Some of you who are reading this might actually be one of the candidates to come for an interview. Many of you so far have commented that the directions for getting to room 2149 were really helpful, so I'll post a convenient link to it for you all right here.
http://pathotoko.blogspot.com/2011/06/interview-process-for-wvus-pa-program.html
I'd like to mention my thanks to all of the applicants who have come so far! It's always my pleasure to introduce a little of the PA Program at WVU to you all.
This week I'm volunteering to help out with 1-2 interviews per day from Monday to Friday. I'm sure that I'll get many more chances to meet some of our aspiring applicants.
Aside from the interviews, I must confess something. I've fallen into temptation once again. That is, it's only been one week off of school and already I'm reading textbooks again, even though it's our break time. I can't seem to help it. It must be in my genes.
So I ordered some of the textbooks that we'll be using for the fall semester and I've read a couple of chapters into our microbiology text. This class, I believe, is going to be surprisingly interesting. We PA students will be mixing with the dental students to take a microbiology course which has an emphasis on the oral flora. So far, the text has been very basic. It's either that or my experience in microbiology during my undergraduate years
must have somehow stuck in my mind. In any case, the text is an easy read and a great refresher for all the basics that I learned back then.
As much as I love pathology, it needs to be said that I have a soft spot for microbiology as well. My mother was the one who introduced me to the laboratory sciences. I would accompany her to her workplace at the Fresno County Public Health Department during the summers of my elementary school years and it really impressed me. What 6th grader wouldn't be awed by bacteria? I even did my science fair project on it. Later on in college I volunteered to help with research at the microbiology lab at Fresno State University and then moved on to working at the microbiology department at Fresno Community Medical Centers, so microbes and I go a ways back.
I must say that it was always fun working with the clinical laboratory scientists/medical technicians, but there was always the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that if I screwed up I'd contaminate the whole lab with a lethal pathogen causing the evacuation of our entire city and leading to the destruction of the world as we knew it. Nonetheless, good times were had.
Was wondering do you know how many interviews they are doing in total for the 14 spots? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Forest,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy reading your blog. In fact, I just had an interview with WVU. And before my interview, I read your post and found it very helpful.
In regards to that question above, I was told that there were 70 applicants this year and they interviewed over 50% of the applicants for the 14-16 spots.
Thanks for this insightful blog about PA's! :)
Hello Anonymous'! I hope that your interviews at WVU have gone or will go smoothly. This year there are probably over 70 applicants and I remember telling an applicant that probably around 50% are interviewed, but I was mistaken at the time. It's actually closer to 75-80%.
ReplyDeleteI know the numbers are scary, but don't let it discourage you all! I would encourage you to apply to as many programs as possible and try and try again.
Do you know why they interviewed so many? I was encouraged that I had gotten an interview but if the majority who applied then did it's a bit discouraging. Do you know when they will be letting everyone know?
ReplyDeleteWell, the final decision on who can be accepted is quite a comprehensive and difficult process. Unlike some other programs, the professors and directors here like to get a full picture of a person to see if they would be a successful PA student, and that usually can't be done by just looking at a transcript and resume. Applicants are judged not only on their grades, letters of recommendation and experiences, but also their score during the interview. Because the teachers here work so closely with the students in the program, they really do care about our character.
ReplyDeleteWhile it may be true that WVU accepts a higher percentage of candidates to interview than some other schools, I would see it as a good thing because it's your chance to leave a strong impression on the interviewers. At the least, you'll be able to make yourself stand out from the crowd, something that is difficult to do with just a resume and transcript.
Once all of the applicants have been interviewed (they should be finished by the second week of August), the professors and directors gather together to go over everyone's files one last time and, being as objective as possible, narrow down the applicants based on various things such as their GPAs, past experiences, letters of recommendation, interview scores and so on.
If all things go well, they will be sending out results anywhere from mid to late August.
Hope this helps!
So what are the student volunteers actually getting to do with the folks being interviewed? It must be really helpful for them to get to have current students available for questions about the program!
ReplyDeleteWhat micro textbook are you guys using? That was my undergraduate major and is still one of my absolute favorite subjects!
Wonderful blog Forrest! If you hear that interviews have wrapped up and notifications are going out could you post an update? It sounds like a lot of applicants are getting anxious :) I interviewed at beginning of May. It has been a long summer of waiting, hopefully for a positive outcome . Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteWell, it looks like we had the last two interviews just today, so from here on out the professors and directors will begin the arduous task of narrowing down the applicants. Hopefully, they should be finished between mid-August and late-August.
ReplyDeleteHi Tammy! The primary function of us volunteer students is to escort the applicant to the various rooms and facilities on campus and at the hospital that they'll be using once accepted. If time allows, we also help out with the actual interview and score along with the rest of the professors, directors and PAs, though I don't know how much weight our own evaluations hold. It was great to give a tour to everyone that I could!
Our microbiology course is held together with the dental students, so there is a slight dental theme to it, but from what I've read so far it seems like a very quick overview of the medical microbiology course I took as an undergraduate. The name of the text is:
"Essentials of Microbiology for Dental Students".
Forrest, ah, I haven't used that text. I'm guessing it discusses biofilms a fair amount.
ReplyDelete