how to describe experiences in caspa

First, youll add an experience in CASPAs Experience section. A question? Learn more. CASPA provides a general guideline of limiting your entries to the past ten years of experience and including only activities that are college-level or above. 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. Enter information about the organization where the experience took place. Conclusion sentence connecting the experience back to your goal of being ready for PA school. Let the experience speak for itself by saying specifically what you did. Want more help on your CASPA application? Therefore, writing descriptions that are loaded with valuable details and examples will not only benefit your application, but will help give admission committees a true picture of your experiences. 362 0 obj <>stream A couple examples weve run across: I strove to provide excellent patient care and gain an intimate understanding of patient needs. A Touch of Humor Stocked supplies for patients on isolation and followed appropriate isolation precautions. as you are currently involved in the role. There are free online resources that can help you estimate it. Or maybe they havent received a transcript from University of Whateverville. How to Choose Your Best Programs: Understanding Curricula, What Is Optimal Team Practice? I achieved a timely and successful setup of services according to client needs, objectives, and contract specifications. Be very picky about the words you use to describe your experiences and avoid using any filler words or sentences. Research 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. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. For shadowing role description, would it be wrong of me to simply put "Observed the role of a PAin the sickle cell clinic". 13. This section is found under the Supporting Information section of CASPA. Todays post is going to discuss the ways to properly and strategically describe your experiences that you enter into CASPA. 2018 PhysicianAssistantForum.Com. This mistake is common and more work to avoid. 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 This means that your application either needs to be submitted and paid for by that specific date, or needs to have been submitted, paid for, AND verified by the date stated. 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). Edit these descriptions until you are confident that they describe the experience in a way that will make the admissions member excited to learn more about you and want to extend you an interview offer! We think this is a missed opportunity. All Rights Reserved. We dont think applications need to be in as soon as the starting gun goes off, but waiting until September is a mistake. 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. Stay tuned for the answers to all . By definition, these experience will be non-health care related, but you can be the judge on what skills may be useful to your future as a PA. Please read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) before submitting questions. This can be really helpful when you've held several similar positions. The tough part is that the experience descriptions are limited to just 600 characters, which correlates to roughly 100 words! When you were cared for by a physician assistant. 0 It's equally important not to overstate your duties in a role as PA schools will see through this and question your integrity. When all of your supporting documents have been received, your application will be designated as Complete. This portion is one of the couple parts of CASPA you can work on before the cycle you'll be applying. (LogOut/ Fun fact:you can begin an application in CASPA even if you donotplan to apply for that cycle. 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! Direct patient care duties included taking vital signs, blood glucose monitoring, and answering patient calls. Take a step back from the position, and rather than describe it solely as a job, describe the experience holistically. You will have their attention, and a good essay can leverage that attention into an interview. You will then enter the number of average weekly hours and the number of weeks. About two weeks after that your courses will be checked, CASPA GPA calculated, and your application will be Verified. Step 1: First, youll add an experience in CASPAs Experience section. January 12, 2018 in CASPA. Tagged: CASPA tips, CASPA, PA school application, PCE, pce, be a pa3, AHS. Research in public health or nursing is a critical component of advancing healthcare and improving health outcomes for individuals and communities. Agreed with both responses above. The Experience section is one of the most time-consuming, yet vital portions of your CASPA application, so preparing your descriptions beforehand can save valuable time during application season. Learned the importance of taking time with each patient and that each patient has different needs and expectations. They cant save a seat for you if they dont know you want one! . Do not include paid work experience in this section. Your experience's individual job description and responsibilities should determine the category you select; however, it is not guaranteed that your experience will be accepted by every program in the way you categorize it. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. For example, how would you classify volunteering in an emergency room Volunteer, Patient Care Experience, or Healthcare Experience? Check out the r/PAstudent subreddit once accepted and r/physicianassistant after graduation. It also avoids the "not limited to" statement from the original. If you are unsure how an experience should be classified, we recommend contacting CASPAs customer service line and asking them. This portion of your application will be discussed in detail below. You never know who will be reading your application and whether that certain experience might catch the attention of the reader! There was an error submitting your subscription. In the CASPA application for documenting shadowing hours, what should be written in the description/key responsibilities section? The level of detail you should include for a volunteering entry depends on the relevance of that experience to a career in medicine. You can all Whateverville and to figure out whats going on. Aim to be as descriptive as possible when completing your CASPA application. You will be given a 600 character limit, not including spaces. . 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! Not describing invites the reviewer to skim through this section without spending time thinking about the great things you have accomplished. Verified means the fat lady has finally sung. I'm trying to fill out my experiences, is it okay to use subjective information/words? Contact Your description of any experience should be factual. Healthcare Experience* 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. CASPA has added an optional essay question so that applicants can describe the ways COVID-19 has impacted them. 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. Describing Your Experiences In The CASPA Application First, have your "experiences" descriptions prepared before the cycle opens. The application process is painful enough. 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. In CASPAs Identifying Information section you can provide some information on your upbringing, but most students dont. Once received by CASPA, your application and materials go through a verification . 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. Pep Talk #16: How Many PA Programs Should I ApplyTo. Options to categorize you experiences include non-healthcare employment, research, volunteer, patient care experience, healthcare experience, shadowing, leadership experience, extracurricular activities, and teaching experience. My key responsibilities include taking patient vitals, recording patient medical histories, discussing current patient medications, administering vaccinations, and performing electrocardiograms. June is early enough to stay ahead of the masses, and just late enough that youll have your Spring course grades. Even if a community service activity was outside of the medical world, the skills you gained from it might still be relevant. All rights reserved. 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. You cannot view these CASPA calculated GPAs until you submit an application. When you are deciding which programs to apply to, take the time to calculate your CASPA overall GPA and science GPA so you do not apply to a program and realize your calculated GPA was below the required minimum. It is your chance to go into detail about the diverse experiences you have had leading up to PA school. If you made Deans List, describe what that means: Deans List is reserved for students who achieve a 3.5 or higher GPA for any given semester. Even if you think they will know what a phlebotomist is, or what it means that you are CPR certified, give at least some description of that achievement. I have a similar question. In the supporting materials section of CASPA, you are given the opportunity to list and describe the various roles that add to your application. Once your application is submitted and all required material is received, your applications status will update to Complete. Your application is then in line to be verified. Here is a quick guide to constructing an experience description that adequately communicates your time in that role: Introduction sentence to summarize what the experience was. You must keep track of these deadlines! The blank space is just about the facts. Applicants everywhere are working hard to polish their PA school applications. Filling out an online CASPA Application can be tedious. 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. The experiences section of CASPA is a crucial part of your application. Pay particular attention to the difference between the first two, which are frequently confused. Upload or insert images from URL. The experiences section of CASPA is a crucial part of your application. Have at least three people you trust read and critique your essay. If you havent read CASPAs definitions of the different types of experiences, then read them now, and carefully (read CASPAs FAQ here). 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. 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). Display as a link instead, This will strengthen your application tremendously! To give an idea, here are two contrasting examples: Example 1 (loaded with details): For over three years, I have been working as a clinical assistant at an Internal Medicine practice. Click Contact Us up top. Applying to PA school can be challenging and time consuming. 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. This is the only information that PA programs are given about your patience care experience, so the information that you provide in this section will serve as the only reference a program has when determining your quality patient care experience. Enter information about your supervisor at the organization. Remember not to overstate your role. Send the few descriptions into the writing center at your college, send them over to a former professor, or a knowledgeable colleague. I used bullet format, job title - job description. 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. I really enjoyed talking with patients and getting to know them throughout myyears thereit always made my day when I was able to make someone smile and feel better even though they were sick") or should I keep it strictly objective, (ex. Some programs list a submission deadline and some list a verification deadline, some have whats considered rolling admissions. 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. How do you calculate your hours? Paid work done outside of the health care field or a research lab; for example, a retail or restaurant job. This takes an idea that is an inspiration and turns it into something more concrete, which is more factual and applicable to future practice. With only 600 characters, it may be hard to include everything you want. Sentence to describe your main role, your responsibilities, who you worked alongside, etc. If you feel you have an experience that may not relate to PA school, but may make you stand out as an applicant, then definitely add it! Any experience working on a research project, preferably in addition to or outside of regular classroom work. I maintain a neat and clean environment for each patient. "I really enjoyed talking with patients and getting to know them throughout myyears thereit always made my day when I was able to make someone smile and feel better even though they were sick") or should I keep it strictly objective, (ex. You know this is a competitive undertaking, so cast a big net. Teaching Experience, *if you find yourself confused about the difference between, PCE and HCE, please refer to [Pep Talk #8] for clarity. 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. It's essential that this information is accurate as a PA program may reclassify your experience from PCE to the less-favored HCE if your described level of responsibility does not meet their standards for PCE. Limiting your description to one or two sentences may come off as lazy and underprepared to apply to PA school. Experience Title: Use same title as original entry, but add "Continued," such as "Ambulance EMT, Continued" Experience Description: No need to repeat what you already told them about this . Talk about the setting, what you observed, things you learned. Also, if you have taken courses outside of the main college you earned your degree at, you must use these in your cumulative/science GPA calculations. What it was like to live in a medically underserved area. What you learned from your personal medical experiences. Enter information about the organization where the experience took place. (I'm not bashing servers. Leadership Experience Many rely on generalizations or fail to show readiness for PA school. Feel free to add as many experiences that you would like. Applicants dress up their experiences with descriptions that try to inflate their experiences or sound educated. Here is where you will describe to the admissions committees your responsibilities, job duties, involvement, etc. How should you word your experiences? By Each of these make positive contributions to your ability to be a successful PA student and will be valued by admissions committees. Everyone else (those with lower GPAs and minimal healthcare experience) should apply to 20 or more. The CASPA application has separate sections where you are asked to list your achievements, memberships, certifications, and licenses. This standardization is achieved by using your coursework to create a standard set of GPAs, ensuring you are compared to other applicants fairly and equally.. If you have any specific questions about a particular experience, feel free to shoot me an email [here]. Many applicants are surprised by their CASPA calculated GPA. First, judge where it's relevant enough to include. 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. Most students list them but leave the experience's description blank. Six programs is the bare minimum, and only for top tier students (over 3000 hours patient care experience, 3.5+ GPA and strong essay). Think about it: thousands of hopeful applicants are all vying for the same attention. CASPA defines verification process as follows: Verification is the process used to ensure all of your coursework was entered correctly and consistently. Lets say the program you are applying to has a December 1st deadline for your application to be verified. For over three years, I have been working as a clinical assistant at an Internal Medicine practice. In mine, I wrote specific things that I witnessed - lacerations, sutures, MVCs and so on. Once you add the experience, youll be prompted to categorize the Experience Type based on the following categories: Non-Healthcare Employment The "supporting information" section is where you'll list volunteering, patient care experience, health care experience, non-health care work, shadowing, and extracurricular activities. The Advice You Can Ignore When Crafting Your PA School Application Essay, How to Prepare Now for a Potential Second Application Cycle, How to Assess the Impact of Geography on the PA School Experience, What to Know About Interprofessional Opportunities Offered by PA Programs, How to Increase Potential Employer Interest When Exploring a New Specialty as a PA. Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences (Mary Baldwin University) 2022-2023 Cycle. Which is correct, bullet points or paragraph form?? Worked closely with nurses, PAs, and physicians to appropriately implement care plan for patients and discuss any of my duties that required clarification. The method to document this experience is through the CASPA online application. As a resident of Colorado, the Colorado Reproductive Equity Act has had a positive impact on my life. 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. 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). Make this part easy by not stressing over the blank spaces. If you want the reader to take you seriously, dont try to sell them a used car. Experiences in which you were in charge of instructing others, such as a teaching assistant, tutor, etc. The blank space is just about the facts. Im curious if the use of "bullet points" are encouraged instead of typical narrative paragraphs in description of experiences. How to use this in your personal statement: Bring together shared experiences - in this example the author hints at her medical heritage when she says: "I gleaned some insights into the profession from my father", and ties this into her shadowing experience. Experiences in which you are directly responsible for a patient's care. Some applicants wait to submit while one last grade comes in so it can be included. 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. 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. If they dont know you, they cant like you enough to invite you to interview. For more help, consider our ebook on essays, or hire us to coaching you through the process. List the additional number of weeks you have completed since originally submitting your application. The essay is your chance to tell them whatever you think they should know about your desire to become a PA, and to do so as you see fit. Experiences that are typically accepted primarily include evidence of direct patient care: obtaining manual vital signs . Applying to PA school is stressful which makes it easy to procrastinate. This may include student research positions, research technician positions, summer research student, masters rotational student, etc. CASPA recommends submitting and completing your application at least 6-8 weeks prior to program deadlines. Instead say: I cared for and interacted with patients. This is the part of the Experience section that you want to pay very close attention to while completing. Pasted as rich text. All Rights Reserved. Trying to squeeze in unnecessary impassioned information will only exhaust you and anyone else who will eventually be reading through your application. 311 0 obj <> endobj 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. 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 these little data points help a reader picture you in their mind. While you should be detailed with every experience that you add, being extremely descriptive is vitally important for the experiences that fulfill your patient care experience category. CASPA will use grades from every course youve ever takencourse grades from undergraduate classes, random online courses, community college courses, etc. From your own experience, describe how the Colorado Reproductive Equity Act has impacted your life. Starting Your CASPA Application Get started with an overview of the process, important dates and fees, and contact information. 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. Please try again. While the other details are straightforward, the wide open blank space is your only opportunity to add subjective information about your experience. Also, the last bullet point takes a vague statement from the original paragraph and describes a direct lesson. %PDF-1.6 % For example, if you are currently a teaching assistant for a college course, keep a list of key points from this experience that can strengthen your PA program applications. I suggest keeping this information saved on a Microsoft word document or on a Google document. Feel free to add information you gained from your observation or in discussion with the PA, but remember to frame it as a fact rather than a magical moment. Let's cover what to do for the most common experiences you might include in your application. The 2018-2019 PA school CASPA application cycle is here. This was my first experience working with patients and it ignited my passion for helping others.". 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. 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. Note that you cannot repeat hours between experience types. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Extracurricular Activities I have gained many qualities that will help me as a future PA. Can you see the difference that a thoughtful description of your experiences can make on your application? (LogOut/ endstream endobj 312 0 obj <. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. If you were a server at Applebee's and are dying to list it on your application (there's no mandate that you MUST include it), just say you were a server. At this part of the PA school application process, youll have to brush up on your interview skills.

how to describe experiences in caspa 2023