How do PA schools verify your clinical experience?

[StoneBender]

I'm planning on applying to PA school. I have hours as a physical therapy aide and pharmacist assistant. However, I got fired from my pharmacist assistant position. I had no problems with the patients but just the staff. It was an immature time in my life. I'd like to include the hours but don't want to in case they call up my former workplace. I was just wondering how they checked your hours.

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[pamac]

During the application process, you probably won't have it come up. In an interview they may ask you about past experience, but also probably won't come up either in isolation unless you worked it in there on your end. If it were to arise there, it would be easy to move around it and focus on something else. I'd be really surprised if you had that emerge. But where it would sink you would be if your immaturity involved a criminal act, like medication diversion. That revelation could get you kicked out of the program, or later on keep you from being licensed. They do background checks before they let you see patients.

 

[StoneBender]

During the application process, you probably won't have it come up. In an interview they may ask you about past experience, but also probably won't come up either in isolation unless you worked it in there on your end. If it were to arise there, it would be easy to move around it and focus on something else. I'd be really surprised if you had that emerge. But where it would sink you would be if your immaturity involved a criminal act, like medication diversion. That revelation could get you kicked out of the program, or later on keep you from being licensed. They do background checks before they let you see patients.

No, I would never do anything criminal. I just had disagreements on how they ran things, which everyone else was set on. I eventually got myself fired.

 

[pamac]

If you don't bring it up somehow, then I don't think it will ever surface. It's just a job change for you. Nobody's business unless you want to talk about it. The way it comes up is if you get a question like "what is one thing from your past where you disagreed with those around you?" Just find another example to mention, they aren't going to try to drag it out if you because they don't know.

The folks who can get into trouble are the ones that exaggerate, or even lie, and even then they can get away with it if they really try. Truth is better because you don't have to remember your lies. But there's a difference between being discreet and all the other shades of evasion out there.

 

[Busby]

...I was just wondering how they checked your hours.

To be a bit cautious and cynical for a moment; this question can be more than it appears. OP, this is no reflection on you or your post, just an opportunity to share.

I've seen this question asked in more direct and less discrete ways. With the high value of HCE and the competitiveness of gaining entry to PA programs, some people look for ways to fudge their CV. Fabricating health care hours or experiences is a real possibility. The consequences of such falsification of documents being denial of admissions, expulsion, etc.

1. CASPA collects information on the organization and location of your HCE, the role, hours worked, your supervisor and their contact details. All that must be provided. Schools may choose to verify information you provide. If you are caught lying here, you're done, and possibly flagged in the system. Essentially destroying any future chances of admission.
2. You're only shooting yourself in the foot; between being caught and god forbid, getting in, and not living up to your claimed experience.

Again, this is NO reflection on the poster here. Just a question I see arise often this time of year.

 

[pamac]

^Very true. And keep in mind that a lot of folks in the medical field (and therefore faculty that will be evaluating you) have to read people as a consequence of their careers. We get good at spotting incongruities, and reading body language. A PA faculty member is bound to have dealt with literally countless numbers of individuals trying to pull a fast one. Can you imagine how many people try to deceive or exaggerate each day in an urgent care or occupational medicine? If you are fudging on background or numbers, you'll come across sketchy enough that the evaluator will find a reason to drop your interview score, even if it's subconsciously motivated.