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PENNSYLVANIA: Misericordia University


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I was recently accepted to Misericordia's program, and I was wondering if anyone else has heard from them as well. I guess since it's a new program, they aren't listed under the PA schools subtopic. I was very impressed by their program, and I am hoping to find some other students who are considering attending!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi llc5061, I am Rajani C Pinnamaneni. Congrats on getting Acceptance from Misericordia. I got an Interview today in Misericordia univ on 01/14/2013. I was informed in the email about the essay, group discussion among 3 and interview with 2 faculty. It's my 1st invite. It seems kind of intimidating. I was given almost 2 months to prepare properly though. I am a Medical Doctor(M.B;B.S) from Guntur Medical college,India with no courses from USA. My best GPA is 3.0 with comprehensive GPA of 2.23. I know its low. I am ECFMG certified. In GRE(01/11/2012),I got 151/170 in Verbal,158/170 in Quantitative and 4.0 in A.W.A. I scored 109/120 in TOEFL on 10/12/2012.I am trying to get P.A shadowing opportunities in Los angeles,California where i reside. Any ideas from your experience especially Interview experiences will be highly appreciated. Take care.

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Hi Rajani,

 

Congrats on getting an interview! Misericordia was my second interview, so I was a little intimidated as well. But don't worry! The faculty and current students were very nice and helpful. I really enjoyed my interview day, and I got the sense that they are very serious about providing an excellent education to PA students. To be honest, I am not very familiar with how foreign medical degree credentials convert to the American system, but your GRE scores look very good! And, I think they will appreciate your previous medical experiences. I would have some specific examples in mind of times when you had to act as a leader, a time that you exhibited your strengths, an example of a time when you had to act or make a decision under pressure, a time when a patient was unhappy with your work and how you responded, etc. Those are all things that I had to answer in some way during my interview experiences. Also, I think it is important to really express your commitment and passion for becoming a PA (as opposed to any other role in the field of healthcare). I'd also recommend taking a look at Misericordia's PA program website to get an idea of the program's mission/values/philosophy, some background on the professors, and the history of the program (it's a new program). As I was preparing for my interviews, everyone told me to "be yourself", and looking back, I do think that that's really important. Just be honest, relax, and give the best answer you can. I also used the book "How to 'Ace' the Physician Assistant Interview" by Andrew J. Rodican. That may be helpful for you.

 

Good luck, keep me posted on how it goes, and feel free to send me any other questions!

 

-Lindsey

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Hi Lindsey,

Thanks for the kind reply. I actually planned on purchasing the Andrew Rodican book: How to ace the Physician Assistant interview? How does it take to study the book and prepare for the interview. I will also study about Misericordia University on its website. I will also prepare for basic questions like Why do u want to be a PA? Tell me about yourself? How do you think u will fit into the P.A system? etc. I will get Andrew Rodican's book and will see how much information it covers. Then,i shall plan for other questions. I will try to go as calm as i can to the interview. This is the 1st interview for me in U.S.A. I don't think American accent is a problem for me at least from California side. Does Misericordia staff people have a strong slang which is difficult to decipher? Is Misericordia u'r 1st choice or do u think given a offer,u will accept Seton hall or PCOM or any other? I made up my mind on becoming a P.A instead of a Physician only on Sep 15th and up to today worked on the exams or the CASPA application(which i submitted on 10/15/2012) or Supplemental applications(26 of them. As of now,one remains and i can't finish that unless i do pre-requisites soon).I applied to 49 CASPA colleges and got 11 rejections and 1 interview so far. I emailed a few P.A 's available on http://www.pashadowonline.com in California. I might get a chance in early 2013. In the meantime,i plan to go to a Family Physician in Santa Ana,CA and shadow.. Best of luck to you.

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Hey again,

I prepared for interviews for maybe about 2 weeks. I'm really busy with grad school, finishing up a PA school prereq, shadowing, and working, so I prepped as much as I could, but it was difficult for me to find the time to do it. I read the first part of the book and then sort of glossed over the questions and answers (which make up the rest of the book). I also met with someone from my grad school's student affairs office. She was able to give me a lot of interviewing tips, and that was very helpful as well. As far as the accent goes, I don't think that this will be a problem. I'd definitely try to shadow a PA or at least speak with one to ask questions before your interview. In addition, I like to read the posts from this website as well, lots of helpful info on the profession, getting in, and just about anything else related to PA's: http://www.mypatraining.com/. Good luck!

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Hi Lindsey,

Thnx for the tips. I'm shadowing a Family Physician now a days. Am waiting to hear from as many of the schools as possible before i make my travel plans. Might wait 15-20 days again. No other positive news yet from my side. Got few more Regrets. I know a guy who is in P.A school. Will call him over this weekend and take valuable tips. I will try more to get a P.A shadowing spot. Best of luck to you.

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Thank you! Have you heard from them at all?

 

My application was verified and mailed by CASPA on 9/21, and I heard from them about interviewing on 10/2 (11 days from mailing to invite). I interviewed on 10/25, and I got my acceptance call on 11/1 (7 days from interview to decision). I would assume that there is a lot of variability in these time frames, though.

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  • 1 month later...

Hey Lindsey,I finished my interview yesterday.It was cool.I behaved like myself.Stressed more on my health care experiences.Prof.Massey was cool n calm.He seems to be a gentleman and so is Dr.Dudrick.My handwriting in the essay writing wasn't great.I hope they understand.In the group interview,three of us were asked to argue on our credentials and health care experiences and come to a decision&select one.I was selected by the other two more because they wanted to come to a conclusion.In the individual interview,I might have been marginal in my responses in the beginning but I went on more&more confident that a lady had to wave in that time is up and I have to go.Prof.Massey told us that 13 slots were filled and they have an interview next month for sure and even might have one more.I wasn't the original choice n I was a replacement as my name wasn' t there in the 15 and so was a next gentleman in my group who was in our group interview and who proposed that I should be selected.My interview finished at 1pm but i waited till the closing and the tour after.I think I might be in the wait list of 20. How r things on u'r side?

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Hey Rajani,

It sounds like your interview went great! I also had to do that exercise in my group interview, and I was also selected by my group. Sort of an uncomfortable experience! But, I feel like it was a good way for the admissions committee to hear about everyone's experiences. How did you like the interview experience overall? I was really drawn to this program because everyone was so personable during the interview, and they seemed to be very thorough as far as knowing my application and getting an idea of who I am both professionally and personally. Also, I found that their presentation of the program had a very clear message about their mission, something that seems obvious but was not so clear in my other interviews! Their philosophy on the "kind of PA" they want to train was very driven and innovative and to me - I did not see this level of ambition from other programs I visited. Also, I could tell that all of the staff members were very excited and dedicated to making this a great program (PS - you should google Dr. Dudrick and Dr. Massey - they are both very accomplished, it is amazing to know that they are so invested in this program!). Did you get a chance to speak with any of the current students? It was really helpful speaking to them. I email one of them periodically with questions, and she has been immensely helpful. Also, I really like the idea of having such a small class size. (You can probably tell that I am really excited about this program) Hopefully they send you some good news soon! I heard from them in one week exactly, and they contacted me via phone. Please keep me posted on your journey... Do you have any other interviews?

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Yes Ms.Lindsey.They have a clear idea.Dr.Massey and Dr.Dudrick were top professionals who chose to come to Misericordia univ. for a reason.They are nice people.The two lady professionals weren't as humble as the 2 senior male professors.I gave Prof.Darci Brown a nickname "Lady tiger".Prof.Davis was diplomatic externally only.I studied so much about the faculty and about the univ and repeated that so much that Dr.Dudrick had to stop me and say "we have a tour later" smilingly..I saw lot of students but didn't exactly who is a P.A student. A class went on 2 rooms down and Prof.Massy taught. They must be the batch but I didn't communicate with any apart from my Interviewed colleagues.I hope to hear good news.Even if I get in the 20 waiting list,I believe I should be happy with the way things have went for me with a lot of other schools.I will let u know what happened..Did u give the Thank you card?If so,where can I get one? thanks.

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Yes, I wrote thank you cards for all of my interviews. You should be able to find a pack of thank you cards at a local drug store, walmart or target, or a card store like Hallmark. They usually come in a pack of 10 or 20. I would get blank ones and hand write a few sentences thanking them, let them know that you enjoyed the interview, describe something about the interview that interested you or made you think further or something like that. That's what I usually do

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Hello,

I was wondering if anyone would mind telling me about how long it took them to hear back from MU about an interview. My app was just submitted at the end of last week, so I know I have some waiting to do, but it is so nerving. Also, I only recently decided to apply to PA school so I am not too familiar with the stats for applicants. Does anyone know what MU's GPA average is? I have a 3.3 overall and a 3.0 science. I got my MS last year and am currently teaching biology at Penn State. I have about 150 hrs patient contact and about 50 hrs shadowing.

If anyone has info or advice I would be so appreciative. :)

Good luck and Congrats to all!

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Raj, sorry to hear that. But keep on with those applications!

Amanda, it took several months for me to hear back, I applied in August or September and got an invite in November or December. They are nearing the end of their application cycle. When I interviewed on 1/14 there were 13/20 seats filled already. The key is apply early, and start figuring out why you really want to be a PA, because they will ask you that question over and over. My undergrad GPA was around 3.4. Science GPA around 3.5. I worked as an RN for a year and shadowed a few PA's. They don't have any stats listed yet on their website because they are a fairly new program. Good luck with your apps!

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Congrats Andersonji08! I ended up cancelling my Lock Haven interview because I decided that I am set on Misericordia. Good luck in making your decision, maybe we will be classmates, woohoo :) Let me know what you decide. It's exciting to hear from someone who has been accepted, haha

 

Rajani - I'm sorry that things did not work out. Keep your head up and keep working hard! Good luck with your journey.

 

Amanda - My CASPA app was verified in September, and I heard from Misericordia in October for an interview. I posted more specifics about the timeline (for me) on page 1 of this thread. Things went relatively quickly for me. I agree with Anderson in that it is to the applicant's advantage to apply early. You could try giving them a call to make sure they received everything and maybe get a feel for how many more interview dates they plan on having. Also, sometimes I think it's good just to get your name out there to the people in the admissions office. Misericordia only has one class in their first year so far (students starting in 2013 will be the second class ever), so I don't think stats are available at this time. My overall GPA (I have both undergrad and grad coursework) as calculated by CASPA was 3.68, and my science GPA was 3.38. As far as the interview goes, it is important to know your application, have examples of times when you acted as a leader/had to make a difficult decision/were in a stressful situation... , know what differentiates the PA profession from others in medicine and why you want to be a PA. Good luck!

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Thank you for the info everyone.

 

Lawrence, I called Misericordia on Wednesday, and they said that they have already had their last interviews. There is a very slim chance they may have another, but it sounded doubtful.

 

I am just going to start preparing for the next application cycle, and get everything in as early as possible.

 

Thanks again and good luck to everyone! :smile:

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  • 1 month later...

Hey Lindsey! I'm Jill btw.. Haven't checked back on here for a while, but I too decided on Misericordia and turned down the Lock Haven acceptance. So, we will be starting together in August... I'm getting exciteddddd! Let me know how you're doing with financial aid and stuff.. I haven't heard much back from them since my acceptance. Buying a house in Dallas this month :)

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