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Class of 2021


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Hello to all the accepted students for the class of 2021! 

Congratulations!! It took hard work and dedication to reach this point, but we have done it! When I told my mentor (the PA I work with), that I got accepted to the college of my dreams, she gave me a card that says, "Dreamed it, Did it". I could not prevent the tears that came after the sentiment. And I am sure this applies to all of you out there, so cherish this moment and enjoy this time! 

I just wanted to get this topic going so I could meet and get to know our amazing class entering 2019. It was an honor to interview with the group of highly qualified applicants chosen last month, and I am certain there is so much knowledge and opportunity waiting for all of us. 

How about we introduce where we are from and what we were doing when we got the acceptance from Duke!?

I am from New Mexico. I had just walked into the hospital at the beginning of my shift and was checking my email casually - read the email and my heart started racing/pounding and I was literally shaking - had to sit down to calm my excitement. I had a smile on my face all day! Called and texted everyone I know with the great news!

Isha

 

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I’m from Michigan, I was actually at an interview at Wayne State and I finished up and walked to my car and got into my car and checked my email and I had been accepted! I sat in my car for 20 mins crying and shaking cause I didn’t want to drive in that situation. I called my mom right away and my best friend that helped me prepare for the interview to tell them the news. 

Carol ?

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Hey everyone! I'm from Portland, OR. I was at work when I got my acceptance email. Honestly when I received it I was in shock. Duke was my first interview of the cycle and I was just happy to attend. I am moving to Durham in about 5 weeks, so if anyone is already in town or moving soon feel free to reach out. I would love to start making connections with classmates before the start of the program 😁

On 1/28/2019 at 5:58 PM, activemath said:

Hey y'all! I am a first year student here at Duke, so feel free to ask me any questions!  Congrats on getting in!

Ah! So many questions it's hard to know where to start.

Overall, how do you feel about DPAP and how has the first year gone thus far? Does it ever feel overwhelming being in such a large class?

How do you feel about living Durham? It seems that it has a "rough around the edges" reputation, but that it's definitely undergoing a revitalization process... as far as I can tell it looks like it's going to be a fun place to live! Do you live close to campus? It looks like I will be moving to Trinity Park. Any thoughts about the neighborhood? 

Last questions for now, is there anything you would recommend doing before starting the program in the fall? Is there anything that you've done in terms of prep/studying techniques/organizational stuff that's helped you to be more successful in the program? Is there anything that you wish you would have done looking back?

Thanks so much!! 

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40 minutes ago, hmtpnw said:

Hey everyone! I'm from Portland, OR. I was at work when I got my acceptance email. Honestly when I received it I was in shock. Duke was my first interview of the cycle and I was just happy to attend. I am moving to Durham in about 5 weeks, so if anyone is already in town or moving soon feel free to reach out. I would love to start making connections with classmates before the start of the program 😁

Ah! So many questions it's hard to know where to start.

Overall, how do you feel about DPAP and how has the first year gone thus far? Does it ever feel overwhelming being in such a large class?

How do you feel about living Durham? It seems that it has a "rough around the edges" reputation, but that it's definitely undergoing a revitalization process... as far as I can tell it looks like it's going to be a fun place to live! Do you live close to campus? It looks like I will be moving to Trinity Park. Any thoughts about the neighborhood? 

Last questions for now, is there anything you would recommend doing before starting the program in the fall? Is there anything that you've done in terms of prep/studying techniques/organizational stuff that's helped you to be more successful in the program? Is there anything that you wish you would have done looking back?

Thanks so much!! 

Hey!

I like DPAP! The community is really the highlight of the experience so far. It took me a while to learn all 89 of my classmates names, but aside from that, it definitely do not feel overwhelming at all. Everyone is so kind to each other and willing to help each other out. There is no competitive atmosphere.  People study together a lot and hang out with each other after class/on the weekends quite a bit!  Although most of our classes are big lecture style, we do break up into small groups for a few classes. Also, the faculty and staff are great. They understand our hectic schedule and do their best to make it as not crazy as possible. The program director, Dr. Barnett, has brought us cookies a few times after big tests!  With about 1 test a week, we all study a lot and well that's the not-so-fun part, but I'm sure that's fairly ubiquitous across programs so I can't complain too much. 

Living is Durham is good enough for me! I came from Memphis which is also has a reputation for being unsafe, so I wasn't too worried about moving to durham. I don't think anyone has had any issues or safety complaints. Just use your common sense and you'll be fine. And yes, there is a lot of construction everywhere, especially downtown! There are a lot of breweries popping up. I dont feel like I have explored Durham to give a fair assessment of the city, but there are things to do! I think the biggest complaint that people have is the lack of nature/outdoor areas. There is Duke gardens and eno river park to walk around, but you wont really find any hard-core hiking around here since it is all pretty flat. That being said, both the mountains and the beach are about 3 hours away in either direction! I live about 10-15 mins away from school, which I think is about average in our class. Probably only 15 people on our class live farther away than that. A bunch of us ended up in the same apt complex which was pretty serendipitous!  I'm not super familiar with trinity park but being close to duke east will be nice for you as they have a gym there that we have access to. Also, 9th street and brightleaf is not too far from that area and they both have a lot of restaurants!

I wouldn't do any studying before school except read the book that they assign and glance over the medical terminology that you will have a "quiz"on. The med term quiz is not graded though, so please don't study that too much. Use your time before school to have fun. I would recommend going to as many doctor's appointments before school starts as you can because there will be limited time to do that once the semester begins. Studying is a tough one because everyone of us seems to do it a bit differently. My general suggestions are though to do any practice problems you are given and physically write as many things down as you can to study. While it certainly takes more time, I have found that writing (not typing) summaries helps things stick in my brain. Just in regards to life during school, I would recommend finding a regular activity outside of DPAP to have some fun and make some non-DPAP friends. I play ultimate frisbee a few times a week with the general durham community and it has been great to have that outlet! I dont think I have any regrets, but if I do, I'll certainly let you know. 😄

If you have facebook, you should definitely join the "Duke Physician Assistant Program Class of 2021" group page! Our class uses fb a lot to communicate and as it gets closer to the fall semester, older students will post furniture/textbooks to sell.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to reach out!

-Katy

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13 hours ago, activemath said:

Hey!

I like DPAP! The community is really the highlight of the experience so far. It took me a while to learn all 89 of my classmates names, but aside from that, it definitely do not feel overwhelming at all. Everyone is so kind to each other and willing to help each other out. There is no competitive atmosphere.  People study together a lot and hang out with each other after class/on the weekends quite a bit!  Although most of our classes are big lecture style, we do break up into small groups for a few classes. Also, the faculty and staff are great. They understand our hectic schedule and do their best to make it as not crazy as possible. The program director, Dr. Barnett, has brought us cookies a few times after big tests!  With about 1 test a week, we all study a lot and well that's the not-so-fun part, but I'm sure that's fairly ubiquitous across programs so I can't complain too much. 

Living is Durham is good enough for me! I came from Memphis which is also has a reputation for being unsafe, so I wasn't too worried about moving to durham. I don't think anyone has had any issues or safety complaints. Just use your common sense and you'll be fine. And yes, there is a lot of construction everywhere, especially downtown! There are a lot of breweries popping up. I dont feel like I have explored Durham to give a fair assessment of the city, but there are things to do! I think the biggest complaint that people have is the lack of nature/outdoor areas. There is Duke gardens and eno river park to walk around, but you wont really find any hard-core hiking around here since it is all pretty flat. That being said, both the mountains and the beach are about 3 hours away in either direction! I live about 10-15 mins away from school, which I think is about average in our class. Probably only 15 people on our class live farther away than that. A bunch of us ended up in the same apt complex which was pretty serendipitous!  I'm not super familiar with trinity park but being close to duke east will be nice for you as they have a gym there that we have access to. Also, 9th street and brightleaf is not too far from that area and they both have a lot of restaurants!

I wouldn't do any studying before school except read the book that they assign and glance over the medical terminology that you will have a "quiz"on. The med term quiz is not graded though, so please don't study that too much. Use your time before school to have fun. I would recommend going to as many doctor's appointments before school starts as you can because there will be limited time to do that once the semester begins. Studying is a tough one because everyone of us seems to do it a bit differently. My general suggestions are though to do any practice problems you are given and physically write as many things down as you can to study. While it certainly takes more time, I have found that writing (not typing) summaries helps things stick in my brain. Just in regards to life during school, I would recommend finding a regular activity outside of DPAP to have some fun and make some non-DPAP friends. I play ultimate frisbee a few times a week with the general durham community and it has been great to have that outlet! I dont think I have any regrets, but if I do, I'll certainly let you know. 😄

If you have facebook, you should definitely join the "Duke Physician Assistant Program Class of 2021" group page! Our class uses fb a lot to communicate and as it gets closer to the fall semester, older students will post furniture/textbooks to sell.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to reach out!

-Katy

Thank you so much for such a thorough response! I really appreciate it.

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