Today marks the first day of orientation for our new class of physician assistant students! We are excited to welcome the PA Class of 2012 to campus. This group of 50 students comes from eleven different states and a variety of backgrounds. The average GPA for the Class of 2012 is 3.55, and the average science GPA is 3.44. On average, they have over 2000 hours of health care experience!

Posted in Current Students, New Students, Physician Assistant, Prospective Students, Student Life | 4 Comments

If you’re looking for a new career (as many Americans are these days), you might want to consider physical therapy. BusinessWeek ran a special report online about the soaring demand for physical therapists.

We’ve heard for years that the baby-boomer generation is getting older and living longer, and we’ll need more healthcare providers to keep up with the expanding elderly population in the U.S. This is especially true for physical therapists. Not only do we have a lot more people living longer, but they also want to live more active lives. Physical therapists are trained to help people achieve these new goals.

The P.T. profession expects growth of more than 27% between 2006 and 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Given the current employment situation in this country, that’s just amazing!  And, the salaries are there to back it up. The American Physical Therapy Association estimates average the average P.T. salary to be around $74,000.

Posted in Des Moines University Clinic, Physical Therapy, Prospective Students | 3 Comments

Fall is my favorite time of year. It’s not just that I love the crisp temperatures, forests changing colors to vibrant reds and oranges or even the fantastic college football (GO HAWKS!)  I also love fall because it’s a busy and exciting time around campus. Fall is when we start our interviews for our clinical programs, and it’s also when our enrollment staff starts traveling to undergraduate schools to recruit new students. We visit classrooms, talk with student groups and attend fairs and expos. It’s an exciting time of the year!

I love fall because as a director of admissions I get to travel around the country and meet so many interesting students. People from all walks of life across the country are preparing for graduate school right now, and I have the pleasure of getting to meet many of them when I’m out traveling.

Last week I got to see the sunrise over the Sierra Nevada Mountains as I drove to the first recruiting event of the fall in Reno, Nevada. As much as I enjoyed the beautiful early-morning vistas, I was more excited to meet some students that day and introduce them to Des Moines University. Right now, I’m back in Des Moines, but I’ll soon be heading to Wisconsin (first thing next week) to visit students in Green Bay, River Falls, Eau Claire and Menomonie.  So, if you’re in central Wisconsin, you should find some time to stop by and say hi!

Posted in Anatomy, Biomedical Science, Health Care Administration, New Students, Osteopathic Medicine, Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant, Podiatric Medicine, Prospective Students, Public Health, Research, Rural Health | 1 Comment

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.

Posted in Current Students, Guest bloggers, Life in Des Moines, New Students, Physician Assistant | 1 Comment

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that DMU is just 12 blocks away from a renowned art museum. The Des Moines Art Center is less than a mile west of campus on Grand Avenue, yet I rarely visit the museum, despite driving past it every week.

Last night was an exception.  I had the opportunity to head over and listen to a lecture by former Stanford professor and art history expert, Wanda Corn, regarding the famous painting “American Gothic.”  

Posted in Guest bloggers, Life in Des Moines, Prospective Students | 2 Comments