PA school that is worth bragging about:)

[Michell]

You guys are awesome! All of this information is very useful! I really appreciate it:)

[Michell]

You guys are awesome! All of this information is very useful! I really appreciate it:)

[LSUsoccerbum]

I just started the program at Northwestern in Chicago. So far I cannot speak highly enough about it. The professors are all very helpful and coordinate with each other. They all seem very happy to be here and excited to teach. The students, likewise, are highly motivated, intelligent, and bring a wealth of experience to the table. Unlike other places where I interviewed, the students, both my class and the year ahead, seem very happy to be here.

 

Northwestern uses Problem Based Learning. It's great, and very exciting already is the focus on real cases. We started class three weeks ago, and already we're making differential diagnoses, reasoning our way through the process of making a diagnosis, and even writing admission orders. The other programs at which I looked focus on the basic sciences early on. It's not that way at all at Northwestern. We focus on real cases and get the basic sciences as we go along. It makes the learning much easier and, I would think, more applicable to what we will be doing once we graduate. We are memorizing by immersion in a real case. That sort of learning and memorization sticks. Memorizing out of a book, how helpful is that? I know that within a few days of a test, I lose almost all of that knowledge because it's not connected. The program at Northwestern has so far done an excellent job of making the connections that keep knowledge in the mind and accessible for recall.

[med218]

I'm at Emory graduating in December and I am incredibly happy with my decision to come here. The faculty are amazing, very supportive and want to make sure you have the tools/resources necessary to succeed in the didactic/clinical portions as well as after you leave the program. They foster a collaborative environment where students are encouraged to work together in small groups as well as outside of the classroom to make sure we all succeed.

 

I have loved my clinical year. I have been rotating at well established sites and have been learning a ton. I'm sure I could have a similar experience if I had gone to another school, but I have access to rotations here that many other programs may not/do not have access to (i.e. Grady general/trauma surgery, Grady ED, Emory Cardiothoracic Surgery, etc...). I have not had a rotation that I haven't enjoyed. The clinical year staff works with you to make sure you have the best experience that you could possibly have. We're required to do 3 "non-metro" rotations which means your rotation site is approximately 60 miles outside of Atlanta and for these rotations you're provided housing for that time.

 

There are a number of opportunities to help out within the community at 2 community clinics in Atlanta as well as participating in the South Georgia Farmworker Health Project. The Farmworker Health Project happens 2 times/year, summer and fall. In the summer it is for 2 weeks (1 week in 2 different locations) and the fall is 1 weekend. It brings clinics in the morning to the farms where we literally set-up next to tomato/corn fields and provide healthcare to farmworkers who otherwise wouldn't receive any and in the evenings set-up near the camps they stay in. This is a really great project to practice medicine in a rural environment with limited resources and we see some fairly acute injuries/problems while on the project.

[mjohnson3604]

Hello, so great to hear about everyone loving their program.

 

Loves for me: access to lecturers working in the field who share their expertise & pearls

 

Access to cadaver lab, just seeing the variations and wrapping my mind around the anatomy

 

Interprofessional learning (projects and collaborations w/MD PT & Nursing students)

 

Seeing patients in the first year (a patient assessment, outpatient experience & long term care experience)

 

Our technology package (getting helpful medical apps that we've asked for on our issued iPod,etc)

 

The comraderie, our program is pass/fail and we're encouraged to help each other all the time (teamwork)

 

Being an officer (chances to network w/PAs in the area, raising $$, volunteer opportunities)

 

All the emphasis on history and physical, having a large toolbox before ordering tests/labs

 

That we have established clinical rotation sites and some choices (many thru Duke system)

Mandatory rotations (2) in undeserved areas, at least 50 miles away..like the diversity of experience

 

That we have a mentor from the previous class to help out w/questions, give tools for success

That we have a faculty advisor (meet with and track progress, discuss life strategies to manage stress, etc)

 

That the program is always changing, they survey us to make improvements for the next class (like they received a small curriculum change and iPads)

 

That school is closed for AAPA conference & we're encouraged to go (even helping with costs)

 

That they expect us to go after being the next generation of PA leaders (there's always policy and patient education issues to step our game up in)

 

That we practice procedures in our wet lab to try and defray the trepidation of trying them in clinical year (ie IV on each other, LPs on dummies, phlebotomy, etc)

 

That they remember the nuts and bolts..giving an overview of health systems, policy, & evidence based medi cine, how to write a script correctly, etc

 

 

Of course it's all a matter of fit...personality, learning styles, etc. I just appreciate the attempts to make every student succeed once you've accepted them.

 

Tell your friend best wishes in the research!!