This week marks the start of a journey for 50 new DMU students in the Physician Assistant program. After three days of orientation, the PA class of 2011 will begin their coursework today.
For many it has been a long road getting to graduate school, and for those 50 students who begin this week, it will be a challenging and demanding two years. But, I’m pretty sure that this group of students is up to the challenge. Before the end of the first day of orientation, there was already a mob of new students trying to buy all their books at Matthew’s Bookstore.
Our new PA class comes to DMU with a wide background of experiences. Here are some quick stats about our incoming class:
- They have an average GPA of 3.58 and an average GRE score of 1060.
- They come from 8 different states – many are from Iowa, but some students coming from as far away as Virginia and Colorado.
- Students range in age from 21 to 41.
- On average, they each had more than 2000 hours of direct patient care experiences prior to coming to DMU.
- They received degrees from 34 different undergraduate institutions.
After meeting this new PA class, I know they will live up to the high standards our past students have set. So, congratulations to the PA class of 2011! We wish you the best of luck over the next two years as you work toward your goal of becoming physician assistants.
