Teacher2PAC Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 I was wondering what individuals take into consideration about curriculum when they decide the PA school they would like to go to. I recently visited a school that offers anatomy for the whole summer as their only course with the expectation the students learn it well. This school also had a body systems approach to teaching. For example, if the endocrine system was the focus, all other courses like pharmacology, medical interview etc, would have this focus as well. Another school I visited had a problem-based learning approach with less lecturing and more clinical cases studies as the focus of their teaching. However, their anatomy is packed in with other coursework. Could someone offer their experience with different curricula for the PA programs and offer suggestions as to what might be a good sequences of courses when choosing a school, and what type of teaching (ex. problem-based) is optimal, especially for becoming a PA-C currently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT2PA Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 I think this will depend on your learning style a little (more so for the PBL) but more than anything you should look at whether or not the school is successful with whatever model they are using. Anatomy as the only summer course sounds pretty rare. I've seen quite a few that do anatomy in the summer with maybe fewer classes/a lot of all day anatomy labs. Usually the big question with anatomy is cadaver lab vs prosected. As far as systems based vs course based - you're really never going to do BOTH so it's kind of hard to compare them. Personally I prefer the systems based because it helps connect everything which helps me remember/learn it all. I also think this makes sense when practicing. That said, there's nothing wrong with programs that use course based learning. Generally I think it's good to KNOW what curriculum a school uses but I don't know that I'd base any big decisions off of them. Factor it in, maybe, but PANCE rates and clinical rotation information are more important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsGPAC Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 The program I went to did a systems approach. We had anatomy the first summer along with other courses (basic sciences mostly). Personally, I picked this program for the systems approach. I think that learning the phys/pathophys, pharmacology, assessment skills etc all related to one system makes sense. The overlap that occurs as you go through the different body system help solidify knowledge as well. Our "modules" as they were called (once out of the summer semester) were anywhere from 1 week to 4 weeks. I liked it. The idea of problem based learning felt too disorganized to me when compared to the systems approach. Mind you I was more of a "traditional" PA student. BS and MS in another medical-ish field plus 10 years experience before returning to school. As a disclaimer, this is an opinion from someone who has never done PBL, so I am interested in hearing opinions to the contrary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teacher2PAC Posted April 5, 2016 Author Share Posted April 5, 2016 Thanks! I really appreciate these responses! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newton9686 Posted April 7, 2016 Share Posted April 7, 2016 Curriculum is important in my opinion. I think PBL is best for your entrepreneur type who takes its on themselves to further their education. However not every student is like that and the structure of traditional curriculums has been shown to be effective. My school takes more of the speciality approach. For example this semester I'm taking obgyn, cardio, peds, neurology and EMed in addition to generalized classes such as H&P, pharmacology and lab medicine which you take 2 semesters of. There is obvious overlap between the classes but essentially each professor is seemingly doing their own thing. It sounds crazy at first, especially when you are doing the heart exam in H&P before you've taken cardiology. But the beauty is you see the important things 3 or 4 times. Thus when I did not fully grasp murmurs right away first semester I had another chance to be exposed second semester where things really clicked. Again it sounds scary but it works. I don't not believe I would of gotten to the same level of understanding and retained it as well in a system based approach, but that is my personal preference and everyone is different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teacher2PAC Posted April 8, 2016 Author Share Posted April 8, 2016 Thank you for your input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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