High School student interested in Direct Admit PA universities. Aside from one additional year, what are the main difference between the 3+2 Program and the 3+3 Program? Is the additional year means less academic rigor for the grad year due to the extra time? Or is the extra year meant for clinical rotation?
From what I am reading, it seems that the extra year allows for additional rotations, classes, and/or research. It also means that the program could cost more (I assume there are other factors such as public v private etc).
If you look at the specific schools you should be able to see the differences in curriculum, schedule, courses etc. One student reported that the longer programs might have longer breaks for Thanksgiving, holidays etc so that is also something to look into.
There doesn’t seem to be a difference in the pass rate for exams, and programs of different lengths are all accredited.
I would research the specific programs to see the individual differences.
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2 year PA program are year round programs. Students begin PA coursework immediately after the completion of undergrad coursework and continue on without a break for 24-30 months.
2 years programs do not build in any additional time for research or for specialization (i.e. PA residency training–which is usually expected if a students wants to work in certain sectors–like dermatology, psychiatry, women’s health, neurology, etc.))
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