Question on University of St. Augustine's learning approach

[CareerSwitcheroo]

For anyone currently attending University of St. Augustine, is it true that the full-time residential DPT program is moving towards more of a hybrid approach (i.e. a mix of classroom and online learning)? If so, what does that look like schedule-wise and what are your thoughts on the change?

As an older prospective student, I'm a proponent of spending less time in a classroom when it makes sense, and reducing commute time to focus more on life and studying. I appreciate the flexibility of their Flex program, however, I'm not crazy about taking 4 years to complete it. I could go for either, however, if the residential program is in fact incorporating more online learning then perhaps I'd be more interested in pursuing that.

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[LeftCoast7]

Not a current student but have a friend who just finished his first year there and we shared what his first year schedule was like with me, and any current students please correct me if I’m wrong.

Basically it’s full days Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday and Friday is a “remote” day where you are not required to come to campus. This day is designed to give you time to complete your assigned online work.

My friend said it was great because he would usually complete his online work in a timely manner and then on weeks prior to exams could use all Friday to go into campus and study/use the labs to prep for exam week. On non exam weeks he would use Friday to study at a coffee shop in the morning and then take the rest of the day for himself. And I believe he said your “remote” day rotated as you advance in the program so it’s not always Friday.

 

[StrokeTopo]

Basically this. Currently in the 2nd year of the residential program so here's been my experience.

voice over lectures and powerpoints are online for your courses. In some cases like gross anatomy, you have a lecture component once a week with cadaver lab 2x/week. The class will still have voice over powerpoints from either your instructor or from another instructor and is pretty good supplemental material. It doesn't seem like a tremendous amount of in class time.. and it isn't but with the amount of material you will be required to learn, you'll be often times wishing you had less time in class so you can study more. As the semesters have progressed and our classes are more treatment based, in class labs become longer and days are longer. At this point I wish we had less lecture so I could have more time to study the material.

Other classes may have an extended lab hours combined with some lecture. Our spine class meets twice a week... but its also a 4 hour lab 2x/week. If you're worried about hands on, then don't. It is still accelerated so the material goes quick. Personally, I wouldn't do flex as it is 4 years. I wish we had less classes (often taking 7 at once) per semester, but I'd much rather finish quicker. Being an older student, like yourself, you'll appreciate the swiftness.

Cheers.

 

[ncbaut]

When I went for my interview, our tour guide was from admin and couldn't answer any of our questions about the facility or program, so I left not learning much from the school. How does it feel having a larger class size (70 students, correct?) Are you still able to interact/build relationships with classmates and teachers, enough resources to learn and understand material? Can you confirm that classes start at 7am and go up to 7pm depending on lab days etc?

Edit:

Also, is there interaction between the upper classes and other disciplines? I know at other schools, the newer class are given a "mentor"

Thanks in advance!

 

[StrokeTopo]

I'll answer some of those through DM so I can expand on them.

But essentially:

- larger class sizes have its pros and cons. Not all are 70. In fact I'd venture most are closer towards 58-63. Good thing is you have a lot of people you can connect with. Cons maybe a little much sometimes during lab, but they have a good amount of assistant professors and can always get help/clarification if needed. Faculty at my location has been great and honestly made some good friends with them.

- Class times depend on the day and the trimester you are in. There were some semesters I had only a lab or class or two that day. Very short days. This semester is pretty much 7:30am to 4:50/6:00pm. It varies...and with you finishing faster, they expect more out of you so the pace is quick.

- I've been a guide for the interview process before and its hard to show much of the facilities. Because it is a health science school most classrooms have some labs or lectures on Friday morning so what we can show is limited. Cadaver lab is constantly being used each semester and weekend and not interviewee friendly...the rest is classrooms and simulation rooms. It often doesn't look like much but its all ours and its all PT/OT/Rehab friendly. Other schools I was accepted at often shared cadaver labs with the other professions with MD/DO students getting the first go's at a body but at USA I got to make the first cuts. In a weird way its comforting that every inch of the school is for rehab.... except during finals when you'd give anything to not be surrounded by it haha

Again, I can answer with more details in DM's if anyone wants more details or frustrations of a student finishing up his degree lol

 

[CareerSwitcheroo]

I'll answer some of those through DM so I can expand on them.

But essentially:

- larger class sizes have its pros and cons. Not all are 70. In fact I'd venture most are closer towards 58-63. Good thing is you have a lot of people you can connect with. Cons maybe a little much sometimes during lab, but they have a good amount of assistant professors and can always get help/clarification if needed. Faculty at my location has been great and honestly made some good friends with them.

- Class times depend on the day and the trimester you are in. There were some semesters I had only a lab or class or two that day. Very short days. This semester is pretty much 7:30am to 4:50/6:00pm. It varies...and with you finishing faster, they expect more out of you so the pace is quick.

- I've been a guide for the interview process before and its hard to show much of the facilities. Because it is a health science school most classrooms have some labs or lectures on Friday morning so what we can show is limited. Cadaver lab is constantly being used each semester and weekend and not interviewee friendly...the rest is classrooms and simulation rooms. It often doesn't look like much but its all ours and its all PT/OT/Rehab friendly. Other schools I was accepted at often shared cadaver labs with the other professions with MD/DO students getting the first go's at a body but at USA I got to make the first cuts. In a weird way its comforting that every inch of the school is for rehab.... except during finals when you'd give anything to not be surrounded by it haha

Again, I can answer with more details in DM's if anyone wants more details or frustrations of a student finishing up his degree lol

Can I ask which campus you attend?

 

[ya1]

The school has to provide 1 instructor per certain number of students, so you will have enough instructors in your labs.
They have plenty of studying material (I'd say more than you can use considering how much time you have lol): library has books, models (for anatomy), online material (lectures and ebooks) can be accessed online from anywhere, open labs are scheduled for dissections and neuroanatomy. You don't need to buy books since everything you need is posted online.
Mentors: We were supposed to have mentors or be mentors, but no one has ever seen a mentor or been one. I was in flex program though, so none of us really felt like we needed a mentor.

 

[StrokeTopo]

Can I ask which campus you attend?

Austin Tx

 

[CareerSwitcheroo]

Austin Tx

Awesome, I'll be applying there this summer. Fingers crossed since this is my second time applying and that's their cutoff. :\