You start by selecting the programs you wish to apply to, then you submit one application that includes all necessary materials. We will review each applicant's hours on a case by case basis and it will be dependent on how an applicant describes them on CASPA. This post will discuss a few CASPA tips and strategies to approach the CASPA application that will ease stress when the application cycle opens, and make sure you can avoid any potential application mistakes. You will then enter the number of average weekly hours and the number of weeks. If you struggle to understand what to put for your experience, it can help to break ideas into bullet points. Copyright 2022 Be a PA Consultants, All rights reserved. Which is correct, bullet points or paragraph form?? Youll check either the yes or no box. Notice how all of these examples sound complicated, biased, or use sales words like liaison or successful. This open "description" section is what starts to slow applicants down. How to Choose Your Best Programs: Understanding Curricula, What Is Optimal Team Practice? Enter additional details about the experience, including the title of the experience and the time commitments. It is best to aim to have your application submitted a few weeks prior to this deadline, so that by the time that December 1st deadline rolls around your application is submitted AND verified. PAI 20: Rejected by PA Schools! The blank space is just about the facts. Once you add the experience, you'll be prompted to categorize the "Experience Type" based on the following categories: Non-Healthcare Employment Research Volunteer Patient Care Experience* Healthcare Experience* Shadowing Leadership Experience Extracurricular Activities Finally, the last step is giving authorization for the PA programs to contact these organizations/supervisors. In the supporting materials section of CASPA, you are given the opportunity to list and describe the various roles that add to your application. CASPA will tell you if your application hits a snag of some kind, and if it does, you can fix it quickly to avoid delays. Many schools accept lower GPAs or have less stringent admissions requirements. If you have any specific questions about a particular experience, feel free to shoot me an email [here]. Maybe you led a team of volunteers or you worked with another organization on a project, either of which shows a higher level of responsibility in your role requiring skills that could help you in a future career as a PA. Again, if you have a comment, leave it below. Each of these make positive contributions to your ability to be a successful PA student and will be valued by admissions committees when you look at your CASPA application. While this may appear straightforward, if you open up the "supporting information" section and the menu unfurls, you'll start to see what takes so long. Most will lack any of their writers unique personality. As another example for a non-healthcare related experience entry, if you were a teaching assistant for a college course, consider expanding on how you guided students to the correct answer using critical thinking skills, kept open communication with the professors and team you are working with and managed your time efficiently! There is no limit to the number of experiences that you are able to enter, but you will want to add experiences that you feel are relevant to your PA application. Here is where you will explain to the admissions committee your responsibilities, job duties, level of involvement, etc in this particular experience. Paid work done outside of the health care field or a research lab; for example, a retail or restaurant job. It seems strange if you don't. These categories are broadly based on feedback from various physician assistant programs and are not a comprehensive list of every type of experience. Paste as plain text instead, The level of detail you should include for a volunteering entry depends on the relevance of that experience to a career in medicine. The FAQ spells out what counts as: Make sure you use the right category when you describe your experiences. Also, it is a good idea to have these proofread, just like your personals statement should be. If you've worked in the same role for the past 12 years, there's no reason to shave two years off of that work. (LogOut/ Please read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) before submitting questions. The 2018-2019 PA school CASPA application cycle is here. There are many reasons why applicants apply late. So, what does that look like? Research in public health or nursing is a critical component of advancing healthcare and improving health outcomes for individuals and communities. First, have your experiences descriptions prepared before the cycle opens. Sometimes waiting makes sense, but in most cases applying too late is the bigger risk. (LogOut/ Describe your duties and patient responsibilities, which may include taking vital signs, drawing blood, charting, and transporting and assessing patients. It depends a little on your exact responsibilities, but in most cases ER volunteer work should be classified as Healthcare Experience (because the Volunteer category is for non-medical types of volunteering, and you had patient interaction, but were not responsible for the patients care). And, if you want to approach your full application with a clear step-by-step plan that will make all of your decisions simpler, dont miss my Application Head-Start Workshop. I've been a practicing PA for many years, and I help future PAs, like you, get ready for PA school & practice as a new PA. Its important that you use the 600 characters in such a way that gives PA programs a clear understanding of the specific experience that you are describing. Starting Your CASPA Application Get started with an overview of the process, important dates and fees, and contact information. Keep in mind that it is important to balance your healthcare experience with other experiences that make you unique as an applicant and accurately reflect the person you are. Aim to be as descriptive as possible when completing your CASPA application. What sort of details should you include? Maintained a clean environment for each patient and followed standard precautions. What you discovered from a friend or family member in the healthcare field that touched you. Both paid and unpaid work in a health or health-related field where you are not directly responsible for a patient's care, but may still have patient interaction; for example, filling prescriptions, performing clerical work, delivering patient food, cleaning patients and/or their rooms, administering food or medication, taking vitals or other record-keeping information, working as a scribe, CNA (depending on job description), medical assistant, etc. When you're faced with the CASPA experience descriptions, just stick to the facts and only include what's relevant. All Rights Reserved. This portion is one of the couple parts of CASPA you can work on before the cycle you'll be applying. I work at a doctors office and my responsibilities include interacting with patients and performing different tests on them. Any experience working on a research project, preferably in addition to or outside of regular classroom work. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Remain neutral and factual. CASPer Test - What You Need To Know About The Exam, my PA Resource, PO Box 153, Woodstock, GA, USA, you can work on before the cycle youll be applying. Allowing PA programs to contact these people gives your experiences more validity. If you showed up for the day to volunteer, keep the description simple and don't embellish. It involves systematic investigation and analysis of health-related issues, such as disease . Enter information about the organization where the experience took place. If you want the reader to take you seriously, dont try to sell them a used car. My key responsibilities include taking patient vitals, recording patient medical histories, discussing current patient medications, administering vaccinations, and performing electrocardiograms. Describing your experience in succinct points will help you to collect your ideas and avoid "fluffing up" your experience with unnecessary information. The blank space is just about the facts. In the CASPA application for documenting shadowing hours, what should be written in the description/key responsibilities section? Sentence mentioning skills and values gained from this experience. You know this is a competitive undertaking, so cast a big net. All rights reserved. Take advantage of the space they allow you to further prove your readiness for PA school and always max-out each description box. For example, a 40 hour a week position with 10 hours a week of research and 30 hours a week of direct patient care would be entered under both Research and Patient Care types with the appropriate hours and duties listed within each entry. All Rights Reserved. You can post now and register later. You will then be prompted to enter the Experience Dates, which will give you the chance to enter both the start and end date, whether it is a current experience, and the status of the experience (full-time, part-time, per diem, temporary). What it was like to live in a medically underserved area. But, this is not the place for mini, unsolicited supplemental essays. Describe the type of practice and provider (e.g., dermatology, PA) you observed. After coaching hundreds of applicants we know the most common CASPA application mistakes, weve gotten familiar with a number of easily avoidable mistakes that can weaken an application. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Inside PA Training offers a comprehensive CASPA Application Review service so your application will look its absolute best. Research Or maybe they havent received a transcript from University of Whateverville. Your description of any experience should be factual. Getting Started with Your CASPA Application Creating and Managing Your CASPA Account Adding and Deleting CASPA Programs Filling Out Your CASPA Application You will be given a 600 character limit, not including spaces. This is known as the experiences section. There was an error submitting your subscription. I would put in any experience you've had since college. One last note: Some of your experiences may be long ago, and maybe you can't find your supervisor's information or specific details about the experience. The experiences section of CASPA is a crucial part of your application. All these little data points help a reader picture you in their mind. If you are looking for ways to prepare for the upcoming CASPA application cycle, then this post is for you. Hey all, Im curious if the use of "bullet points" are encouraged instead of typical narrative paragraphs in description of experiences. You want to make them see you as a real person theyd like to meet (interview). List the additional number of weeks you have completed since originally submitting your application. Allowing PA programs to contact these people gives your experiences more validity. But, that doesn't mean you are required to spend hours figuring out what to include or mulling over what to write in the sometimes-intimidating "description" section of each entry. You cannot paste images directly. Trying to squeeze in unnecessary impassioned information will only exhaust you and anyone else who will eventually be reading through your application. How do you calculate your hours? If you have any specific questions about a particular experience, feel free to shoot me an email. They can be accessed from the sidebar as well as the TOP menu bar. I achieved a timely and successful setup of services according to client needs, objectives, and contract specifications. 0 In this video I tell you how to successfully format your experiences such as your PCE, volunteering, etc, to be more competitive to PA school admissions. Instead, try to submit around mid June. Most students list them but leave the experience's description blank. Every week or so you should log into CASPA to check your applications progress. This is THE subreddit for all pre-physician assistant students seeking help with their applications. CASPA experience section explained: advice on how to crush the experience section on CASPA! Your description of any experience should be factual. This mistake is common and more work to avoid. (And Why It Should Matter to You), How to Describe Your Experiences in Your CASPA Application, How to Avoid Application Misconceptions as a PA School Candidate, How to Conquer the Length Limit Struggle with Your PA School Essay, How to Use Passive Tactics to Create a Better Future Application Essay, The Easy Right-Now Steps to Take If Not Applying to PA School Until Next Cycle, How to Wipe Out Vagueness to Improve Your PA school Application and Essay, How to Create a PA School Essay That Helps Readers Follow Your Story, How to Plot Out CASPA Entries Using Real Candidate Examples, 3 Methods for Starting Your PA School Essay When Writing Is a Struggle, How to Plan Your Update Strategy Before Applying to PA School. This is a person that programs can contact to verify that this experience occurred. For example, how would you classify volunteering in an emergency room Volunteer, Patient Care Experience, or Healthcare Experience? Verified means the fat lady has finally sung. If you are going to share an experience make sure it is not a clich and it is absolutely necessary as to why this experience played a role in wanting to become a PA! The quality of the description short responses can elevate your application as a whole. Press J to jump to the feed. I paid most of my way through college by waiting tables, but describing the skills I gained as being genuinely relevant to work as a PA would be a stretch, and it would look like one on an application.). (LogOut/ Get right to the point and leave the reader impressed by your involvement in these experiences. How should you word your experiences? Your recent experience is most important, so don't stress if you can't find the phone number for your boss from six years ago. In CASPAs Identifying Information section you can provide some information on your upbringing, but most students dont. Applications may be need to be submitted with the CASPA application, they may have different deadlines than the CASPA application or be an invite-only that the program will send via email after reviewing your CASPA. Do not include paid work experience in this section. Applying to PA school is stressful which makes it easy to procrastinate. Your personal statement is the place to describe the impact of your experiences. I maintain a neat and clean environment for each patient. Instead say: I helped to managed needed patient services such as. Applicants everywhere are working hard to polish their PA school applications. Time spent officially following and observing a health care professional at work, preferably in the physician assistant field. https://www.reddit.com/r/prephysicianassistant/search?q=bullet%20points&restrict_sr=1 :D. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. If you made Dean's List, describe what that means: "Dean's List is reserved for students who achieve a 3.5 or higher GPA for any given semester." As DarcyJ stated, save the stories for your essays/ interviews! Contact However, if you worked in marketing for five years, you probably worked with a team and developed projects in a professional setting that, though outside of medicine, will help you to succeed as a PA. Next, youll be prompted to enter in the Experience Details. CASPA will ask for your Title at the experience and the Type of Recognition you received through this experience (compensated, received academic credit, volunteer). CASPA has added an optional essay question so that applicants can describe the ways COVID-19 has impacted them. Teaching Experience, *if you find yourself confused about the difference between, PCE and HCE, please refer to [Pep Talk #8] for clarity. This may include guiding students to the correct answer using critical thinking skills, always keeping open communication with the professors and team you are working with, and managing your time efficiently! Save time & gain momentum along your path by getting the kind of everyday support that a future PA needs. CASPA recommends submitting and completing your application at least 6-8 weeks prior to program deadlines. Six programs is the bare minimum, and only for top tier students (over 3000 hours patient care experience, 3.5+ GPA and strong essay). Basically, your goal should be to succinctly describe your setting (including the types of patients you cared for), the general scope of your patient care, and any areas in which you went above & beyond that. Enter the date or date range in which the experience took place. You can reach their customer service line at (617) 612-2080 or [email protected] Monday through Friday, 9-5 Eastern. All Rights Reserved. "As a CNA, I conducted various patient care activities and tasks. With only 600 characters, it may be hard to include everything you want. Since patient care hours are a huge element of your application for many PA programs, its important that you carefully and strategically explain your experience so that PA programs get a clear understanding of that specific experience. Completing CASPA (Central Application Service for Physician Assistants - online application service of the Physician Assistant Education Association) takes a lot of effort, but there are ways to make the application process more manageable. laurentx3 Not describing invites the reviewer to skim through this section without spending time thinking about the great things you have accomplished. Redefining the description as we did also can help you to see the distinct skills or experiences you may have gained from a role. Experiences in which you held a leadership role within an organization, such as the president of a club, fraternity/sorority, etc. Related activities you would like your selected programs to review; for example, academic clubs and competitive teams. Step 4: Next, youll be prompted to enter in the Experience Details. CASPA will ask for your Title at the experience and the Type of Recognition you received through this experience (compensated, received academic credit, volunteer). hbbd```b``+@$6,oA$.XefS0L`,} ; Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. If your university offers grade forgiveness, your college GPA may appear higher than your CASPA calculated GPA. Volunteer work done outside of the health care field; for example, working for Habitat for Humanity, tutoring students, participating in or working for a fundraiser walk or blood drive, etc. (ex. Upload or insert images from URL. This may include student research positions, research technician positions, summer research student, masters rotational student, etc. The project included assessing the time from arrival to discharge . If you volunteered at a 5K run, we don't need to know that you helped fold chairs, handed out race bibs, or passed Gatorade to participants. The application process is painful enough. We dont think applications need to be in as soon as the starting gun goes off, but waiting until September is a mistake. If you are looking for the best PA schools in Minnesota, here is a guide to top-notch schools. First, youll add an experience in CASPAs Experience section. Change). Step 3: You will then be prompted to enter the Experience Dates, which will give you the chance to enter both the start and end date, whether it is a current experience, and the status of the experience (full-time, part-time, per diem, temporary). Since patient care hours are a huge element of your application for many PA programs, its important that you carefully and strategically explain your experience so that PA programs get a clear understanding of that specific experience. Your previous content has been restored. First, lets break down the Experience section of CASPA. Learn more. Considering not only what you did (like take vitals), but how you interacted with patients, worked as part of a team, or lessons you learned in a particular role will help you to distinguish one position from the next. 3 Reply madbro2520 5 yr. ago Props to you for getting things done ahead of time. Remember to include skills that may help you as a PA or PA student that might not be directly caring for patients, like training new employees, being familiar with billing or diagnosis codes, or working with other types health care providers. By Lets say the program you are applying to has a December 1st deadline for your application to be verified. For each experience, you should discuss your title/role, your key responsibilities, the skills you have gained during this role, and (if you have room) how this experience will benefit you as a PA. Providing these details on your application will leave no room for questions or doubt when admission committees are reviewing your application. Take a step back from the position, and rather than describe it solely as a job, describe the experience holistically. Liaison International. The "experiences" portion of CASPA is one of the most valuable parts of your application! How to land the best Healthcare job, the first time! Your CASPA GPA may be slightly different than your universitys calculated GPA for a few reasons. First, lets break down the Experience section of CASPA. Applying to PA school can be challenging and time consuming. In this section, you can enter your professional experiences in several categories, or types. Learn More. Some applicants wait to submit while one last grade comes in so it can be included. Todays post is going to discuss the ways to properly and strategically describe your experiences that you enter into CASPA. For example, if you worked as a CNA at your community hospital, describe what you did, what other healthcare workers you were on a team with, how it has inspired you to continue your journey to become a PA, general skills and values you gained, etc. List what you observed, accomplished, or learned without describing how you felt about it. It is your chance to go into detail about the diverse experiences you have had leading up to PA school. Example 2 (lacks sufficient detail): I work at a doctors office and my responsibilities include interacting with patients and performing different tests on them. Although you can enter any experiences that you believe are relevant to your application, we recommend focusing on those experiences within the last 10 years and at the collegiate level and above. It also avoids the "not limited to" statement from the original. If one of your reference hasnt submitted their letter and a schools deadline is approaching, you can call him/her and encourage them to turn in in ASAP. If you submit an application to a program that has a hard cutoff cumulative GPA requirement of 3.2 and your CASPA calculated GPA is a 3.19, your application will basically be automatically rejected, which means if youre a low GPA applicant, youll have to attend community college in order to raise your GPA to a high enough standard to get into PA school. Since credit values, grade values, and course subjects vary widely from school to school, your programs need some type of standardization so they can accurately compare applicants. CASPA will use grades from every course youve ever takencourse grades from undergraduate classes, random online courses, community college courses, etc. As always, Im happy to help! Remember not to overstate your role. If it's important enough for you to include, you should allow it to be verified. CASPA will automatically calculate the total number of hours based on these numbers, and this calculation will show up directly under the numbers you have entered. %PDF-1.6 % (I'm not bashing servers. example: experience is a CNA, and along with describing the job duties, you would include how you learend to work with different personalities and work in a team better. As anyone who has tackled the CASPA application in the past can attest, it's not something that can be done in an afternoon. The CASPA application has separate sections where you are asked to list your achievements, memberships, certifications, and licenses. All rights reserved. To prevent missing any deadlines, keep a list of important dates for each program you are applying to. This takes an idea that is an inspiration and turns it into something more concrete, which is more factual and applicable to future practice. If you can, I encourage you to make a CASPA account to familiarize yourself with CASPAs format and begin working on the portions of CASPA that you can. First, judge where it's relevant enough to include. Learned the importance of taking time with each patient and that each patient has different needs and expectations. This will strengthen your application tremendously! Step 2: After categorizing the experience, you will enter details about the organization (name, location, etc.) From your own experience, describe how the Colorado Reproductive Equity Act has impacted your life. A good essay starts with being original and taking a risk or two. But, if you were instrumental in coordinating a blood drive or participated in a medical mission trip, you should provide some more detailed information about that activity. Do you think it would help get an interview? While you should be detailed with every experience that you add. hire us to coaching you through the process. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. A great way to assure that each description is filled with as much meaningful information as possible is to jot down your responsibilities, what you learned, how these experiences helped you grow, etc. Enter information about the organization where the experience took place. 338 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<3DEFC28824D45D47906D5F311E7E49C6>]/Index[311 52]/Info 310 0 R/Length 121/Prev 178179/Root 312 0 R/Size 363/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream demographics, experiences, grades, and courses), but some information cannot be transferred (i.e. Designed by Social by Design. For each entry, you'll add experience type, organization information, supervisor information, beginning and end dates, experience details (compensated/volunteer, weekly hours, total hours) and, finally, a description of your responsibilities in the role. Join us. Your personal statement may touch on some of your experience entries, but this part of CASPA is where you can elaborate on each one individually. Avoid this mistake! Describing Your Experiences In The CASPA Application First, have your "experiences" descriptions prepared before the cycle opens. Pep Talk #16: How Many PA Programs Should I ApplyTo. Want more help on your CASPA application? Here is a guide on the best PA schools in Louisiana to help you build your career. Answer & Explanation. In mine, I wrote specific things that I witnessed - lacerations, sutures, MVCs and so on. Once received by CASPA, your application and materials go through a verification . Touch is the feeling of contact between a living creature and its environment. PAI 19: How to open your PA School Application Essay, PAI 17: Medical Ethics Interview Questions, PAI 14: PAs and Continuing Medical Education. Use your best judgment to relay the information that you need the reader to know, rather than all the information you would want the reader to know. When all of your supporting documents have been received, your application will be designated as Complete. You should, however, always say "yes" to authorizing contact with the organization or individual when prompted on the CASPA application, even if you don't have all of the details available. If something is important enough to mention in the description, you should give specific details. Experiences in which you are directly responsible for a patient's care. Stocked supplies for patients on isolation and followed appropriate isolation precautions. For shadowing role description, would it be wrong of me to simply put "Observed the role of a PAin the sickle cell clinic". The "supporting information" section is where you'll list volunteering, patient care experience, health care experience, non-health care work, shadowing, and extracurricular activities. Through this role, I have gained valuable clinical experience, strengthened my communication skills with both patients and fellow medical colleagues, increased my medical knowledge, and learned the art of team-based care. This portion is one of the couple parts of CASPA you can work on before the cycle youll be applying. Tips for Updating Your Personal Statement as a Reapplicant, my PA Resource, PO Box 153, Woodstock, GA, USA, Maximizing the Experience Description Sections of CASPA. There are free online resources that can help you estimate it.