Pediatric Focused PA programs

[Christine616]

So when I was researching schools to apply to I picked ones that mainly dealt with "primary care" but one of them found I had a particular interest in pediatrics and asked me why I am not applying to the school in Colorado. I have done a lot of research and I know University of Colorado has a specific PA program but when I emailed them to get more information (especially when one of the requirements was not clear to me on their website) they  told me which slightly turned me off of their program See the PRereq webpage – upper division is 300+. See what is required on the How to Apply webpage. Yes I get that they have plenty of applications and questions but all the schools I have email so far haven't been as blunt and condescending as that like i hadn't already thoroughly researched the question before emailing them. I am aware that some people when they go into rotations may come in thinking they will "specialize: in one area and then end up deciding to something that they never expected and I plan to keep an open mind but I feel like I would do better on the interview/why you want to go here question if it was a pediatric focused program. 

Just some back ground I  have had experience in many different departments (internal and family medicine, oncology, med/surg, orthopedics, geriatrics and urgent care) but I find pediatrics is what I've enjoyed the most especially pediatric specialty (which is the field I have been working in as a medical assistant for the last 2.5 years)

 

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2020 by Christine616

[erikamalpac]

Hi Christine! I'm a CU grad from the CHA/PA program. Maybe I can help? What is your question?

[CI95percent]

I am interested in this program. Have had difficulty finding a ‘first-hand’ experience.

erikamalpac—

Did you enjoy this program? Is the additional ~6 months helpful/valuable? Did the increased length of the program reduce course workload? Any other information you would give an applicant?
 

Sorry to hijack this thread with a semi unrelated question.

[erikamalpac]

On 8/21/2020 at 3:07 PM, ACARSON said:

I am interested in this program. Have had difficulty finding a ‘first-hand’ experience.

erikamalpac—

Did you enjoy this program? Is the additional ~6 months helpful/valuable? Did the increased length of the program reduce course workload? Any other information you would give an applicant?
 

Sorry to hijack this thread with a semi unrelated question.

Hi! No worries. I absolutely loved CU. The professors really care about you and your success (both personally and academically). The increased length definitely reduced coarse load. My husband was going through UC Davis’ 27 month program at the same time, and though he graduated 8 or so months sooner, he had wayyyy more stress and way less free time. CU gives you your entire first summer off, which was an amazing blessing to recharge.
As for other thoughts..I’m in pediatrics, and the amount of peds education you get at this program comparatively to other PA programs is unheard of. Most other programs seem to get very very minimal peds education. In addition, the extra time spent in the program is filled with additional clinical opportunities. I rotated at 16 total sites. 9 sites for 1 month each and 7 sites for 2 weeks each. All dispersed throughout didactic and clinical year. By the time clinical year actually started, I’d already been through 6 different smaller rotations which definitely helped me to get so much more out of the education.

I don’t know if I could be of much help in terms of applicant secrets. Especially this year because of covid changing the process. My former classmates and I even asked our program director before what the secret is for success in getting in and what they look for during the interview, but he was a closed book. I can tell you though for my cohort, there were a total of 4 interview days with about the same number of applicants attending each. 2 in September and 2 in October from what I can remember. They accept a TON of students from the very first interview group. About half of our class seemed to come from the 1st day. The numbers decreased from there. And we had about 4 at least (that I know of) off of the waitlist. Again, I can’t speak to how they do things now or if this trend was only in my class. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’m a HUGE fan of the program, so I’d love to help in any way.

[CI95percent]

On 8/19/2020 at 3:41 PM, erikamalpac said:

On 8/24/2020 at 6:26 PM, erikamalpac said:

Hi! No worries. I absolutely loved CU. The professors really care about you and your success (both personally and academically). The increased length definitely reduced coarse load. My husband was going through UC Davis’ 27 month program at the same time, and though he graduated 8 or so months sooner, he had wayyyy more stress and way less free time. CU gives you your entire first summer off, which was an amazing blessing to recharge.
As for other thoughts..I’m in pediatrics, and the amount of peds education you get at this program comparatively to other PA programs is unheard of. Most other programs seem to get very very minimal peds education. In addition, the extra time spent in the program is filled with additional clinical opportunities. I rotated at 16 total sites. 9 sites for 1 month each and 7 sites for 2 weeks each. All dispersed throughout didactic and clinical year. By the time clinical year actually started, I’d already been through 6 different smaller rotations which definitely helped me to get so much more out of the education.

I don’t know if I could be of much help in terms of applicant secrets. Especially this year because of covid changing the process. My former classmates and I even asked our program director before what the secret is for success in getting in and what they look for during the interview, but he was a closed book. I can tell you though for my cohort, there were a total of 4 interview days with about the same number of applicants attending each. 2 in September and 2 in October from what I can remember. They accept a TON of students from the very first interview group. About half of our class seemed to come from the 1st day. The numbers decreased from there. And we had about 4 at least (that I know of) off of the waitlist. Again, I can’t speak to how they do things now or if this trend was only in my class. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’m a HUGE fan of the program, so I’d love to help in any way.

I very much appreciate the insight. This was more than helpful.