pace for a year (The Navy’s old lab program was through GWU condensing a two year civilian program into a year for 72 credit hours).  During that time I was exposed to a partial transition to SBL for the Renal and Hepatic systems among others and it made a huge difference in comprehension and retention.  I am looking forward to the pace and system set up at Pacific and having weekends to be with my wife and children.

These were some of the reasons “I” chose Pacific over other programs; however, as in all things it comes down to fit for you.

 

P.S.  I live in SoCal 45 min from Loma Linda and have spent the past year their every weekend helping with a church development.  Unfortunately I have not enjoyed the Redlands environment very much and much prefer the scenery in the Pac NW, I have been in Cali for the past four years and am ready to move on.  I miss seasons.

[Z PA-C]

Thank you CorpsmanUP. It's nice hearing from someone who had to make a similar choice.

[Alexander85]

I had the same decisions to make concerning Loma Linda and Pacific, as well as GWU, Duke and Wake Forest.  Ultimately Pacific was the place I decided to attend.  For me it came down to a couple of factors.

• Location as I love the area and it has better practice rights/environment for PAs in my opinion
• The Staff and how quickly they have been available to help with some issues and how accommodating they have been.  One example among many is that I needed some paperwork taken care of for the Navy and the Director of admissions had it completed and returned to me within four hours of my request
• The rural and new global health tracks that are available to fit career goals, concerning the rotations I can understand the apprehension of moving a lot; however, I have been to over 20 countries in the past three years and see it as an opportunity to truly grow in experience and perhaps see another place I may enjoy living more.
• The curriculum: I have been in a fast paced academic environment taking 3-6 tests every two weeks and maintaining that pace for a year (The Navy’s old lab program was through GWU condensing a two year civilian program into a year for 72 credit hours).  During that time I was exposed to a partial transition to SBL for the Renal and Hepatic systems among others and it made a huge difference in comprehension and retention.  I am looking forward to the pace and system set up at Pacific and having weekends to be with my wife and children.

These were some of the reasons “I” chose Pacific over other programs; however, as in all things it comes down to fit for you.

 

P.S.  I live in SoCal 45 min from Loma Linda and have spent the past year their every weekend helping with a church development.  Unfortunately I have not enjoyed the Redlands environment very much and much prefer the scenery in the Pac NW, I have been in Cali for the past four years and am ready to move on.  I miss seasons.

Good info Corpsman, I wonder if you could go more into why you didn't pick Duke over Pacific. I've been accepted into the Pacific program and was super impressed with their approach and staff, but I have an interview with Duke in Feb, and I plan to go mainly because of their high rating. I'd prefer to save the money, but I'm afraid I'd be shooting myself in the foot. So if you could go into what pacific had over duke I'd appreciate it. 

[CorpsmanUP]

The rating for me was not a big concern, as has been said repeatedly on this board, the name may help with your first job but after that it is up to you actually to perform. While the name recognition is nice, do you actually want to live and work in NC? If not go where you can make connections during rotations to work where you want, Pacific provided the greatest breadth for that. My application was very focused on limited schools, three for academic purposes, two for location. Ultimately I made peace with the fact that I was chasing ego gratification with two of the schools, Duke for the name, and Wake Forest for the PA/PhD program. If I was going to go the academic route I should have just taking my med school offers, as I turned them down to be able to spend time with my family and to have a better work life balance, maybe I should attend the program that would best allow me to actualize that goal.

 

So I have some questions for you, why do you want to be a PA, what type of medicine are you drawn to, and where do you want to settle down?

[Alexander85]

The rating for me was not a big concern, as has been said repeatedly on this board, the name may help with your first job but after that it is up to you actually to perform. While the name recognition is nice, do you actually want to live and work in NC? If not go where you can make connections during rotations to work where you want, Pacific provided the greatest breadth for that. My application was very focused on limited schools, three for academic purposes, two for location. Ultimately I made peace with the fact that I was chasing ego gratification with two of the schools, Duke for the name, and Wake Forest for the PA/PhD program. If I was going to go the academic route I should have just taking my med school offers, as I turned them down to be able to spend time with my family and to have a better work life balance, maybe I should attend the program that would best allow me to actualize that goal.

 

So I have some questions for you, why do you want to be a PA, what type of medicine are you drawn to, and where do you want to settle down?

Thanks man-- ya I've asked myself those questions along the way as well. The why PA part is mainly because during my time in the research arena I missed the patient interaction I got during my time in the AF as an OR tech. That being said, I'll probably find myself back in the OR once licensed, hopefully in neurosurgery so I don't feel like my MS in neuroscience was a total flight of fancy haha. And being from Ca originally, I can see myself settling on/for the west coast eventually. I'm trying not to let the ratings get to me, but that's difficult, although it seems like I've already made my decision.   

[COTA2PA]

alexander 85,

 I just wanted to give you something to consider. I don't know anything about Pacific, but I have been accepted to Duke for he 2016 class. The program is amazing, and since it is associated with a medical school and the hospital, you are able to be pretty specific with your elective rotations. I know that I am going to do a rotation in neurology because my son has epilepsy. I just thought you might want to think about that since you said you were interested in neurosurgery. Best of luck with your decision!

[Z PA-C]

If anyone has anything else they want to add about PacU vs. LLU I am all ears. The deadline for me to give Loma Linda a response is approaching so speak now or forever hold your peace!

Either way it doesn't look like I can go wrong but BUMP just in case someone didn't see this thread!