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Western University vs. Loma Linda University


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Hello All!

 

I'm new to this forum, and so far it has given me loads of insight and advice that I did not have before. I was happy to hear recently that I have been accepted to both Loma Linda University as well as Western University, but now I am tasked with making the hard decision on which place I should attend.

 

So far I really like the look and feel of Loma Linda, and they made me feel right at home. The only thing about this university however is the fact that I am not Seventh Day, and their whole basis on religion will likely be a large culture shock on me (this really is the only con as their campus is absolutely beautiful).

 

Western on the other hand does seem like a good school as well with its various perks, but the con I see here is that I am unsettled by the location as well as the large class size (in my experience I learn much better in smaller classes than I do in large ones).

 

Anyway, could anyone possibly give me any advice? I am leaning towards LLU, but would like to get other peoples input as well.

 

Thanks!

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I think what it comes down to is where you feel most comfortable and will be able to learn better.. I know that they don't allow such things as drinking alcohol and doing drugs at Loma Linda, but with the amount of work at ANY PA school, I don't think people have time for that anyway.. Western is a great school, but if you won't be able to cope with the large class size, it will be very difficult, especially with the first trimester being the most difficult..

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Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post, I really appreciate it! I actually am fine with the whole drug and alcohol policy as I'm not into the whole drug craze and rarely drink, so holding off on the alcohol for a couple of years really is no big deal to me. The only thing I am worried about is not fitting in due to my religious (or rather non-religious) preference. To be honest though I don't really know what I am worried about because the people I met there are so kind and I never once felt as though they were trying to shove anything down my throat. I think I'm just reading too many posts on SDN haha.

 

If I knew more about western U this would be a lot easier. I've read their website up and down a few times, but it really would have been nice to talk to some students on interview day.

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I think you are giving this religious thing too much thought. I know few non Christians who attend that school and love it. You should also post the same question in Loma Linda forum. Maybe you can call the counselor there to see if it'll be an issue with you being non-religious. You can also find old posts here by Western U students to see how their experience was with Western U.

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I think you are giving this religious thing too much thought. I know few non Christians who attend that school and love it. You should also post the same question in Loma Linda forum. Maybe you can call the counselor there to see if it'll be an issue with you being non-religious. You can also find old posts here by Western U students to see how their experience was with Western U.

 

I think you're right actually, I really am giving this too much thought. I actually have friends who attended LLU and had non-Christian friends there, and even they said they loved the experience and would do it again (the same has been said about western U in previous posts as well). I think it's mostly because I've lived my entire life in an area where people aren't generally religious, and the thought of going to a heavily religious one seems like it would be a culture shock. But in all honesty I think I'll be ok no matter what school I attend.

 

I also did post this question on the LLU board, but I'm only getting responses here lol

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Any time. I agree with shao, I have a friend who goes to Lima Linda pharmacy school and has had no trouble fitting in even though she is no Seventh Day, she was also hesitant at first but she has no problem now..

 

That really puts my mind at ease!

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According to US news, WesternU (ranked #70) is actually ranked higher than LLU (ranked #94). I'm a current student and I absolutely love it at Western. Please feel free to message me if you have any specific questions. WesternU is also very central to CAPA, we have multiple faculty members directly involved with the organization and they hold meetings on campus often. Classes are large, but with the amount of hours we all spend together it feels very comfortable and it's kinda nice having such great diversity in the class. I'm obviously biased so take my input with a grain of salt, but I love going to WesternU. Again, feel free to contact me if you have any questions. At the end of the day it's what you feel most comfortable with and where you are the best fit.

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EMEDPA: All you do is make claims without evidence. Did you get rejected from Western and you are still bitter or something? Grow up and provide real data to provide validity towards your outlandish claims or just shut up already.

I was a pa years before western had a program, US news produced their "poll of program directors" aka rankings, existence of caspa, etc

. I precepted their students for over ten years and during that time gave a passing grade to only one of them. it was not me alone failing them, it was a consensus opinion of PAs and docs who had worked with these students. I now refuse to take students from them and take students only from reputable higher quality programs. In my personal experience western serves as a back up school for folks who could not get into better programs like usc, stanford, loma linda, etc.

 

p.s.- obviously anything anyone posts on here is opinion. that's fine. being rude and insulting, however can easily get you banned permanently from this site. consider that your only warning.

emedpa

senior moderator, pa forum

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I precepted several Western students and found them to be lacking in basic skills to the point I refused to take anymore. One student when asked to look at a wet mount just stood there and told me they didn't know how to use a microscope. They came to clinic unprepared to discuss topics I had given them in advance. They were unable to demonstrate basic H&P skills. After several of these students I said enough. Hopefully this wasn't the norm but it was my experience. YMMV

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I'm currently in my second year at LLU and have done several rotations with students from Western. I have nothing bad to say about them or the program. I'll tell you about few differences that I've heard in talking to Western students.

1) At Western I've heard that most of their lectures are from PA faculty staff that may or may not have experience in that particular topic. At LLU all of our clinical medicine and pharmacology lectures were given for the most part by very good, experienced PA and MD guest lectures. A couple of duds in the mix, but at least we were able give input to the program after each guest lecture.

2) Western class size is around 75, LLU 35.

3) At Western clinical rotations are 4 weeks each and seem a little more flexible with multiple electives, set up your own rotations from a list provided. At LLU we do 6 week rotations, can request preferred sites with no guarantee. This only allows for 1 elective.

4) Clinical year at Western goes straight through, no breaks. At LLU we had a nice 3 week break over the holidays.

5) Western students go through a review of all body systems during clinical year with regularly scheduled exams. At LLU we only have topic exams at the end of each rotation, then also a packrat and osce in the summer. So a little more independence as to board review be it good or bad.

 

As far as the religious aspect of LLU. It is definitely present on campus. There is a class chaplain, prayer before exams and required chapel attendance during didactic year. There are many international students with varied religious backgrounds. If you're easy going and know what you're getting into I don't think it will bother you. There is also a strong emphasis on service to the community and missionary work so if either of these interest you, there are many opportunities at LLU.

 

If you have any specific questions regarding LLU, feel free to pm me.

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I precepted several Western students and found them to be lacking in basic skills to the point I refused to take anymore. One student when asked to look at a wet mount just stood there and told me they didn't know how to use a microscope. They came to clinic unprepared to discuss topics I had given them in advance. They were unable to demonstrate basic H&P skills. After several of these students I said enough. Hopefully this wasn't the norm but it was my experience.

YMMV

I had a western student who refused to do ANY procedures on his em rotation and told us " I'm going to do family medicine so I am just here to observe". he did h+p's(poorly) and despite being told he needed to participate to pass refused to do so thinking the program would back his stance. they didn't. he failed out.

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I remember hearing that every year there is an academic decathlon type event where all the CA PA school students compete in their medical knowledge. I also hear that USC and RCC are usually the programs that excel in this event. Is this true?

I have heard that as well.

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I'm a 2nd year PA student at WesternU and while WesternU takes a variety of different backgrounds, MANY of my classmates excel academically and clinically. I'm currently doing several rotations here at Arrowhead Hospital and many of the PA's who work here actually graduated from Western - and let me know tell you - they are pretty damn knowledgeable, especially the one's in ER. I find that the student's who lack the ability to take an HPI or document physical exams tend to occur more so early on in the year when they throw students into ER or surgery as our first rotation. Your skills (ie history taking, physical exam, suturing, etc) improves with time and experience and MAINLY on those preceptors who are willing to teach. If you get a preceptor who is crap and wants you to do all of their busy work, well, you're SOL.

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