Deciding between programs

[fakingpatience]

I've been lucky enough to be accepted to multiple programs this year, and am having a really hard time deciding between them.   Was hoping people on here could give me some input to help guide my decision! 

 

All use systems based curriculum.  All the programs are around the same cost.  They are about as spread apart geographically as you could get, but since I don't have ties to any of the areas, nor know where I want to end up, that isn't as much of a factor for me.  I don't know what field I want to work in when I graduate, but EM definitely holds appeal to me; I've decided that if I feel that way after graduation I will try and do an ER residence after graduating.  

 

In no particular order:

 

Emory

Pros: 

• 3 elective rotations; during the interview it sounded like they have great opportunities for all rotations
• I like the way they do remediation for tests
• Full cadaver dissection (this is a mixed one; I appreciate it for the learning, but am scared of how hard the class will be).
• Academically probably the most rigorous program
• They pay for housing for out of area rotations

Cons:

• At 29 months long, it's the longest of all my options, and school doesn't start till August, which would put me graduating ~ 8 months after the UNE program.
• As much as I don't know where I want to end up, Georgia/ the south has never held much appeal to me.  Though I did like Atlanta when I visited.

Pacific

Pros:

• Lots of group work
• Closer to family geographically
• I really like the area (but most of my rotations will probably be elsewhere)
• Cheapest program (but cost of travel for rotations will add significantly to cost)

Cons:

• 27 months
• Only 1 elective rotation, possibly not the best access to good rotations
• No peds rotation
• They were one of my top choices, but I didn't get a great feel for them during the interview.  

 

UNE

Pros:

• 24 months long
• They said they're aiming to do a lot of team and scenario based learning (although current students said it's not as prevalent as they said). 
• Faculty were very friendly at the interview.

Cons:

• Only 1 elective rotation
• No peds rotation
• They don't require much HCE; some of my classmates will be direct entry from undergrad.  

 

 

So, for anyone who read through all of this, any suggestions?  Anything else major I should be looking at as considerations?  

 

[arosswoods]

It's funny how the idea of getting to choose between great programs seem like a great thing till you actually have to do it. ????

[PACdan]

Why are a few extra months of school a con?

 

You have more pros and less cons under Emory than any other school. That speaks volumes. Also, you can't beat three elective rotations. That will allow you to really specialize or to try things that many will never get to.

 

Also, I think all schools should be doing full cadaver dissection (we are), there is just no comparison to pre-dissected or virtual bodies. It should be mandatory.

[Timon]

One of my favorite PA faculty members is an Emory graduate. I've heard nothing but great things from that program and from your pro's and cons it appears Emory would be the program I would want to attend.

 

Digging deeper, it appears you really are comparing UNE and Emory and focusing on the length of the program and difference in income from graduation to practicing.

 

UNE still has 20 people left to take their PANCE but has a 100%first time pass rate with 60% of the classes results in. The last years pass rate was 90%.

 

Emory had a 94% first time PANCE pass rate with roughly the same class size. There are no scores posted yet for the 2014 class but you can see they've been in the high 90s every year.

 

Having gone through prosected cadavers and not doing my dissection personally, I felt and still feel it would have been nice to have done a dissection for my own learning and seeing how everything is laid out with in terms of spacing and layering. Especially if I was considering being in a field that's highly procedure oriented. Will it make a difference in passing the PANCE? The answer is no.. It won't. But it may help you gain a deeper understanding once you start going into your clinical medicine classes.

 

Those are my two cents. Good luck!

 

http://www.une.edu/sites/default/files/ProgramReport%20%20thru%20Class%202014_12Jun14.pdf

 

http://med.emory.edu/pa/admissions/pance_results.html

[SoCalPA]

I originally thought that a longer program was a con. But I'm nit sure that's true especially if the difference is longer rotations. For example some programs have 4 week rotations and others have 6 week rotations. From the students that I have spoken with they prefer the six-week rotations because by the time you get settled in on a four week rotation it's almost time to get to the next one.

 

I don't know if name recognition is important to you but of the three that you mentioned I would say for someone that is outside of the medical field Emory is probably the most recognized. Especially lately with the whole Ebola situation.

 

Honestly though I don't think you could go wrong with either of the three it all depends on your choice.

[melscott62]

The school I will be attending only has one elective rotation as well. :( My husband's school had 3 and it is awesome when you are undecided on the field you want or if you want extra experience in a field you plan to go in.

[rev ronin]

I can't speak to Emory at all, but I did gleefully drop off the UNE waiting list when I was accepted to Pacific.

 

A couple of my inputs:

* Travel costs for rotations were really not all that much.  In many cases, the rotation site housing was significantly cheaper than housing in and around Portland.  And since everything was either in your car or in storage, at most places students ended up renting a room at a much cheaper rate than their didactic year apartment.

* If you want a peds rotation, ask for it.  One of my classmates asked for peds emphasis, got appropriate rotations, and handily found an inpatient position at a children's hospital in her target area shortly after graduation.  Of the 9 clinical rotations I had, only 4 had no pediatric patients (Cardiology, Outpatient internal medicine, inpatient, and VA emergency department).  My rotation in Forks, WA (yes, THAT Forks...) was family med with no local pediatrician, so there was a ton of peds exposure--I could go back and look at my Typhon logs, but if memory serves it was about 25% of my patients in the double-length rotation.

[fakingpatience]

Thank you everyone for the advice!  SoCal, I hadn't thought about the differing lengths of each rotation, but you raise a good point to consider.  

Rev Ron, thank you for the specific info on Pacific, here and in my other thread.   During my interview they specifically said that they had students unhappy with the ER rotations, as not all were in ERs; I think this is the source of a lot of my concern on that front.  

 

I guess my thing with the longer program is; after a longer program, will I still be wanting to do a residency?  

 

Rationally, I think I should choose Emory, but for some reason my heart isn't totally in it, and I wish I could figure out why.  I'd thought that the decision would be really easy to make when the time came, but it's not.  

[SoCalPA]

You're thinking it through and that's good. 5-8 extra months is something to consider. Perhaps you'll decide if you're gonna do an ER residency that you don't need the extra electives.  It really is all up to you!!