Relative Importance of Certain Skills

[PIIFree]

I was hoping some working PAs could weigh in on this and help me make a choice.  

Deciding between 3 schools at the moment: A, B, and C.  Accounting for tuition, cost of living, and other life expenses, C will be the least expensive, with A not far behind.  B is astronomically expensive.  They have 2, 3, and 5 elective rotations, respectively.  I know that I'll get a great education at either of the 3, and while A and B are pretty major names, from what I've heard and read, that should not be my deciding factor.  

Aside from the above, the main differentiating factors between the 3 are skills taught during didactic.  Each goes into your standard assortment of skills; your bread and butter I&Ds, wound care, IVs, sutures, etc. B also teaches you chest tubes, casting, lumbar punctures, and other things I haven't seen highlighted by other schools.  I'm not sure exactly what A goes into clinical skills-wise, but I know there is also a laboratory skills component, where students actually learn to perform some of the clinical laboratory tests and CLIA waived tests.  I think in terms of the breadth of content covered, C is at a disadvantage. 

What I'd like is advice from the perspective of some people who have finished school and gone to work.  How important is learning clinical lab skills?  How often are you getting behind the microscope?  If I'm not learning chest tubes in didactic skills classes, are they going to be covered in EMed rotations?  Are the additional elective rotations C has more valuable than the other skills I've mentioned? The answer probably depends on where I want to practice: I'm leaning towards primary care or emergency medicine, but that could always change in school.  Basically I don't want to place too much weight on stuff that isn't really going to affect me as a clinician, or I will learn on rotations.  Thanks!

[EMEDPA]

Rotations are really more important than skills labs in school. Go to a school with good pance scores and a lengthy list of rotation sites. Typically older programs have an advantage in this regard. a 20 yr old program has already gotten rid of the bad sites and preceptors. a 2 yr old program, probably not. electives are nice, but don't discount the availability of "selectives".  my program had zero electives, but within each required rotation they had so many options that one could create a focus. I did peds em for peds, trauma surgery for surgery, ICU for medicine, etc and spent 27 of 54 clinical weeks in em or trauma. If you are going to do primary care don't pay big bucks for procedures you will never do. 

[PIIFree]

Thank you, EMEDPA, that is helpful.  Let's say I was positive I wanted to go into EM; would it be worth those big bucks to go to a program that covered a lot of those skills in didactic, or could I just as easily learn that and more on my EM rotations at a school that doesn't cover it in didactic?  Is covering these procedures just a way for a program to justify a huge cost, or would it really make a big difference for me going forth as a clinician? 

[ANESMCR]

54 minutes ago, PIIFree said:

Thank you, EMEDPA, that is helpful.  Let's say I was positive I wanted to go into EM; would it be worth those big bucks to go to a program that covered a lot of those skills in didactic, or could I just as easily learn that and more on my EM rotations at a school that doesn't cover it in didactic?  Is covering these procedures just a way for a program to justify a huge cost, or would it really make a big difference for me going forth as a clinician? 

Agree with EM. The answer to your f/u question remains no. You will learn them in rotations, more so when you actually start practicing. The schools teach the skills not only for your future success, but to meet criteria for your commencement and accreditation/arc-pa standards.