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Poor Quality Program - Stay Away


Guest terrysmith

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Guest terrysmith

I am writing this forum to give insight to what really goes on in this program. If you can afford or have the option to go to another program...I suggest you consider it.

Why do I feel this way? For the following reasons:

LACK OF RESOURCES:

This program lacks all the bare minimum resources. The cadaver that we were given this year was full of potent chemicals. About 17 of us students crowded over two cadavers with our eyes and nostrils burning from the potent chemicals. Some students missed class the next day because they felt sick from the chemicals. At one point, our teacher suggested that we buy respirators that are usually used for car painters. At the end of it all our teacher quit and refused to teach cadaver due to the toxicity and harmful affects that the cadaver room placed us in. But of course admin told us everything was fine and there should be no issue whatsoever. They did nothing to resolve this issue.

Anatomy: there are no muscle models to refer to and the professor that teachers the course reads verbatim off of the powerpoint slides. Did he really teach us anything? No. We taught ourselves for anatomy and were left half of the time guessing what would be on the exam. 

Labs that are supposed to prepare us for clinical rotations only prepared us on what to expect for normal presenting patients. We were never given resources on actual clinical presentations. They have actors come in to practice with but this only occurs 2-3 times in a quarter. 

Mind you, some teachers are not tech-savvy enough to put together a powerpoint. You are left deciphering what information is important to know.

POOR COORDINATION:

While some instructors are currently practicing in the field, others are not. There is a gap of between instructors. One instructor will tell you to do XYZ with a patient while the other instructor tells you to NOT do that. 

This program is also lacking time-management. Only a week before midterms or finals will you know what time and date exams will be. Then you have to scramble and adjust your study schedule to prepare for it. We asked faculty to send us schedules ahead of time but they continue to come up with excuses for their lack of planning. 

NARROW-MINDED:

Do not be fooled on interview day when they tell you this program is like a family and there is always an open door policy. They claim to have an open door policy but will tell you to be quiet and roll with the punches. They stick to their "traditional" ways and are scared of adapting to any changes that can bring the program up to standard. If a student has a simple suggestion they take it as an insult and immediately become defensive. They will even put you down and tell you that you don't know anything and are not competent to make suggestions or form opinions. 

 

Overall, this program is poorly managed. Save your time and money. Really investigate the programs that you want to apply to. Talk to the students that actually attend those programs. They are the real resources. It will save you a lot of stress. 

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I also find it important that people know the source of this information. This review is written during the time of a pandemic where nothing is normal and some have been hurt by the response of the administration. If there is one thing I certainly agree with, talk with students at your interviewing programs because this one experience is not the same as the rest. I will be more than willing to explain mine. One thing I recommend every pre-PA student be prepared for on interview day, is the question "how adaptable are you?" and "Give an example," because I can promise you this career and any PA program require it. For that, I am certain. 

Also there is no one in our program named Terry... just saying. 

Edited by terrismith
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Wow, I'm sorry you had this experience! As a recent graduate, I can say that I had a great time overall during this program and felt it prepared me to be a practicing PA very well. Are there some things o would change? Yes. Do I realize that not a single program out there is perfect? Yes. I felt like the staff was really there for us and personally felt that their "open door policy" was accurate. Overall I can say without a doubt that I would attend this program again and I highly recommend it to everyone who asks. I agree that the response to the pandemic could have been handled better, however, in the end I think they did what they could have done given the circumstances (note that I was just finishing clinicals when this all began). I would also be happy to share my experience with the program, as it seems to be quite different from above. 

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I am sorry you had that experience and felt strongly enough to post that. My experience wasn’t perfect, but i also didn’t expect perfection. I feel like giving another perspective is worth having after that review. First of all, the faculty does work hard to help as best they can, but they are teaching masters level students and expect students to act as such. When you signed up for PA school you signed up to be owned by a program for 27 months while they teach you medical school in a super accelerated pace. Second, the school has absolutely no control over the cadavers they are given. There are programs who have no cadavers. I felt lucky to have one at all. I’m sure the situation could have been handled better, are you never infallible? The people running the program are people and they are people who care very much about their students. Third, the difference in information happens everywhere. What is on the Pance and what is currently practiced in medicine are not always the same. You will fail Pance if all you learn is current medical practice. Once again, that is not he program’s fault. Take that up with the NCCPA. Additionally, the instructors are taking time out of their lives to teach you. A lot of them still practice. Are they trained instructors? No, are they trying for you? Yes. They give you the information you need and they expect you to know all of it. That’s PA school. Tons of information. Finally, this is a pandemic. I would be hard pressed to find any program who handled this perfectly. Muddying the name of a program who crushed accreditation and is well thought of in several states and practices not only hurts the program, but hurts the students who came from there. I am not embarrassed to be a USF alumni. I’m embarrassed that I had to respond to a post like this about a school that helped me get where I am today.  I can say for certain that USF is well respected in the medical community and especially practices in New Mexico are grateful you are USF trained. 

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Well it is definitely unfortunate that you feel so strongly about a program that you have yet to complete. I would be careful what you say and what bridges you burn, because you never know who will find out how you represented yourself in a public forum. As someone who literally just graduated from the program I am apalled at your attitude, and find it hard to believe that you think that there is a perfect program out there, because I can promise you there isn’t one. 

I was personally overwhelmed by how much I felt like these professors care about us not only as students, but as people, and I’m offended that you would attack them like that. The open door policy was absolutely true, and whether you decided to take them up on that is on you, not them.

As far as the disconnect in terms of the most up-to-date information, welcome to medicine. You are literally never going to have a perfect answer which is why you will never be able to stop learning. You will have to be up-to-date on current studies and know what the data actually shows, then make well thought out medical decisions. Our teachers are teaching us things that will help us pass the PANCE which is very different from clinical practice. I hate to break it to you but when you finally finish PA school the studying and hard work is not over. You’re going to have to learn every single day of your career and if you don’t know that already you shouldn’t have gone into medicine.

The fact that you feel like you didn’t get the experience you wanted is totally your right to feel. However to go onto a well known forum where applicants join together to exchange information, and completely bash a perfectly good program that has amazing PANCE passing rates and is well respected in our local community, is disappointing and unprofessional. I strongly recommend that the next time you have an opinion to express publicly, that you consider what you’re saying and what impact it could have outside of your personal world.

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I applaud you on going on this forum and discussing what is going on inside the program. I think applicants should be aware of the good and bad with any program they are going to. At the end of the day, you are paying for what you get. Its hard to stay in a place where you do not want to be for 27 month. I would suggest if thats your only option is to stay and try to figure away to make changes in the system. 

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Hello,

I just wanted to give another perspective regarding some topics that this post brought up. The cadaver lab was a series of unpredictable circumstances. The program however took matters very seriously to address these issues. They've always asked for our input and kept us up to date once they had answers. 

Anatomy is a tough subject overall. The powerpoints always have relevant information that I used in addition to reading the textbook. Every teacher has their own way of teaching. If you have a question or are unclear on a subject - instructors always provide with answers and clarity. 

The program is receptive to feedback. However this should be done in the right way. The faculty want nothing more than to train and educate us to becoming quality healthcare providers. I feel like I have learned so much academically and professionally yet this is only the beginning. 

USF ABQ is a great place to be. Our cohort is amazing! We have fun both inside and outside the classroom despite the stress of school. We support one another and are there for each other. ABQ in general is also great. I can really focus on my academics here without any distractions.  

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  • Moderator

We have received multiple reports on this topic. 

first, if a prospective applicant is gullible enough to believe everything they read on the internet from a user who does not provide their personal information to be verified, then that’s an applicant you probably don’t want as they are dumb.

Since we cannot verify anything by anecdotal reports only, we have decided as a group these reports typically stay up. This isn’t science where we have objective data to help us stop the spread of misinformation, a subject I am passionate about. Could there be a real program problem that people should be aware of? yes. Could this be a struggling student who wants to lay blame on a program for their problems? Also, yes.

applicants, we have far more reports that this is a upstanding program than not. Keep that in mind. I’m sure your favorite restaurant has at least one really bad yelp review from a disgruntled karen, but it doesn’t keep you from eating there. Keep that in mind.

Remember, this is one persons anecdotal experience on a anonymous forum and won’t necessarily reflect your experience or even be remotely true. 

moral of the story is you should always do your own investigating by talking with current students, alumni, and faculty.

Edit to Add: if someone is complaining about potent chemicals in cadaver lab, they are not speaking from tremendous experience. I’ve taken three cadaver labs in my life at three different institutions. The formaldehyde always sucks. It’s not limited to one program

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