Latest / Admissions Straight Talk / Becoming a PA at Sacred Heart: International Opportunities, Orthopedic Training, and Admissions Advice [Episode 613]

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Becoming a PA at Sacred Heart: International Opportunities, Orthopedic Training, and Admissions Advice [Episode 613] · Admissions Straight Talk

• 0:00
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Join me on the podcast today as Dr.
• 0:02
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Reynold Jaglal, Sacred Heart University's PA program director, shares what he and the ADCOM believe will make your PA application stand out.
• 0:12
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Stay tuned to hear about this program's required orthopedic clinical rotation and opportunities to study abroad in both Ireland and Spain.
• 0:37
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Thank you for having me.
• 0:38
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Okay, let's jump right into it.
• 0:40
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Many of our listeners may not have heard of Sacred Heart University.
• 0:44
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: So let's start with some foundational information.
• 0:47
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: When was the PA program started?
• 0:50
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Where is it located?
• 0:51
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: And how many students are in each cohort?
• 0:54
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Sure, great question.
• 0:55
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So Sacred Heart University is a small liberal arts college and located in Fairfield, Connecticut.
• 1:00
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And the PA program uniquely is located in Stanford, Connecticut.
• 1:05
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: That's where we started our program really on purpose.
• 1:09
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We're one of the few PA programs in the state of Connecticut affiliated with a hospital, a teaching hospital, Stanford Hospital, in the town of Stanford, and that's why we're down here.
• 1:18
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We started about 10 years ago in 2014, and we had joined our first cohort in 2016, and then our first graduate is 2018.
• 1:28
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: It's a 27-month program.
• 1:30
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Students graduate with a master's degree in physician assistance studies.
• 1:34
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And we gradually increased our class size.
• 1:36
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: When we started the program back in 206, excuse me, 2016, we had uh 26 students, then we increased to 33, and our current number is 42.
• 1:45
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: However, with the demand in uh people who want to become PAs and the community needs and the healthcare needs, we're gonna increase our class size in the next year or so, hopefully, to maybe around 60.
• 1:57
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Oh, that's exciting news.
• 1:59
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Yes, it is exciting.
• 2:01
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: That's great.
• 2:02
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: It's great news for anybody potentially interested in your program.
• 2:05
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Uh let's talk a little bit about your curriculum.
• 2:09
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: This is a 27-month-long program.
• 2:11
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: The first phase is a 12-month didactic phase.
• 2:16
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: So let's talk about that piece right there.
• 2:18
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: What is the approach during these 12 months and who do you have teaching this didactic phase?
• 2:25
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Sure.
• 2:26
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So the program's appeal for a lot of young people is the short duration of the curriculum, 27 months.
• 2:32
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: However, when you look at medical school education, which is about 36 months, and you know, with a year maybe doing preclinical work, we try to copy that model.
• 2:42
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: It's a medical school model, that's what PA school is, but condense it to a much more clinical application.
• 2:49
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So we have the typical courses, anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, and then all the medicine courses.
• 2:56
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We have dedicated courses in pharmacology, uh, diagnostic medicine, which is read and x-rays, and then you know, the population of um medicine, evidence-based medicine to prepare students for due scholarly work, and then professional courses.
• 3:10
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: The 12 months is divided into three trimesters currently, and um it's it's a modular system.
• 3:17
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So, for example, our program builds on medicine medical topics.
• 3:21
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We start off our curriculum in the field of dermatology.
• 3:25
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: You know, not that it's the easiest field, but it's probably the most the least complex.
• 3:29
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So students learn anatomy of a dermatology, conditions of skin, they learn the physiology, they learn the disease processes, and in pharmacology the medications, the diagnostic testing.
• 3:42
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So if you look at every module, it's a 360-degree to one subject area, and then that may last two to three weeks, and then we move on to another module.
• 3:52
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: The next one for us is ophthalmology, and then there's some little overlap there.
• 3:56
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Well, students learn about the eye diseases and disorders.
• 3:59
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: It's primarily taught by our principal faculty members.
• 4:03
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: You know, we have um seven altogether in our program.
• 4:06
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: However, we do rely on our physician colleagues and PAs that practice in in clinical fields.
• 4:12
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: For example, we bring in a PA that's been practiced dermatology, I think, for about 15 years now.
• 4:18
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: She'll come in and teach teach the majority of the medicine, uh, you know, the disease states.
• 4:23
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And then our principal faculties will augment that.
• 4:26
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We have a dedicated pharmacologist on our team, so he will teach the pharmacy.
• 4:31
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We teach the approach to physical diagnosis, you know, how to examine the skin and you know, identify lesions, et cetera, by our principal faculty member.
• 4:40
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So it's really his team teaching.
• 4:41
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Not one faculty member teaches an entire course, it's a combination of all of us contributing, you know, whatever we can.
• 4:48
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: The beauty about PA education is it's we all taught the same primary care medicine.
• 4:54
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So we all have the ability to, you know, go back and teach a different subject, obviously, with relearning some of the material.
• 4:59
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So that's the beauty of that.
• 5:00
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We can team teach together.
• 5:02
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: I think it works pretty well.
• 5:04
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Sure.
• 5:04
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: And I would also think that there's such value in having clinicians in the classroom.
• 5:11
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: 100%.
• 5:12
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Because they're not just teaching textbook content, right?
• 5:16
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: So they're teaching foundational content, but they're also teaching application, they're bringing in real world stories, they're bringing in some case studies, and that's where some real value in having clinicians in the classroom comes in.
• 5:30
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: It's invaluable.
• 5:31
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: What they can bring in from to the classroom, their real world experience.
• 5:35
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: It's invaluable.
• 5:36
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: It really does.
• 5:37
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Because that's the beauty of P education.
• 5:38
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Because it's condensed, we have to provide a lot of information up front and make it clinically relevant.
• 5:44
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We don't spend the depth of that they do in medical school going over every, you know, module for weeks at a time.
• 5:51
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We have to do it, I hate to say quickly, but thoroughly, and we're going to make it interesting.
• 5:56
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So the clinical revalence really helps.
• 6:00
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Sure.
• 6:00
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Now you talk about having a really condensed curriculum and having to get through this material quickly.
• 6:07
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: So some students think when they get to their graduate school PA education, maybe they would just be stuck in the classroom the entire time.
• 6:17
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: However, when I was preparing for this interview, I noticed that you offer several international training opportunities for your students, including Ireland and Spain.
• 6:27
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Can you talk a little bit more about that and why are these opportunities of value to PA training?
• 6:34
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Sure, absolutely.
• 6:36
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: I'll be honest though, however, our didactic year is primarily in the classroom.
• 6:41
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So that is traditional lecture, workshop, labs, you know, traditional experience because it's nicer to have the in-person opportunity to ask questions and the interactions.
• 6:52
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So students unfortunately do spend or fortunately spend a majority of their first year in the classroom.
• 6:58
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We have opportunities to go into the clinics in their third or fourth trimesters where they get introduced to hospitals and doctor's offices, where they spend a couple days a week in the clinics preparing them for their clinical year.
• 7:09
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So their clinical year is entirely outside of the classroom.
• 7:13
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: That's real-world experience.
• 7:14
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Hospitals, doctor's offices, surgical care centers.
• 7:18
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And they'll do 40 to 70 to 80 hours in that field.
• 7:22
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: For example, surgery, they might be there for 80 hours a week, you know, taking call, etc.
• 7:28
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So that's where they really do the hands-on.
• 7:30
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: For international, it's a real appeal because you know PAs are grown now internationally as well.
• 7:37
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: The PA field in particular is growing in Canada, Europe, Australia, and in Ireland, Ireland has a PA program, one of the first in the UK.
• 7:47
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: They have a UK, I think it's a Royal College of Surgeons, has a PA program.
• 7:51
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So it's really growing.
• 7:52
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And as you may know, um, Sacred University has a campus in Ireland in Dingle, and they um you have a lot of undergraduate programs.
• 8:00
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: They have nursing that goes over their clinicals.
• 8:02
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And recently in the last two years, our PA students have the opportunity to work with their family medicine physicians.
• 8:08
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Our program is a primary care program, it really works well.
• 8:12
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: You know, it's um it's a good interaction to see healthcare in a different country.
• 8:16
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Although it's the same, medicine's the same universally.
• 8:19
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: The application, the way we interact with patients, and the differences are really interesting to learn.
• 8:25
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: It's not considered a core rotation for us, so students have a lot more opportunity to see other things that they would in the United States.
• 8:32
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So that's the appeal.
• 8:33
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Nowhere else, really, when you think about graduate education, you're getting up here to go abroad, right?
• 8:37
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We think about undergraduate and spend a semester.
• 8:40
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: This is a concentrated experience.
• 8:41
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: They do it for four to five weeks in Dingle, for example.
• 8:45
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And then we're also going recently to Seville, Spain.
• 8:48
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We're going there now for the second year, and it's an amazing experience.
• 8:53
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We're involved with local hospitals there, and they get to work with the local physicians and not only see primary care, they get to go in the emergency department, they get to go in surgery and women's health and pediatrics.
• 9:04
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So it's just another opportunity to explore different cultures.
• 9:07
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And I think that's what makes our program really unique.
• 9:10
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: The opportunity to have cultural training and experiences.
• 9:14
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Sure, sure.
• 9:16
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Let's talk a little bit more about that clinical phase.
• 9:19
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: So about the didactic phase and the international opportunities that are in this clinical phase.
• 9:26
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: So your second phase is a 15-month clinical phase comprising of 10 five-week rotations.
• 9:33
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: I think I have that correct, but correct me if I'm wrong.
• 9:36
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Yeah, that is correct.
• 9:37
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Okay.
• 9:38
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: And um some of the clinical, I'd like to hear more about some of your clinical specialty areas.
• 9:43
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: I heard you talk about primary care.
• 9:46
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: What else can students who attend your PA program expect to see or be exposed to during that clinical phase?
• 9:55
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Well, you know, we try to um the uh accreditation bodies for PAs tries to uniform, unify, or excuse me, consolidate P education so it's unified across all schools.
• 10:05
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So we have um six core rotations that all programs have to provide.
• 10:10
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Those include internal medicine, you know, where you're in the hospital, um, women's health, including primary care GYN, pediatrics, uh surgery, uh, emergency medicine, and the per and the PA program is started in family medicine.
• 10:28
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So family medicine is another core rotation, as well as mental health or behavioral health.
• 10:33
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So those are our core rotations.
• 10:35
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Every program has to have those.
• 10:37
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: What makes our program unique is we have a built-in, we call it a core rotation of orthopedics.
• 10:43
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: A lot of PA programs, orthopedics is a um elective, if you will.
• 10:47
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: For us, it's a required rotation.
• 10:49
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We recognize musculoskeletal disorders really in every field of medicine.
• 10:53
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: You know, you hurt your back, or you get an injury, or you have to have surgery, you know, a knee replacement.
• 10:59
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: It's really integral to education.
• 11:02
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So we make that a core rotation.
• 11:04
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And what distinguishes us as a primary primary care program is we have an additional rotation in primary care.
• 11:10
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Some programs don't have a you know unique dedicated primary care.
• 11:13
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: They have the required family medicine.
• 11:15
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We have an additional one primary care.
• 11:17
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: You know, you go out to see your primary care provider in their in your doctor's office, if you will.
• 11:22
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: That's what that rotation is.
• 11:23
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We work in a lot of urgent care centers as well as primary care offices.
• 11:27
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And then we offer one elective.
• 11:29
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: You know, that can be an area of choice for students.
• 11:32
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Some people are interested in like intensive care medicine, they work in the ICU units, or they might be interested in working in cardiovascular medicine, cardiology for surgical subspecialties like neurosurgery or cardiothoracic.
• 11:45
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So it's what the students choose to, you know, they find interest in and they have one rotation in that.
• 11:50
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Uh, so it's a nice opportunity and very, varied uh in the background and skills you obtain over the last 15 months.
• 11:58
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Yeah, I have to imagine that um the orthopedic rotation is um very popular.
• 12:06
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: With the PA clients that I have worked with, um, and you know, I've been doing pre-health work for quite a while.
• 12:14
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Um, a lot of PA clients that I've worked with have thought that they were interested in orthopedics or dermatology.
• 12:23
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: So the two pieces that you've talked about in terms of dermatology being one of the first didactic phases, requiring an orthopedic rotation really will help those students figure out is this particular specialty area right for them or not?
• 12:38
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: That's right.
• 12:38
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Yeah.
• 12:39
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Yeah.
• 12:40
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Um, okay, let's change gears for a second.
• 12:43
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: You have a fairly new dual degree program, and it is called the Bachelor's Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies dual degree.
• 12:53
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: It does have an acronym, MSPAS.
• 12:56
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Can you elaborate on what type of student should apply for this program and tell us a little bit more about it?
• 13:03
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Yeah, you know, as the PA profession has grown in the last 50 plus years in the United States, we're seeing younger people, you know, recognizing that they may want to enter this field.
• 13:14
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: A lot of people know that what a doctor is or maybe a nurse is, but not but people are more and more learning what PAs do in our role in healthcare.
• 13:22
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So this program is designed for the high school student, you know, those interested in doing a pre-health career, who know they definitely want to become a PA versus, let's say, a physician, and want a guaranteed pathway for that.
• 13:35
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So these are students who are very um well-rounded, have high GPAs, have a good science GPA, maybe take in some AP courses, who know they want to go into professional school and apply to our PA program.
• 13:50
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And if they get accepted, get a guaranteed pathway to the graduate program that would bypass the normal application process.
• 14:00
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: You know, these are the top probably 5 to 10% of their graduating class and high school.
• 14:06
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And once they meet our requirements, you know, the minimum GPA requirements, etc., they get accepted in this program.
• 14:12
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: It's a guaranteed seat in the graduate program.
• 14:15
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So they don't have to worry, you know, come to apply to their graduate program.
• 14:20
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: However, it's a difficult journey to get to the graduate program.
• 14:24
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We have strict um criterion, we call it progression criterion during your four years, and it's maintaining a 3.3 GPA every trimester for your four years.
• 14:35
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And we have a scripted, if you will, curriculum.
• 14:38
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: It's very similar to our pre-med curriculum.
• 14:41
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Students are often pre biology majors and follow that curriculum or health science or exercise science, but it's prescribed, you know, heavy in the biology chemistry curriculum, doing well in those courses and maintaining that 3.3.
• 14:56
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And if they do so, they will get automatically into our program.
• 15:00
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: That's huge.
• 15:01
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And, you know, for parents and young people alike, to get that reassurance, that's huge.
• 15:08
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Absolutely.
• 15:09
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: I I anticipate students will find that very appealing.
• 15:13
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Um, as we know it is very competitive to get into PA schools after graduating.
• 15:21
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: And sometimes it takes students one gap year or two gap years of clinical work.
• 15:27
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: That's right.
• 15:28
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: And so to have that guarantee as an undergraduate student would uh be a huge sense of relief, I would anticipate.
• 15:39
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Yeah.
• 15:40
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Um, okay, next question.
• 15:42
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: I've been working with pre-health students for many years, and during that time, it it has been, you know, well over 10.
• 15:49
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Um, I've personally seen a significant increase in the interest of the PA degree.
• 15:55
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: And I was wondering, have you also seen this in the work that you've been doing, as evidenced by the increase in your number of applications?
• 16:03
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: If so, why do you think this is a trend?
• 16:06
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Well, we all know that healthcare is a needed necessity in the United States.
• 16:10
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: There's been a decrease in primary care providers in the last 10 years.
• 16:14
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And I think if you look at the government websites and Bureau of Labor Statistics, we're gonna continue to see a shortage of primary care providers, especially as the U.S.
• 16:22
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: population continues to age.
• 16:23
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So the need to have these primary care providers and to add to the physician shortages that are protected, PA is in a ripe and a great position.
• 16:33
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: It's got up a lot of appeal.
• 16:35
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: You know, you're gonna practice medicine collaborately with your physician partners.
• 16:39
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: A lot of it is independent, although we're not 100% independent.
• 16:42
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And what we practice in high-level medicine, we're making independent decisions.
• 16:46
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: The training is remarkable.
• 16:48
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We not only learn medicine, but we also learn surgical skills, you know, how to perform sutures or minor surgical procedures or first assistant operations.
• 16:57
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So many physician colleagues, they recognize that they're not going to have enough hands, if you will, to help them in their practices.
• 17:04
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So the job market is really high and the demand is there, the salaries are continuing to rise, you know.
• 17:12
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: But it what happens is what we're seeing is we're getting a higher caliber of students every year.
• 17:16
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So it does breed a little bit of competition for these already high-achieving students.
• 17:21
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So it becomes challenging, you know, similar to medical school, we're seeing high GPAs and a level of competition because the students are so qualified, you know, in their background and education.
• 17:32
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Yeah, absolutely.
• 17:34
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Well, this brings me to my next question that was a great segue.
• 17:38
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: I'm going to ask all program directors the same or a very similar question, which will be helpful to our viewers.
• 17:46
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: What are you looking for in a competitive application to your program?
• 17:52
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Yeah.
• 17:52
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: That's a great question because we actually asked that.
• 17:55
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We have a we have a dedicated virtual admissions interview, similar to like this, to remove some of the barriers from travel.
• 18:02
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: You know, if you live in California, you want to apply to a state in Connecticut, don't have to pay for that travel.
• 18:07
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So we enjoy this virtual format.
• 18:10
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And we always ask, because we know the students who are applying are already well qualified on paper.
• 18:16
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: They have high GPAs, good test scores, excellent letter recommendations.
• 18:21
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: They actually wrote uh beautiful essays.
• 18:24
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: But the reality is we want people who are sharing our commitment to our mission.
• 18:28
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Sigarhart University in particular is a mission-driven institution.
• 18:31
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: We're looking for people to share our similar values.
• 18:34
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: That's compassion for your fellow man, service, you know, populations, service to underprivileged or underserved areas, and a commitment to primary care.
• 18:44
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So during the interview, we look for those traits and qualities.
• 18:48
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Tell me why you want to become a PA.
• 18:50
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Know exactly what the role and responsibility is, because people kind of can read about it in an article.
• 18:56
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: But I want you to really know, shadow a PA, know exactly what they do, and demonstrate to us that you have a commitment to our mission.
• 19:04
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: That's what we're looking for, to be honest with you, and to be able to articulate that.
• 19:09
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: I think that's key.
• 19:11
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Because again, on paper, when you get an interview for a program, you've already made it.
• 19:16
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: You know, you've you're qualified academically.
• 19:20
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: So we look at those personal qualities.
• 19:23
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: I'm so glad you said that.
• 19:24
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: When I am working with clients and I'm helping them prepare for an interview, doing a mock interview, my guidance to them is if you've been asked for an interview, it means that you are academically qualified.
• 19:39
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: You've already jumped that hurdle.
• 19:42
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: So the interview portion is to talk about fit.
• 19:46
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: How do you fit at that school?
• 19:48
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: How do you fit culturally?
• 19:50
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: How do you fit within the tenor of the community?
• 19:55
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: And how do you fit with the mission of the school?
• 19:57
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: And so your final point here is well taken and I think a really good one for applicants to remember.
• 20:06
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: The other thing I want to tell applicants, you know, just because you have a lower GPA than your colleagues, explain that to us.
• 20:13
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Let us know why.
• 20:14
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: There's sometimes it's a very valid reason.
• 20:16
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: You may have had a death in the family during your freshman year.
• 20:19
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: That's why you've got to see in chemistry.
• 20:21
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Those things are helpful to know in the background, you know, to help us understand.
• 20:25
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: And then if you can show a progressive increase in your GPA over the years, we recognize that as well.
• 20:32
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: That upward trajectory is very important because it can demonstrate growth and resilience and determination.
• 20:40
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: And I also think it's helpful to talk about it.
• 20:43
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Don't try to hide it, but certainly, you know, sort of be very upfront about why it happened and then how you grew from that moment.
• 20:51
  Dr. Reynold Jaglal: Yeah.
• 20:51
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: That's important to us.
• 20:53
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: That's great to know.
• 20:55
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Well, thank you so much for your time.
• 20:57
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: I really appreciate it.
• 20:59
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: And um we will be linking your information and your program's information in our show notes.
• 21:05
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Thank you.
• 21:06
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Thank you for listening.
• 21:08
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: Please be sure to check the show notes for more information about Sacred Heart University's PA program or to get helpful free resources for pre PA students.
• 21:17
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to subscribe, rate, and share the podcast.
• 21:23
  Dr. Valerie Wherley: We'll be back soon with more conversations to help you get accepted.