pre-pa The Struggle of Choosing

[RollinDownDixie]

Suppose this is for pre PA students as well as current PA students. Have y'all had to struggle with choosing between multiple acceptances? How did you choose? What were the things that you weighed the most heavily and are you pleased with your choice now? I know that once you pass the PANCE everyone is a PA but I am curious if there is a perceived difference between the quality of PA's based on their schools by future employers. 

My situation is that I currently have two acceptances, both start at the same time, both cost relatively the same and both are Provisionally Accredited. 

School A (University of the Cumberlands) is in rural Kentucky, has new facilities and has been around for three classes now. They just posted a 100% on the PANCE for their class and have a new director. The draw back is the rural setting, the lack of cadaver lab and the clinical coordinator being somewhat unreliable as current students have told me. 

School B (Milligan College) is in urban Tennessee, has a brand new program but dated facilities. The red flag here is I would be part of their Inaugural Class, meaning they have no PANCE score rates to base off of. A plus is that is located right next a Med school and they intend to share some facilities. Also they have a cadaver lab and I clicked with the clinical coordinator pretty well. 

I'm torn and what should be an exciting time or being blessed to be accepted is frankly more stressful because I can't choose and don't even know what I should be valuing heavily 

[newton9686]

I am probably the minority but I really don't put a ton of weight into PANCE pass rates. There is a difference between "PANCE Medicine" and real medicine. PANCE medicine is easily obtainable by reading a review book. Real medicine requires professors teaching from real world experience and excellent preceptors who are not spread too thin. As someone who is nearing graduation I would put my stock in:

1) Quality and proximity of rotations to desired living area. Depending on the market it can be difficult to get a job as a new grad. Things are much easier if you can prove yourself valuable during a rotation versus having to search for jobs the old fashion way (atleast until you have a year of experience.)

2) Quality of professors. Not every lecture is memorable in PA school, but there are still professors who can make a life long impact in the way you practice. Not 100% sure how you find out before you begin a program. But I can say this was the biggest blessing of the program I attended.

3) Attrition rate. Although I was never in jeopardy, I had several friends who would of not made it through if it was not for remediation. A lot of the need was due to test anxiety or simply their brain not comprehending that particular subject. I know these classmates will make great PAs, however if my program did not allow for remediation, they would not be graduating. 

4) Cadaver lab. It may be old school, but it is worthwhile to actually dissect or at a very minimum visual the anatomy on a real human after another group performs the dissection

This list is not inclusive, but I do believe these 4 things are way more important than PANCE pass rates. .   

[MomofEAF]

I agree with everything that was said by newton9686. I would also add that you need to think what would be the ideal setting for you to study and grow as a PA student. Is one program smaller than the other? Is the environment different? How did you feel during the interview? My class has only 20 students and I love it. We help each other with everything, our professors are very engaged and do their best to help us succeed. We are also focused on primary rural care and that suits me. Think about what type of class environment you would like. Proximity to medical is not always a good thing. Will you have to compete for time and attention on clinical rotations with medical students? Do you have any support system in the area?

This is a difficult decision but don't stress too much about it, you are accepted and congrats!