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The PACAT. An idea whose time has come?


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Guest Paula

I don't know about the standardized test.  I did not have to take the GRE to get into PA school and got the BS degree, then 10 years later did the MS completion. I agree that PA programs already offer enough credits to qualify for a doctorate degree.  

 

I liked O'chem for some strange reason......must've been my lab partner...18 y/o high school senior who was taking college courses and I was a 44y/o.  He did most of the work but it was interesting!!!

 

What about the PACKRAT?  We took it day one of PA school and again at the final days before graduation.  Is that still administered and could it be used for an admission test? 

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Guest Paula

Wow totally agree! Sounds like a great PA version of Luthers' 95 theses ("Davenport's five theses" has a nice ring to it hehe)....who will lead us towards reformation though?

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk

PAFT is attempting to lead the reformation and we need all hands on board.  

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  • Moderator

I don't know about the standardized test.  I did not have to take the GRE to get into PA school and got the BS degree, then 10 years later did the MS completion. I agree that PA programs already offer enough credits to qualify for a doctorate degree.  

 

I liked O'chem for some strange reason......must've been my lab partner...18 y/o high school senior who was taking college courses and I was a 44y/o.  He did most of the work but it was interesting!!!

 

What about the PACKRAT?  We took it day one of PA school and again at the final days before graduation.  Is that still administered and could it be used for an admission test? 

never took packrat but from what I understand it is not the right type of test to screen applicants with. senior pa students, sure.

I also have never taken the gre. got a 2nd bs from pa school(there were only 2 ms level programs out of 52 total in the early 90s), then did nebraska for mpas(no gre) and now doing Nova's DHSc (also no gre requirement). If I ever did med school(looking more and more unlikely every year) I would do the lecom bridge, which recently did away with the mcat requirement. that would leave me with 2 bs degrees, an ms, a post masters certificate, 2 graduate certificates, a research doctorate, and a clinical doctorate, all without ever taking the gre or mcat. also all without ever taking an ochem lab.

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If this hypothetical test is to be used as an academic equalizer as the GRE attempts to do, then it will need to focus on the subjects that all programs require as pre-reqs: bio, chem, micro, psych, etc.  Making a test that includes material one might come across in BLS would be acceptable only if it was a universal requirement to enter PA school.  Standardization of pre-reqs would need to be the first step before the "PACAT" came to fruition.

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  • 9 months later...

PACAT is a great idea.  Forget the chem. Have it be anatomy, Physiology, micro, First aid, statistics questions (ebm weeee!), medical terminology.   Have a number of advanced questions drawn from a huge bank (to stymie study guides) that allow people with advanced knowledge/experience to shine through a little bit.  I don't agree that the test has to be "fair" and only test stuff people might see in school, though that would be true in the case you present wut (aka purely academic equalizer)  It should not even have a total raw score, but rather  evaluation of different facets of knowledge and experience that help one succeed in PA school.

 

On a side note:  I must admit it chafes my ass a bit that a DNP who has less education than me gets a doctorate degree and independent practice in many states.  However, I knew what I was signing up for so :P

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