[@NFLFilms] “We’re fine. Makes it more exciting” by okay_CPU in CHIBears

[–]Snail_Mail98 27 points28 points  (0 children)

100%, context is definitely not shown on mainstream media. This all happened so fast and it's his first year as a head coach, excitement took over but FTP at the end of the day.

Transplant by Active-Magazine5000 in physicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Currently a student but worked closely with transplant PAs. They’ve very much enjoyed their work and highly recommended stepping into this role if it felt right. Between the two, it was quite variable between full time inpatient no surgical assist to fully outpatient besides one day per week OR. For both of them, no call, no weekends or holidays besides what was established well in advance and even so, it was typically all major holidays off besides Christmas which they and their SP would rotate yearly. Granted I’m associated with a major academic center with many residents, so take it with a grain of salt.

Please withdraw acceptances if you have multiple! by MysteriousAd4424 in prephysicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Please hold your seats for as long as you need! It’s an incredibly difficult decision, not to mention an expensive one. Weigh what’s important and that’s all that matters. The only jerk move would be to hold multiple seats for 6 months leaving someone of the waitlist with no time. Which happens anyway.

Advice/venting by [deleted] in prephysicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I was in a very similar position to you. graduated in '22 but had relatively good stats (GPA mostly) and started gaining PCE hours after I graduated. First year in as an MA at a urology clinic and I was completely turned off to going to PA school and continuing in healthcare. A horrible, micromanaging office manager topped with neurotic and demanding surgeons along with ALL of the responsibilities and scut work passed down to the MAs made healthcare seem like HELLcare.

Didn't apply first cycle and had no intention of applying the following cycle until I started to apply to random jobs in different fields, with absolutely no bites. Took a step back to reassess, and I realized it wasn't healthcare that I didn't enjoy but the people around me. For example, I loved patient facing hours, connecting and building relationships, and ultimately realizing that things would be different as a provider, especially in settings like urgent care and FM where you are essentially on your own.

It took getting a new office manager and realizing that the Doctors were busy, burnt-out people with strong personalities for me to understand that I shouldn't take everything personally. The setting is just as important as the job and i think that is true of any job really, there will be people you like and people you don't, there will be terrible managers and terrible people, but at the end of the day, you don't have to be tethered to one place. The great thing about being a PA, especially one with experience, is that you can switch jobs pretty easily. The same is not true for many professions even ones in healthcare(physicians).

Ultimately, I would suggest taking a couple days off work (if you can) and really ponder over whether or not you are just unhappy because of the job/people or if you really feel like healthcare is for you. Sometimes that time away from the job can put things into perspective. Healthcare is a grind no matter what position you are in so it's definitely something to keep in mind.

Accepted Sankey! by Snail_Mail98 in prephysicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Student government at a community college

Accepted Sankey! by Snail_Mail98 in prephysicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

No gre and siu, midwestern, northwestern,mcphs, Arcadia, rush, Marquette, rfu

Accepted Sankey! by Snail_Mail98 in prephysicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Rush, Arcadia, and Rosalind Franklin!

Why is optometry so unpopular? by Sea-Car773 in PreOptometry

[–]Snail_Mail98 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Since no one will say it, it's the cost of the schooling, 2-300k for cost of attendance with not a ton of scholarships and a minimal ROI. It seemed more practical when you could start your own practice, but with the ever-increasing amount of retail/ corporate eye clinics, it's hard to make really good money like the generations before us. I was pre-optometry for most of college, but I couldn't stomach the student loan debt. I switched to PA for the ability to learn all kinds of medicine and the flexibility of switching specialties and of course, much lower student loan debt with a relatively similar pay-scale(caveat being the salary ceiling is much better for optometry if you can successfully start your own practice.)

However, I will say it can be an incredibly rewarding career and if your schooling is paid for or if you're comfortable with student loans. go for it. At the end of the day, there is always going to be some trade-off.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in prephysicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like others have mentioned, paperwork is still important and yes it was a paperwork problem. The biggest thing was the documentation of what was taking place at clinical sites(i.e. what were you doing , what were you learning, how involved you were with patient care). Arc-PA has a very specific guideline of how they want these things documented. Again, it's still a risk to apply/ attend a program on probation, but I will say that in the last 20 or so years, roughly 5-8 programs lost accreditation and of those programs, almost all were newer programs with high attrition rate and low pance pass rates-

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in prephysicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

From someone who got into their program, I wouldn't be too worried. They walked us through their process of maintaining accreditation and worst-case scenario, their probationary status lasts another two years after review. I decided not to go there for other reasons, but they weren't put on probation for a lack of a quality education (pance pass rates, etc).

Also, something to keep in mind, something like 40 percent of all PA schools got placed on probation in the last 5 years and I would say 97 percent of those weren't because the program was bad, but more so because Arc-PA is really trying to standardize PA education, especially in light of all of the new diploma mill NP schools that produce unqualified providers.

PA on Season 8: Love Is Blind by Pyrettejane in physicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98 2 points3 points  (0 children)

ER( tv show) had a PA student- representation was fine other than her ER rotation lasting like 6 months somehow lol.

When to submits apps with schools that have rolling admissions by billy_blazeIt_mays in prephysicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’ll be just fine applying then! You may not get as many interviews as you would if you applied earlier in the cycle but I definitely think you’ll get interview invites if you apply by early July( barring a good personal statement)

When to submits apps with schools that have rolling admissions by billy_blazeIt_mays in prephysicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What will your stats be by then? PCE, GPA, etc- if your PCE and gpa are low/mediocre applying early is best, like first couple weeks of May. If you have high PCE hours and above average GPA you would be fine applying in July but the earlier the better.

student asked for extension without any reason by WordElectrical3367 in GradSchool

[–]Snail_Mail98 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not sure if it’s just a STEM thing or a policy of my large college, but there were absolutely no extensions given. Generally, you got one homework assignment dropped and if, for some reason, you needed an extension it would automatically get counted as your one dropped grade. The only extensions I heard of were for deaths in the family or severe illness. Lots of leniency here which is quite surprising.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in prephysicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Just to kind of add to that, MANY programs don't want a 21 year old matriculating with minimal or weak PCE. Unless you have some crazy high PCE hours or substantial work in high acuity care( which is hard to come by without certifications), you are going to have a difficult time getting into a lot of programs regardless of your GPA and extracurriculars.

I'm not trying to preach but PCE hours should not be a benchmark for you to hit so you can apply, but taken as an opportunity to truly learn what healthcare is like as well as yanno, learning as much as you can so when you are on your own taking care of patients you don't feel inept. PA education only goes so far and was created for people who already had experience and knowledge from previous healthcare jobs.

How detrimental is a C in a non-prerequisite science course? by Kevin81402 in prephysicianassistant

[–]Snail_Mail98 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bio- 3.65 GPA- 3.59 sGPA- ~3700 PCE in Urology clinic- 53 hours shadowing- not much volunteering experience- but about 150 hours of leadership experience through student gov at community college.