UNTHSC Alumni or Current Students

[bkPA-S]

For any UNTHSC PA alumni or current students, can you share what you like most about UNT? What made you choose the program and what makes (or doesn't make) you think it is an exceptionally good/enjoyable program and should be a top choice for future PA students? Thank you so much!

 

Note: I posted this on the UNT board but wanted to share here in case any alumni don't actively read the pre-PA boards!

[True Anomaly]

The UNT program I graduated from is a bit different than what it is today- it's at least twice the size, and some of the faculty has turned over- but the program director and assistant program director remain the same, which is great because they've both been involved with PA education for many years.  The program director is still the same one who founded the program nearly 20 years ago.  

 

The clinical medicine blocks, the simulation lab and the quality of rotation sites are what I think make the program strong.  After visiting with the faculty during the recent TAPA conference as to how things have changed, it seems that while growing to twice the size from when I graduated that they still have quality rotations to offer the students.  You have all of Fort Worth and the surrounding area- plus rotation sites in Dallas which I did (I did 3 of my rotations at the Dallas VA, which I considered invaluable experience), which is a HUGE area to only have one PA program, so rotations are plentiful and you aren't expected to find your own rotation sites.  The program is long, but I believe allows a bit of a breather to assimilate information- and for myself, it allowed me to get involved in state and national PA political organizations, particularly because there's always at least one faculty member who is highly involved in PA organizations.  When I was a student there, we had a faculty member who was on the AAPA board of directors, and the program director and another faculty member are former TAPA presidents.  The master's project teaches you how to do quality research because it's an actual master's thesis that you have to defend.

 

There's very few people who would want to repeat the PA school process- and I'm certainly not one of them- but UNT put me in a great position to succeed.

[bkPA-S]

Thank you so much for your response! I interview at UNT on September 20th and I truly appreciate your input. 

 

The UNT program I graduated from is a bit different than what it is today- it's at least twice the size, and some of the faculty has turned over- but the program director and assistant program director remain the same, which is great because they've both been involved with PA education for many years.  The program director is still the same one who founded the program nearly 20 years ago.  

 

The clinical medicine blocks, the simulation lab and the quality of rotation sites are what I think make the program strong.  After visiting with the faculty during the recent TAPA conference as to how things have changed, it seems that while growing to twice the size from when I graduated that they still have quality rotations to offer the students.  You have all of Fort Worth and the surrounding area- plus rotation sites in Dallas which I did (I did 3 of my rotations at the Dallas VA, which I considered invaluable experience), which is a HUGE area to only have one PA program, so rotations are plentiful and you aren't expected to find your own rotation sites.  The program is long, but I believe allows a bit of a breather to assimilate information- and for myself, it allowed me to get involved in state and national PA political organizations, particularly because there's always at least one faculty member who is highly involved in PA organizations.  When I was a student there, we had a faculty member who was on the AAPA board of directors, and the program director and another faculty member are former TAPA presidents.  The master's project teaches you how to do quality research because it's an actual master's thesis that you have to defend.

 

There's very few people who would want to repeat the PA school process- and I'm certainly not one of them- but UNT put me in a great position to succeed.