Asking for insight about NJ/NYC area PA schools

[ehnj]

After ten years working as a surgical technologist, and four years of undergrad with a GPA competitive for medical school, I have decided to go the PA route, since I don't want to finish residency at 40, and PAs seem much happier. I just wanted to ask PA students in the greater NYC area how they feel about their programs. My best friend and roommate throughout my undergrad and his PA program was very unhappy with his school. I had to keep talking him out of quitting when it was hard. It wasn't the difficulty of the coursework, but the general atmosphere, and attitude of the department. He was much happier in his last year when he was rotating, even when he was working crazy hours and taking call, because he only had to go to campus once a month. He's been working as a PA for a year, and loves his job, but hated the school itself. I've seen the emails his professors sent out, and heard them speak at his graduation, and it affirmed what he was saying all along, not that I didn't believe him anyway. He's a trained athlete and laid-back person who has no problem with authority, but he was miserable in school.

 

I'd like feedback about your experience in your current program, or as an alum. My top choice right now is UMDNJ, since I moved to NJ last year, and their pre-reqs are almost the same as I took as a pre-med. I'd rather not spend two more years part-time while working full-time and applying, but it's more important to me that I find a program that fits me. Most of my friends from college are in med school, and their experiences vary so widely. Some schools focus more on residency programs and basically ignore med students, whereas other schools (like the one where I finished undergrad) actually have first-year students rotating through the ED and other departments, whereas others don't allow students patient interaction until the third year, and all clinical skills are learned in classrooms.

 

I invite you to post on this thread, or PM me your opinions about your schools. I really want to get a feel for which schools would be a good fit for me. I have and will continue to visit them, but sometimes the most honest feedback comes from anonymous people online.