I can't speak for what classes each path program offers, but a list of courses for the path program at WVU can be found here.
http://www.hsc.wvu.edu/som/PA/Curriculum.aspx
It looks like the first year will be spent studying texts while the second year will be spent in hospital laboratories around the Pittsburgh area.
I've heard from a lot of students that the class which will eat up the most of one's time is anatomy. There's just no getting around the volume of information involved. So to prepare for the incoming volley of obscure words I've been studying daily in my apartment.
I arrived in Morgantown a month early to get used to the town and get everything settled in before classes start on January 10th. That leaves about a half month left to study as much anatomy as possible. I looked online for a source to study gross anatomy and I've run across two websites that have been great so far.
http://anatomy.med.umich.edu/
http://ect.downstate.edu/courseware/haonline/toc.htm
It seems that the University of Michigan Medical School has an online anatomy course that you can view. In conjunction with the other website from SUNY Downstate Medical Center and my old "Human Anatomy & Physiology, Elaine N Marieb. Fifth Edition", a person can get a pretty good head start on anatomy. I've been studying about one lesson a day off of the Michigan Med School website and seem to be making good progress.
I'm still a bit peeved that I spent so much time studying for the GRE rather than material related to these hard science courses. Does one really have to know the meaning of words like "agog" and "muezzin" or how to solve complex mathematical formulas without a calculator to be a successful graduate student? PA Programs and other health science programs would be better off requiring students to take the MCAT biology section as a way of screening for students.
I'm glad that WVU and a few other PA schools have seen the light and don't require their applicants to take an exam testing for knowledge and ability outside the scope of medicine. (I still studied for the GRE just in case I wasn't accepted into WVU and now I have a bunch of unnecessary vocabulary stuck in my head that I'll never use. For those who say that the more you know the more power to you, I reply that there's a difference between useful knowledge and trivial knowledge. I want to keep my trivial knowledge to a minimum.)
What a philistine thing of me to say!
Hello
ReplyDeleteI just came across your blog! So not all schools require the GRE test? that is awesome news! To find which ones do I just go into the individual school programs?
My husband is originally from Fresno but we are both living in Utah for now. I'm still working on my bachelor's degree planning on going for my masters in pathA although sometimes I keep thinking about medical school but I'm right there with you, ti's just so loong!
Thanks for dropping in on my blog!
ReplyDeleteMost programs should have whether they require the GRE either in their brochure or on their school program website.
Med School is good for people who are still relatively young. They'll have plenty of time to go through their residencies and fellowships. For the rest of us, I really like that the PA Programs are just 2 years of schooling.
Good luck with your bachelor's degree and aim for those high grades!
Thanks for the response. I'm already checking each individual program :]
ReplyDeleteThat's what gets me about med school.. I would be done on my early 40's eekkk! But I'm more interested in forensic pathology though but I need to get my life started WAY before my 40's so pathology assistant will do for me.
Thanks for blogging, it's been really helpful to know what to expect when my turn arrives!