"Should I do a post-bacc or a master's to fix my GPA?" is one of the questions I get most, and the answer depends on what's actually holding you back.

I talked with Dr. June Kim, director of the Post-Bacc Pre-PA Certificate Program at Keck Graduate Institute, about who these programs are for. If your science GPA is the problem, a structured post-bacc shows programs recent, hard coursework you handled well. If your GPA is fine and your hours are thin, a post-bacc isn't your fix.

We go through how KGI's program is set up and what students get out of it, but more importantly, how to decide whether this path is worth the time and money for you specifically.

What we talk about:

• Who a post-bacc actually helps
• Post-bacc versus a master's degree
• Rebuilding a low science GPA with recent coursework
• How the KGI program is structured
• What admissions committees see when you add a post-bacc
• Deciding whether it's worth the cost in your situation

Resources:

CASPA GPA calculator: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-school-caspa-gpa-calculator

Pre-PA counseling: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/pre-pa-counseling

PA Program Map: https://www.thepaplatform.com/pa-platform-map

Free application timeline: https://www.thepaplatform.com/services/free-application-timeline

Mentioned in this episode:

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You're listening to episode 86.

Have you ever wondered if you need to go to a Post BACC program or get a master's or you're worried about your GPA and not really sure what to do about it?

Well, today we're going to dive into your options and talk to someone who really knows about how PA students can make themselves stand out by pursuing further education.

I sat down to talk with Dr. June Kim, the director of the Post BACC Pre PA Certificate Program at Keck Greek Graduate Institute.

I think you're really going to like this one.

Welcome to the Pre PA Club Podcast.

If you want to learn how to become a physician assistant, you're in the right place.

I'm your host, Savannah Perry.

Let's get to it.

Hey, guys.

Welcome to the Pre PA Club Podcast.

This is Savannah talking here, and I am your host and the creator of the podcast and the PA platform.

I'm.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Today's episode is a little bit different because I'm not talking to a pa, but I am talking to someone who is very passionate about helping people become PAs.

So I was able to connect with Dr. Jun Kim, and so he is the director and also an instructor at the Keck Graduate Institute in Claremont, California.

And you're going to learn a lot more about the program in our talk, but also just about how to improve your GPA and when and why you may need some type of graduate or post BACC program, and then how to actually make that happen.

You know, this is something that I get so many questions about, but there are so many programs, and there's questions of whether or not they're accredited or a good program or worth your time or money.

So after talking to Dr. Kim, I really feel that this is a great program.

They keep it small.

There is not just classroom time, which I didn't know was part of a postbac program.

So it is full time, but you'll learn this.

But there is classroom time and then there's also just exploring the profession and learning more about the PA profession with field trips, as he says, and getting experience as part of the program.

So I think that's really, really cool.

But take some time.

I think you're gonna enjoy it.

And we'll just jump into our interview.

Let's go.

Side note, also if you are interested in more information, all the links and info will be in the description of the episode.

So just check that out if you're looking for more info.

Sure.

My name is Jun Kim.

I'm the director of the post baccalaureate premedical and pre PA programs at the Keck Graduate Institute.

I've had a lot of fun in creating these programs from scratch.

And so a little bit about these programs is that they're what's known as an academic enhancer postbac program, which as the name suggests, just means that students have an opportunity to improve upon their academic records.

My, myself, I'm not a healthcare professional.

I actually started off many, many years ago as a pre med student.

Although I didn't take the path of medicine as my profession of choice, I chose education.

And so fun fact is that I've taught elementary school, middle school, high school, undergrad, and now graduate students.

So I love education.

So 20 years of being in education and loving every minute of it.

Which grade or level has been your favorite?

You know, I think I do like the postbac.

So these are college graduates.

They're all adults over 21.

And I think I really like that sort of age group because I feel like there's a lot more examples, analogies and references that I can use.

I like to use many of these sort of references when I'm teaching.

And so having older learners allows me to use and draw from a lot more examples.

Have any of your students followed you all the way through?

No.

The longest period of collaborating with the student is I have worked with two undergraduate students when I was working at usc, University of Southern California.

They arrived here at KGI to do their post baccalaureate work.

And so it would be about seven to eight years collaborating with these students.

But no elementary students has at least that I'm aware of.

No.

Wow.

Okay.

So what's funny is when I was in PA school, I had this envisionment of myself going back and teaching PA school.

I love that aspect of my.

My PA school had kind of a cool rotation where we were TAs, and for a month we were at the school doing lectures, helping write tests and grade tests.

I mean, getting kind of to be hands on in the teaching aspect.

So I guess I've kind of gone a different route with teaching.

But I could see where, like once you see yourself in that arena, it's a nice little area.

Absolutely.

And I think you're absolutely right in terms of you're able to be a teacher when you're in healthcare.

Certainly, hopefully are not just disseminating information to your patients, but you really are bringing them in and educating them.

Yeah, that's the goal.

All right, so you've been in education, so just give us a short little.

What is Keck Graduate Institute or kgi like you said.

Yeah.

So the Keck Graduate Institute.

Well, first off, frequently, frequently gets confused with Keck usc.

Okay, I was curious about that.

So the keck Foundation.

The W.M.

Keck foundation is a very generous organization that has contributed to many, many different important causes.

And obviously our school's founding is one of them.

But instead of affiliations to usc, the Keck Graduate Institute is affiliated with the Claremont Consortium of colleges.

So these are colleges all located in a small city of Claremont, which is about 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

Some people are more familiar with the undergraduate colleges like Harvey Mudd College, Pomona College, Scripps College, which is an all women's college.

We have Claremont McKenna College and Pitzer College.

Those would be our five undergraduate colleges.

And then there's two graduate schools, the Claremont Graduate University, and then of course, KGI being the seventh and newest school to the consortium.

And all of these schools are sort of part of the same family, if you will.

We have a shared library and other campus resources like the student counseling center and so forth.

But all seven are independent schools with separate presidents and separate sort of policies and treasury and so forth.

But it is a unique model, and it's not unique just to the Claremont Consortium.

I believe there are other consortiums throughout the country.

One in the Boston area.

Oh, cool.

Interesting.

Well, I've heard.

I've heard of Claremont, honestly only because there's a fellow Durham PA who has her own clinic there.

I don't know if you.

Erin Jensen, she used to actually work with Dr. Pimple Popper and so she.

In Claremont, which I'm coming out to California this summer and I'm hoping to stop by Yalls little area, so.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, Dr. Pimple Popper is pretty famous because I even have a 15 year old daughter who knows who that is.

So yeah, I get asked about it daily at work.

All my patients want to know if I watch Dr. Pimple Popper.

Yeah, but she's out there somewhere.

Okay, so I want to know more about this program.

So we were talking before the interview started in, you know, I get a lot of questions.

So with PA students or pre students GPA grades, being prepared academically is so, so important.

And this is something that I talk about a lot because number one, I get a lot of questions.

Number two, the paea, you know, in their statistics and studies and everything.

They will say that, you know, GPA and academic performance before PA school is the best predictor of how someone will do during PA school and passing boards, which makes sense.

I mean, I know some people have had hiccups along the way, but overall, that is something that schools look at specifically.

So a lot of people who have had those hiccups will come in and say, you know, I didn't do so great at the beginning.

I have all these courses I need to retake or I need to show that I can handle tough coursework.

Where should I go?

What should I do?

And so my kind of advice to them typically is, you know, take more classes somehow, whether that's independently, whether that's through a program.

I think people have questions about how to get into a postbac program and kind of the hurdles with where, how to get in.

Like, some people say, well, I can't do it because I've already maxed out how many classes I can take, or I don't know where to go, or should I do a master's program?

Which, to me, I don't think you necessarily need a formal master's program unless you plan on using that master's if PA is your ultimate goal.

So, anyway, that was a little long winded, but tell me, I know how you have found that this type of post bacc prepa program fits in with these types of students.

Sure, sure.

So, ideally, aspiring PA students would know the moment that they're born that they want to go into the PA profession, but we all know that's not typically what happens.

So I would even go a little further back than getting good grades.

I think this is where getting good grades is helpful because our GPA sort of serves as a passport to opportunities.

When you have better grades, you have more options, typically.

But again, I think this is where you really want to first figure out, is this what you want to do?

And I think there's a lot of aspiring healthcare professions students that really are not very aware of the different options out there.

I mean, even watching a nurse practitioner and physician assistant discuss their careers and professions, I mean, they're struggling to clearly define sort of, you know, what each can and cannot do.

And so there's certainly some overlap and.

And it does get into a fuzzy area.

But going back in terms of preparation, I think it's absolutely critical.

And I'm sure, Savannah, you share this with everyone you come across who's interested in the profession that they should shadow or at least, you know, look into learning more about the profession.

So we're going to assume that an individual knows that the PA is the path for them, and obviously depending on when, they sort of discover that, they can then focus on their studies.

In this case, all the prerequisites, as you and I both know, for the caspa, which is the application system used by many PA programs, really, really want to do well, particularly in those prerequisite courses.

Obviously we want students to do well in all the courses, but really, particularly those prerequisite courses, which would be classes like biology and chemistry, human anatomy and human physiology.

So getting good grades is important, but so is clinical experience.

Probably the number one reason students are not admitted into programs is due to a lack of clinical experience.

But what's also interesting though is there are certain programs out there where you don't need thousands and thousands of hours of experience to be admitted.

So it really is difficult trying to figure out, wow, you know, what's the best way to go?

Well, if I had to simplify and make a short laundry list, I would say number one is to gain the experience, exposure to figure out if indeed PA is the path to go, then you would select a school or a program where you would take these prerequisite classes and get the best grades possible.

But on top of that, you sort of need to figure out your motivation for why.

I mean, this is where it does vary.

There isn't a right answer or wrong answer.

It really comes down to what are your personal goals.

And these programs have very limited spots and they really want students to persist and finish.

And so what we find is that students typically don't drop out because they're not able to handle the academics.

It's frequently it's an issue of maybe personal challenges or just a lack of understanding for the profession.

And so there's, there's a insufficient amount of motivation to help them get all the way through to the end.

So really you want to get good grades and so forth.

But again, what happens if you don't get those good grades?

Does that mean that your chances of becoming a PA are over?

Of course not.

You know, one of the great things about America is we have so many opportunities.

And so if you don't get in on the first try, you know, try it again.

If you don't get in on the second try, try again.

And, and so these post BACC programs have really, really become popular.

And as the name suggests, post BAC just means that it's, you know, coursework done after graduating with your bachelor's degree.

And so these post baccalaureate programs are Just merely programs that consist of coursework and then also there might be some co curricular activities.

It is a structured sort of a program that has different components.

As we briefly mentioned, there are students who can just take sort of an a la carte, do it yourself approach, which just basically means that you would take the courses that you need, or maybe courses that you didn't do very well, maybe you got a C in, you would want to retake.

And again, the thing that makes admission so challenging is it's not a recipe, there isn't a cookbook recipe that'll lead to success.

But there's certainly think of it as almost a list of ingredients that you would need, but you're not told exactly how much of each ingredient you need and that's unique to each individual.

So certainly a lot of different students have taken different paths to get there.

So post baccalaureate programs really are available to help two sort of general groups of students.

We have what's known as career changers.

So these would be students who studied sociology, English, something outside of the sciences.

Sometimes students get confused with major.

You don't have to be a science major, you can actually be a humanities major.

As long as you have these science prerequisites completed.

Completed, you are qualified to apply to PA programs.

So if you are studying towards a baccalaureate degree, you can choose a science major.

You don't have to, but again, you will want to take those science prerequisites.

And some of those students who did not take those science prerequisites, and maybe they have been a teacher, a social worker in marketing, maybe working for a company, those students have their bachelor's, but they don't have the prerequisites completed.

So those types of students would be looking for what's called a career postbac program.

And these programs would offer the biology, chemistry and so forth coursework that many PA programs require.

So students can go online.

And basically, if you can Google AAMC post baccalaureate programs, they will find a database that they can use to search by state by the type of program, which in this case we're talking about a career changer postbac program, public, private, population size.

I mean it's a really nice database that they can use and use that to help find a career changer postbac program.

Now I mentioned kgi.

Our program is an academic enhancer.

So that just means that students that are interested in pursuing PA in our program, they've already taken all the prerequisites.

They've taken all of them but their grades maybe aren't quite competitive.

And we know that again, if you don't get in on your first try or if your academic qualifications are less than competitive, that doesn't mean you have to give up your dreams of becoming a pa.

It just means that you have to spend some time rebuilding your academic reputation, if you will.

So career changer programs help students take the necessary prerequisite courses.

Academic enrichment or enhance your postbac programs help students improve their academic record to become competitive for admission into PA programs.

Okay, I didn't know there was ever a difference or that's something really helpful.

And I'll link to that search website in the description so everyone can find that.

It's a really great.

You know, one thing I will mention though is that, you know, post BACC programs, they fall under those two broad general categories of career changer and academic enhancer.

Just, just be very, you know, aware that some of these programs, they could be called a pre.

Fill in the blank.

Any health professions, whether it's OT, PT, PA, really what they are referring to is a career changer.

And so rather than looking at just the name or the title, what you want to do is look at the coursework that's required of the program.

So if you look at the curriculum and it requires biology, chemistry, statistics, and anatomy, physiology, then you know, that's a career changer.

And if it's an academic enhancer, it might have advanced biochem, pharmacology, molecular biotechnology.

I mean, it basically has courses that you may be familiar to, but maybe have never taken.

And so as the name suggests, it's an opportunity to improve upon your academic record.

Okay, so let's say someone goes through the program at the end, what do they come out with?

Just a certificate or because they don't get a degree from this program?

That's right.

That's right.

Good question.

So again, whether you're getting a certificate or a degree, really the value in as well as the objective of students who pursue these types of programs is that they're trying to use it to help them get into APA program.

And so it really is a means to an end.

However, there are some students who, for whatever reason, wish to do a degree.

We do have some students who will earn a master's degree before moving on to medical school or before moving on to PA programs.

We've even had some students go on to PhD.

That's one of the really versatile and flexible things I love about our program in our school is that students are able to come for one type of career path, but they actually have quite a few options in terms of where they're going to go afterwards.

So in fact, one of the impetus for creating a PostBAC pre PA program is that there was quite a bit of interest amongst our post Bacc.

Pre Med.

So I think the PA profession is becoming widely more known.

I think students realize, wow, I get to do all that and I go to school for two years.

And so it's quickly become popular, which in turn has become very competitive.

And so KGI's sort of role in all of this is to help students that specifically know that they want to go into the PA path gear all of their academics towards it.

There are a lot of programs out there that I'll just say postbac Pre health program.

So it's more of a general program.

I don't think there's a very specific advantage or disadvantage to doing that.

I just, I think one area that is definitely, I think a nice added bonus for our students in the post Bacc.

Pre PA is that we do take field trips.

That's one of the ways that we really want students to learn is not by reading, not by looking at websites or brochures, but by going visiting in person.

So we as a group go and visit PA programs.

And so with this year's cohort, we were able to visit 12 different PA programs.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah.

So this is more than just being in the classroom is what you're talking about.

That's right.

That's right.

So I mean, our students do take classes.

So KGI is a graduate school, as the name suggests.

And so our students take courses like pharmacology, molecular biology, biotechnology, medical devices, medical diagnostics, bioethics, biostatistics.

Just various coursework that you wouldn't think is necessary.

They're certainly not necessary in the sense that they're not set requirements that PA programs will have, but certainly courses that will put sort of the minds and concerns of the admission committee to ease in terms of the student's ability to succeed in a rigorous academic environment.

And so it's a combination of in class rigor as well as just making sure that our students are a lot more informed about the choices that they're making.

Because by visiting these different programs, they're able to learn about the difference between the type of curriculum that a school might use, maybe perhaps the admission requirements.

Requirements, the mission statement just the overall experience of what it's like to attend a particular PA program.

And again, 12 schools, these are public, private, small, large, continuing, and therefore have been around for a while.

Or these are brand new sort of provisional accredited programs that are going to be fully accredited in due time.

And so our students learn quite a bit and they're able to actually on these field trips, not just get a tour of the campus but, but really get to hear directly from the admission representative what the requirements are and what's sort of competitive at that school.

And also an opportunity to meet with current students within that program, which is really, really helpful.

So these are what sort of is the benefit of being in a formal structured postbac program?

Because remember we talked about the do it yourself where you basically find local schools and just start taking classes on your own so you wouldn't have access to these types of co curriculars.

Also we have GRE built into our program just because I know some PA programs require the gre, others don't.

So in order to best prepare all of our students for whatever choices they make, GRE prep is part of our program.

And so those are just some of the benefits of a structured PostBAC program versus an a la carte.

Interesting.

Okay, so talk to me a little bit about the accreditation program and just in general postbac.

Sure.

So accreditation is basically what we use to quickly assess the quality of a program or a school.

Actually, accreditation is done for schools, not necessarily for programs per se.

When a school is accredited, that typically means that it's a reputable school that likely has access to government backed funding, financial aid.

And so accreditation certainly is one quick way to sort of gauge the quality of an institution.

And most universities and colleges in the US are accredited.

The programs themselves would fall under the accreditation.

And so certainly our programs being under KGI's accreditation is an indication that our programs are of merit and quality.

But the programs themselves are not specifically evaluated, at least not externally.

Although that is something that I can foresee happening pretty soon only because I've served as an external reviewer.

Just the end of last year I served as an external reviewer for a couple of master's program at Montana State University.

So certainly the programs that are constantly looking to improve will evaluate their program.

And so certainly that's, that's one indication, I think the other more telling questions.

Quality is probably what most students already know, which is what is the success rate?

Right.

So the outcome based sort of inquiry is a quick litmus to gauge the quality of a program.

So If a program has a high success rate, then certainly one could infer that it's a good program.

And if the acceptance or, you know, success rate is low, that is not a very good program.

Unfortunately for our program, I mean, this is our inaugural year.

It's the first group of six students.

Sometimes I joke that we only had one student, so if he or she got in, we would have 100% success rate.

So you just really got look beyond just the numbers.

And again, I'm proud of our program because it specifically is geared towards students who are interested in pa, not because they couldn't get into med school.

In fact, you know, these days, it seems that if you can't get into PA school, you got to settle for med school, you know, given how competitive and the admission numbers look.

So.

But yeah, so you said you have six students in this first cohort will in the future, like y' all start in the fall with the new one?

The new.

Correct, Correct.

So a CAP or a certain number of students.

Yeah, certainly we can't take 4,000.

I mean, in terms of cap, I mean, I would say we're looking at roughly anywhere from 10 to 15.

Okay, nice little small group.

It's a small group.

And again, we really pride ourselves here at KGI in the highly personalized support.

I think that's one of those factors that seems to make a huge difference for students.

It's not so much their innate ability as much as, you know, individuals sort of environment of support and guidance.

And so here at KGI, we have right now currently 55 post bacc pre meds, and then six pre pa. And so each and every single one of those students has access to advising, both online, in person.

And again, you have to remember that KGI, we are just under 500 students total across multiple programs.

And so the level of support and interaction for our students is great.

I mean, this is again, you know, we spend a lot of time together.

There's a very strong cohesive collegiality.

The best compliment our students could give us is to say that, you know, it's not competitive, that it feels like being part of a family, because we do travel together.

And when we travel together, these students have to room together and eat breakfast together.

So it is a lot of fun.

And our students are amazing students.

I would describe them as amazing B students.

And so admissions being very competitive these days, being an amazing B student seems to fall a little short.

But spending a year or two has certainly led to many, many student success.

And again, for our pre PA we don't know what that number is yet, but we'll sure find out after this year's CASPA cycle.

And you'll share it, I'm assuming?

Yes.

To be continued.

All right, do the pre med.

The people in the pre PA program take classes with the people in the pre med program?

Are they separate?

Oh, no.

We don't quarantine students around here.

We really believe in the interaction.

And, you know, I'm sure you're aware of this and all your listeners as well.

You know, right now, interprofessional education is so important.

Healthcare providers working across disciplines, a dentist working with a pharmacist working with the physician working with the PA working with physical therapists.

And so our interprofessional education is a little different because we have students that are maybe looking to go into industry.

So by industry, I mean pharmaceutical sciences or biotechnology.

So these students have a slightly different goal of helping people using the sciences.

They might be interested in becoming a project manager, maybe being the coordinator of a clinical trial design, you know, project.

So they have an opportunity to learn among students that have different career goals.

But nonetheless, all of those professions fall under the larger umbrella of healthcare system.

And so that's where our pre pa, pre med, PhD, business and science.

All of these students would be taking classes together.

That's awesome.

Yeah, My husband is a physician and he.

So I graduated PA school after his second year of medical school.

Know what a PA was really or what a PA did until his fourth year of med school.

I would come home and he would say, I said, yeah, I took assist out today, did this.

He says, you do that.

He said, studying together.

And I would get the answer right to one of his step one questions.

He's like, you know that.

So I love that y' all are combining so that everyone gets to learn about each other's profession.

Oh, absolutely.

I think it really helps the learning.

In fact, I know for a fact that, you know, when you take learners, you know, diverse backgrounds and diverse learning preferences, I mean, just, it really benefits everybody.

So now we're very fortunate where we do have a pretty wide, diverse group of learners.

I mean, in terms of so many different categories.

I mean, not just race and ethnicity, age, gender, or geography.

I mean, we do have students from all across the country, east coast, the Midwest.

We could use a little more students from the south, that's for sure.

I'm sure they would love, love to get some of that California sun.

All right, so what?

So let's say someone's listening.

They're like, this is what I've been looking for.

Like I need a postbac program, I want to do this one.

What next steps would they take?

And then what does the commitment look like as far as length of the program, time they're in class, and then like, I guess schedule and then kind of money stuff too, because somebody's gotta pay for it.

Right, Got it.

Okay.

So, you know, post BACC programs are generally one or two years.

And our one year certificate program is sort of what most students do.

But however, we're seeing an increase in students that while they're applying, or what we call gap year, they're applying, but they're also finishing up the second year for a master's.

Now the question is, well, why are they doing that?

I mean, didn't they already finish the postbac certificate?

Yes, but you also have to understand that their undergraduate academic record is comprised of four, if not five years for some students.

Right.

So to expect one year of great academic record to undo four, possibly five years of not so very good academic record, it's just not feasible.

Right.

In some cases, mathematically, you know, if you had a 2.2 and even if you get straight A's in the post BACC year, that just mathematically won't move the needle to where you need it to.

So some students out of need, they will come back for a second year, others just out of personal preference, we'll do one year.

I think it also depends on what other opportunities they might have.

Some of our students who choose not to come back, well, they have emt, paramedic jobs, medical scribe certainly seems to be one of the popular ones these days.

So we have some students who will do research.

So it really depends on what other opportunities some of these students have in terms of, you know, the finances.

Because we are at an accredited school, kgi, our students have access to loans, low interest loans, private school.

Their parents could also take out the PLUS loans as well.

Our financial aid department, I mean, they will work with each individual student to help figure out how they might be able to finance their school.

And certainly the finances is a conversation.

I'm glad you brought it up, Savannah.

It is an important one.

Not that everything boils down to money, but certainly we have to.

It's a reality that I think all of our students should consider.

And so this is where for kgi, it's a nice sort of added bonus.

And what I mean by that is because our school is a professional graduate school and remember, our students, some of them will go into the pharmaceutical or biotech industry.

And so they are after school, after KGI gonna go work for Eli Lilly or Johnson and Johnson or any of these companies.

And so for students that do complete the master, it's almost as if they have an insurance policy that if they don't get in to the program of their choice, or to any program for that matter, they have sort of a nice consolation, if you will.

I hate to call it that, but again, I think for some students and families, when they are looking at it through a return on investment lens, it's an applicable one.

I mean, yes, you do that program with the chances of getting in, but what happens if you don't?

Right?

I mean, I have yet to come across the program that has a hundred percent success rate.

And so what happens if you're that one student who didn't make it?

You're gonna find yourself more debt if you took out more loans and then you'll have more transcripts.

Okay, so you have more grades, but really, what else do you have?

And so for our students, it's a nice little insurance that if they apply and they don't get in, that they're able to go find a very lucrative job that's going to allow them to start paying back their loans.

Not just their graduate loans, but their undergraduate loans as well.

So it is a traditional academic calendar, meaning that school starts in August and is in May.

And we are on a KGI is on a very interesting hybrid model.

We have both a semester and a quarter system.

So some classes are 15 weeks long and other classes are eight weeks long.

And so that allows our students to take many more classes than being in a traditional semester academic calendar.

Nice.

Okay, so when they're in class, is that an all day thing or every day, week?

Yes.

In terms of the schedule, the schedule of classes, I think most undergrad undergrad students know that classes are either Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or you have Tuesday, Thursday, or if you have a science, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, the lab is on Tuesday or Thursday.

I mean, that's a pretty common schedule design for our students being in graduate school.

Our classes really run Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

Before everyone gets excited, Friday does not mean, you know, it's fun day and you just transition right into the weekend.

In fact, our students are extremely busy Friday, Saturday, Sunday because many of them are doing extracurricular activities like clinical work.

They might be working, some of them are doing research, some of them are tutoring.

So but our classes are typically in the mornings, I would say about 9 o'.

Clock.

Is the earliest start time and then we have a few classes that might run until early evening, like 6:50.

But the majority of the classes will fall between 9 and 5, Monday through Thursday.

Cool.

All right, well that sounds somewhat similar to PA school actually.

So.

All right.

So I think you've given us a good just kind of background on KGI specifically, but then also just postbacs in in general, you know.

And I appreciate that.

Thank you so much much for taking your time, which I know you're probably super busy running these programs to share all that.

Where can everyone just find more information and who should they contact if they have questions?

Any other pearls that you feel like people need to know, Feel free to.

Well if they want to know more about our program they can certainly Visit our website, www.KGI.edu and under the different types of programs there'll be a drop down menu and you can find the post baccalaureate program, premed or pre PA program.

And there they can sort of get the big overall picture.

But I would say one of the most amazing things about our students is how open they are to sharing their experience with others.

So in fact, if your listeners want to go ahead and email me, they can email me at joonkimgi.

Edu.

So that's Junekimgi.

Edu and I'd be more than happy to connect them with a student, I mean not an employee but an actual student that is willing and happy to share their experience, good, bad and everything in between of what their experience has been.

Our commencement is next month, May 18, so our time together is winding down.

But certainly these students are really, really excited about the upcoming cycle.

They know that they're not going at it alone.

In fact, our final exam in our class will actually not be a final exam, but rather they will be bringing their laptops to class to begin their application.

And so they'll be on their application and clicking submit as soon as possible.

That's awesome.

I love it.

It seems like it's just this great little support group of like cheering each other on because it's a tough process.

Like this is not when you don't have anyone else going through it that knows what you're going through, it's even harder.

So that is awesome.

I mean you really hit it on the nail head on the nail because you know to go through a very rigorous process which pre PA and PA certainly is to be supported by others who share the same goal as you and really willing to help one another.

The other thing that I really love to do is connect our alums to current students.

So again, our pre PA postbac program is new but that doesn't mean we have alums that aren't PAs today.

In fact there's two PA post BAC pre meds who actually are PAs today now.

So these two individuals have served as amazing references, have extended that I contact them if any other students are interested in the profession and they are happy to come back and speak to our current students.

So again, this is one of the really really nice things about being part of the KGI community.

We're talking about an extremely small community of less than in terms of our PostBac program.

So 55 plus 661, right?

Well I'm sure you'll get lots of emails, but I'll put links to everything in the description and your email and everything so everyone can find you.

And again, thank you so much for your time.

Oh thank you so much for having me.

And I don't know how you find the time.

I mean you're full time and you're a full time educator.

I mean your listeners, everyone who's learning so much from you.

I wish I had someone like myself for yourself way back when I was potentially interested in the healthcare field.

So thanks for what you do, thanks for having me and I'll talk to you later.

Alright, thanks so much.

Alright guys, thanks so much for listening.

I hope that just sheds some light on what you can expect out of a public postbac program.

And also if you're on the fence about deciding if that's something you need to do, it gives you some direction.

So check out the Keck Graduate Institute program and I'll put that link in the description for you.

And then if you have any questions, reach out to me and I'll try to give you answers.

Or you can directly reach out to them as well.

But thank you so much for listening.

If you're not already subscribed, go ahead and hit the subscribe subscribe button.

Leave us a review, let me know what you thought of the episode and if we need to have more like this.

So I will see you guys next week everyone.

Have a good weekend.