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@bjl12 Thank you for your questions. To give an honest evaluation of your competitiveness I would have to review all of your transcripts. I would think the programs you're applying to would probably do the same. Without viewing those I'm not sure I can give an honest answer. If you'd like me to review your transcripts feel free to email me a scanned or html copy at jmish@methodist.edu.

As far as your hours go, if you were to apply to our program, we would focus more on your EMTB hours and shadowing hours (if you plan to do that) to meet our requirements. The other hours are always beneficial to your application as well. I would encourage you to find some time in the future to shadow if you're able to.

In regards to your MCAT question, there are some programs that accept the MCAT for their standardize test. I know there have been some discussions about a PA standardized test being developed, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. I do think the GRE offers insight into the applicant's ability to think critically and can sometimes, not all the time, be a good predictor of success in the program and on the PANCE. Other programs may view standardized tests differently, but that's my take on it. Like I said, if you'd like to email me your transcripts feel free and consider reaching out to the programs that interest you to see if they too can give you a fair evaluation of where you stand. Thanks!

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@btech Thank you for your question. I would encourage you to read more about surgical PAs on the AASP website. You may have already read this page, but you can always contact them to see what opportunities are available for you after PA school. If you want to enter into surgery, PAs have the opportunity to do that once they graduate and pass the PANCE. It's not something you have to specialize in, but sometimes there are fellowships through hospital systems that would require additional schooling outside of PA school. I hope this helps.

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@idon Thank you for your questions. Our program counts EMT-B hours and I think you're on the right track to working towards EMT status. It will help you prepare better for PA school and hopefully make you more competitive. It depends on which program you're applying to if EMT-B hours would count. From our experience most EMTs and paramedics do well in our program. I hope this helps.

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@groundhog Thank you for your questions and yes, you're right, this is a hard one for me to answer. Are you asking the programs for feedback and if so, are they offering any advice on how you can improve your interview skills? The following are just things I'm thinking of that a committee may feel after an interview. Please don't take it as me assuming you're any of these, but some things to think about....It may be that the committees feel that you're not a good fit for their program. This could be based on personality, how you interacted with the fac/staff/students during your interview day, are you lacking in interpersonal skills that make it difficult for them to see you're a good fit for the profession. It could also be that you did not demonstrate clearly the following:

 

 

- Your understanding of the physician/PA relationship

- The current state of the health care system and how PAs will benefit the system.

- Your preferred learning style

- How your health care experience (HCE) and non-related HCE prepared you for PA school

- Talk about yourself without rambling (know strengths and weaknesses)

- How you handle stress, failure or a disagreement with someone who was superior

- Why you want to come to that program

- Medical ethic questions

 

Again,the above are just thoughts that come to mind, but ask for feedback from those programs if you can. Hope it helps some. Thanks!

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@rlh123 Thank you for your questions. Without knowing the selection factors for these programs I would assume your GPA, at least is going to be competitive. As far as your hours are concerned, you'll probably want to keep updating the programs with your MA hours. MA experience is very good hands on experience and you want as much as that as possible. If these programs focus a lot on HCE and grades you'll want to shine through with your MA hours (in my opinion). Do these programs require the GRE? If so, it's important you're within a competitive range with that as well. If you me to review your personal statement feel free to email it to me if you want jmish@methodist.edu. Hope this helps and best wishes!

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Hello!

 

I have one question regarding the admissions process. I was rejected from one program so far, and I have an interview in December at one PA program. I'm waiting to hear from the other programs I have applied to. My question is, will it hurt my chances of acceptance into the program because I will be interviewing later?

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Many thanks to you, PA Admissions Director, for being so kind as to take your time to provide guidance through this difficult often translucent process.

 

I consider myself a bit of an "outlier" in my situation for seeking admission to PA school, e.g. 55 years old, engineering undergrad, dated coursework '83 other than few refresher, home medical vs typical hands on, etc.. I am very interested in pursuing PA as a second career. I intend to work until 'the end' in this exciting new career choice for me.

 

I am interested in getting your feedback / insight into my chances in getting into a PA program. Thanks in advance for your consideration!!

 

Dual BS 1983 Brigham Young University - Mechanical Engineering, Computer Design... was also Pre-med during this time

MBA partial due to job relocation 1991 - University of Michigan

Summer courses 2012 Salt Lake Community College - Microbiology A, Physiology A - 2-3 highest in classes of 130 students

Current course Salt Lake Community College - Anatomy

Anticipated courses Jan 2013 University of Utah - Biochemistry, Genetics

Cumm GPA: 3.5 @ 200 hrs

Science GPA:3.6 @ 130 hrs

Blew my first year (at U of U 1975) 2.6

Last 60 hrs GPA Science 3.78, Cumm 3.72

GRE Aug 2012 - Verbal 157 Quant 161 Analytical Writing 3.5

MCAT 1981 Biology 9, Chemistry 10, Physics 12

PCE: 3200 (home medical)

55 yrs old

Speak English and Spanish, two years in Argentina

Professional career - engineering and manufacturing companies including high-tech, manager and senior manager

Six years of international business experience

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First of all thank you for answering all of these questions!!!

 

I was recently accepted into PA school, but still I have 4 more interviews coming up in the next 2 weeks and one of those is my first choice. Now the school that already accepted me starts early next year and they already sent me everything I need to to in order to start my financial aid process. Now my questions is, if I sign up for FAFSA and select this school, then what if I get accepted later on my first choice of school, would I still be able to change schools in my FAFSA Application? Even after signing the Master Promissory Note (MPN)? PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

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First of all thank you for answering all of these questions!!!

 

I was recently accepted into PA school, but still I have 4 more interviews coming up in the next 2 weeks and one of those is my first choice. Now the school that already accepted me starts early next year and they already sent me everything I need to to in order to start my financial aid process. Now my questions is, if I sign up for FAFSA and select this school, then what if I get accepted later on my first choice of school, would I still be able to change schools in my FAFSA Application? Even after signing the Master Promissory Note (MPN)? PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

 

Ask FAFSA......congrats on being accepted....I don't think you need that much help!

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@popup Thank you for your question. If I understand your question correctly, if you're interviewing in December I would assume the program has enough open seats that you'll be interviewing for an actual seat in the program. Our program interviews until March-April so I don't see a December interview as being too late. Let me know if I've misunderstood your question. Thanks and best wishes!

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@I12bapa Thank you for your questions. I think academically you're exceeding selection factors so I don't see that as an issue. The only issue I would probably see is not a lot of outside health care experience. Depending on what you've done with the "in home care" it may not count or be deemed as quality clinical experience. If you'd like to explain those hours in more detail I can probably offer a better judgement as to whether we'd count it. I would also check with the programs you're applying to to make sure they don't have a preference where you're taking your courses. Our program would prefer a 4 year institution, but some programs don't have a preference. I hope this helps and please respond if you have further questions.

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@dreampa1 Thank you for your questions and congrats on being accepted! I would go ahead and complete the FAFSA form just in case you end up beginning PA school at the program you've just been accepted to. You can easily add other schools to your FAFSA form if you plan to attend another program and they start in January 2013. Should you choose to attend elsewhere I would recommend you call the new school's financial aid office to make sure you don't have to do their MPN with them. Sometimes a university can use another university's MPN, but that's not always the case. It's best just to contact the new financial office to double check.

If some of the other programs have a fall 2013 start date you will have to fill out a new FAFSA form after Jan. 1, 2013 because it corresponds with a different start date. I hope this makes sense and respond if I've been unclear. Thanks!

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if you'd like to email me your transcripts feel free and consider reaching out to the programs that interest you to see if they too can give you a fair evaluation of where you stand.

 

Thank you, sir! I will hold you to it, but not until later in the year after I've finished all my pre-reqs.

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PA Admissions Director,

 

Here's the short essay part of my CASPA application that describes my patient care experience. We've been in business / accredited since Aug 2009. I am co-owner, CEO of the two person company. I counted 25 hours per week (3200 hours) for hands-on patient care and 15 hours per week (2500) "Other Health Care Experience". This spoke to my 'hat' of identifying and procuring best in class equipment, working with hospitals, clinics, physicians, etc. to market our company, accounting, working with insurance companies, etc.

 

Again, many thanks in advance for your insight.

 

Infants

--70% of our patients are neonates and infants, 65% of these are on medicaid

--Set up pulse oximetry and oxygen delivery devices on patient in NICU and home. Attach sensors and oxygen mask/cannula on patient. Download data and provide to physician.

--Set up oral and nasal suctioning devices. Perform initial suctioning in home.

--Set up phototherapy equipment and initiate treatment.

--Set up nebulizer, load medication and perform initial treatment.

 

Elderly

--15% of our patients are on medicare.

--Set up oxygen concentrators.

--Provide ambulatory equip.

 

All

--Provide medical precautions and instructions (often in Spanish).

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@I12BAPA I'm really on the fence about whether or not I can say with full confidence the hours would count for most programs. I do think you listing the hours in the "Other Healthcare Experience" was a smart thing to do. The best advice I can give is to contact the programs and see if they would count them. Although some programs may count these hours, I would also ask if they would suggest you pick up shadowing hours or some other type of hands on experience to be more competitive or if your current hours will suffice. I hope this helps a little bit..probably not as much as you'd like, but best wishes!

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@popup From our program's standpoint, if we are only interviewing applicants for just the waiting list, we are always up front with them by letting them know they are interviewing for that type of seat. I would imagine other programs follow the same format, but I'm not sure. The best way to find out is to call or email the person who has coordinated your interview to see if they'll tell you how many seats are still available and your chances of actually interviewing for a seat in the program. I would hope they would be up front with you. Thanks!

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Thank you for all of the great Q & A! Similar questions have been asked, but here goes. My undergrad is in Physiology, with a GPA of only 2.9. I went to graduate school for Physiology and graduated with a 3.6 GPA. This only brought my cumulative GPA up to 3.01. I finished two courses (Human Physiology and Pharmacology) after CASPA application closed, and earned an A in each course. I am a Clinical Research Associate (CCRP) in Phase I oncology, and have over 4000 hours of patient contact. I know that it depends on the school and the applicant pool, but does this look competitive? Thank you in advance for addressing my question!

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@kytel Thank you for your question. I do think you are a competitive applicant and you've done exactly what I would've recommended an undergraduate student in your situation...you got an advanced degree and performed well. In my opinion, you've proven to the committee that you are able to handle upper level courses in, what we consider, a fairly difficult subject, physiology. I would update the programs you're applying to with an official transcript so that your recent grades are taken into consideration. Well done and best wishes!

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What factors are most pertinent to admissions acceptance? Obviously HCE, pre-requisite coursework GPA (as well as Cum. GPA), and extracurricular/volunteer activities, but what about the variables such as the personal statement and/or interview? How much value do those things contain within the evaluation/admissions process?

 

Also, does the quantity of science courses make a difference? I.E., satisfying all pre-requisite coursework versus pre-reqs plus additional lab sciences.

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Hello, and thank you for taking time to help.

My question is about LOR: mine were completed back in June/July. I did not really start reading PA forums until a couple of months ago, and did not realize that not waiving you right

to see LOR is a very bad thing. How much negative connotation does my application carry?

Also, I am filling out a supplemental application for one of my schools. One of the questions gives an option to explain low GPA, or breaks in academic studying? Do you think I should put something related to the fact that I did not wave my right to see LOR. I will be grateful for any advice.

Thank you

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@bjl12 Thank you for your questions. There are a lot of non-cognitive factors that go into selecting applicants.From your application we like to see your ability to communicate in writing through your personal statement that you understand the role of the PA and see a clear motivation, other than helping people, to enter the profession; and we like to see leadership roles and community service as well. The interview really tells us a lot about a person. Communication, maturity,, motivation and ability to demonstrate your ability to work as a team are very important and is why all programs have interviews. So prepare for your interview as much as you prepare your application.

Also, it's always nice to see applicants who have gone above and beyond our requirements. It shows the committee that you're making efforts to better prepare yourself for PA school by possibly taking upper level biology and chemistry classes. I hope this helps!

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@patachok Thank you for your questions. This is a common and innocent oversight on most applicants. Rather than including that on your supplemental application I would encourage you to contact the programs you've applied to let them know you waive your right to the LOR. I gave this advice on a previous post on this blog and the applicant was able to contact the programs and make that correction. The programs he/she contacted seemed to be very understanding. I honestly believe that programs would be understanding. I know our program would be. I hope this helps!

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There are a lot of non-cognitive factors that go into selecting applicants.From your application we like to see your ability to communicate in writing through your personal statement that you understand the role of the PA and see a clear motivation, other than helping people, to enter the profession; and we like to see leadership roles and community service as well.

 

As I mentioned previously, my academic career began with great inconsistencies featuring semesters of W's and some F's at a local community college (the F's are from improperly withdrawing). Would this be something an applicant (I) should address in the Personal Statement or the Interview or...? Also, do you have any specific recommendation or suggestions on how to deal with a situation like this? Obviously I can't change my transcript records and so the only proactive tool I have is performing well on current and future academics. How does an admission committee review an applicant with academic "issues" such as myself? There already is and will continue to be tremendous upswing both academically and professionally, but I still sometimes worry that my efforts could be too little too late?

 

And I will absolutely look into BioChem / Pathophys! Thanks for responses :D

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@bjl12 Yes, you should make reference to the academic inconsistencies in both your personal statement and be prepared for the question in your interview. Again, I wouldn't make the personal statement all about the past. We realize there's nothing you can do to change it and to go and on about the past could be perceived as making an excuse. I would make reference to it, what you've done to change it and how you've learned from it. Many times applicants realize they had poor study skills or their motivation was completely different than it is now. You want to make sure you convey to the committee that you realize the PA curriculum is rigorous and make mention to how you've prepared yourself to be successful in PA school.

That's the best you can do and I believe a committee should recognize you've made every effort to be a more competitive applicant.

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