Full tuition. Covered. That's not a typo.

Dr. Jerry Glavaz is the associate dean over the Simon Scholars program at Chapman University, which awards full tuition scholarships to PA students from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds. Cost is the single biggest thing that stops qualified people from becoming PAs, and this program exists specifically to remove it.

I wanted this episode on the feed because most applicants never look for program-specific scholarships. They assume loans are the only option and stop researching. Individual programs fund things like this all the time, and almost nobody applies.

Jerry walks through who it's for and what the application involves. Check Chapman directly for current details before you build a plan around it, since scholarship terms change.

What we cover:

• What the Simon Scholars program covers and who it's designed for
• Why removing cost barriers changes who becomes a PA
• What the application process involves
• How diversity in the profession affects patient care
• Why you should hunt for program-specific funding
• Jerry's advice for applicants who think they can't afford PA school

Resources:

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

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

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

Pre-PA Academy: https://prepaclub.thepaplatform.com/landing/academy

Mentioned in this episode:

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Have you ever had the thought, I wish someone would pay for me to go to PA school?

The numbers of tuition can be extremely intimidating.

Well, today we're going to hear from Dr. Glavez from Chapman University about their Simon Scholars program, which is amazing and is a full tuition scholarship to their program.

Let's see if you meet the criteria and give you a standard for what to look for in PA programs.

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, what's up?

Welcome to this week's episode of the Pre PA Club podcast.

Dr. Jerry Glavez is a PA and he works with the Chapman University program specifically on their Simon Scholar program program, which is really cool.

You're going to hear much more about it from him.

But just to give you a quick rundown, this is a full tuition scholarship, and so far, last year was the first year.

They have given out 10 spots to this program each year out of their class of 50 students.

And when I say full tuition, you can go to the scholarship website and read more about it.

All of those links will be in the description.

The contact information for the administrative coordinator will be there, but all of the information is on the website.

But this is a great mission or an action on a mission from the program to help students overcome the barriers that keep them from pursuing their dreams and their dream jobs of becoming PAs and working in healthcare.

So we're gonna talk about where this scholarship came from, the mission behind it, what was the driving force in getting this started, started, and how by removing the barrier of paying for PA school, students from underserved and underrepresented areas are able to go back to their communities and make a huge difference with patients.

So all of the selection criteria are on the website, the application process, the way it works.

If you are applying this year, the deadline for this scholarship program is September 15th, and you have to have applied to Chapman University as well.

And if you're applying in the future, you have a little more time.

But they do have a January start date.

So you want to start kind of looking at that for either this cycle or next cycle, and it's not until the end.

But what you'll hear Dr. Glavez say is even if you think it's a long shot or you're not qualified or somebody's more qualified, which we all think all the time, right, go for it.

Just apply.

You never know.

And so that would be my encouragement to you if Chapman University is on your list, which after talking to them and really seeing just how they are so passionate about their goal and mission for this profession, definitely a school you want to look at.

If you want to go to school in the Orange county area, and that is a criteria for the scholarship, is that you have some connection to the area.

If you already live there or are planning on moving and living there, reach out to the program and reach out to them to ask questions about the scholarship program.

But everything as far as the FAQ is very detailed on the website.

So I look forward to hearing from some.

From some future Simon Scholar PA students.

I want to know when you get accepted to this because it is so exciting and so cool and.

And such a great opportunity.

So let's jump in to hearing from the program and from Dr. Glavez himself, and I'll let y' all see how awesome it is from him.

I'm the associate Dean for the Simon Scholar PA Scholarship Program here at Chapman University.

I've been a PA for 32 years now, and I've practiced in lots of different areas of medicine.

Family med, women's health, occupational medicine, orthopedics.

And I transitioned to academia about 16, 17 years ago.

And I was faculty at Loma Linda University, where I became the program director and chair.

And now I'm here at Chapman University managing the scholarship program for underserved students facing adversity.

That is awesome.

So you're.

You're West Coast, I'm East Coast.

We're separated.

But thanks to technology, we're able to do this and connect.

And that's what I love about the PA profession.

It's such a small world and small community, and I think that's one thing that the students really love about it.

How long have you been at Chapman now?

It's a little over a year and a half.

And I came here a year ago January, and then I was here for two, three months, and then we all went home.

We all quarantined and worked from home since then.

So the bulk of the year last year was spent from home.

But the challenge was starting this scholarship program from scratch, you know, in a year ago January, there was no program at all.

And we had to design the program, design the application market.

It didn't exist before last January.

We had to market for the program, recruit applicants, interview applicants, review applications, and select the class.

So it was really a challenge getting all that done last year.

But by the end of September, we had selected the first 10 Simon Scholars for the PA program here, and they are all halfway through their.

More than halfway through the first year of PA school at Chapman now.

And we're very proud of them.

They're all doing really well.

And now that we're in the second year of the scholarship program, we're recruiting for the second cohort of Simon Scholars, and we're reviewing applications and actively interviewing.

So the scholarship deadline to apply is September 15th.

It's coming up in about a month.

So we are really anxious to review applications and pick a really strong cohort for this scholarship cycle.

Vanessa, I definitely have some more logistics questions, which I'm sure everyone can find more information on the website.

Is that the best place to go?

Absolutely.

Oh, sorry, go ahead.

Oh, no, you're good.

We'll have all that in the description for people.

And if y' all go to our social media channels, we'll link to it there too, so you can easily find it.

But just looking at the Chapman University Simon Scholar program should take them there.

Absolutely.

The Simon Scholar PA program will get you directly there.

And to our website, we have links to the assignment to the Chapman University PA program and from there as well.

But yeah, lots of detailed information about the application process, the criteria, and about the PA profession as well.

If you're just searching for the PA profession and looking for basic information about the profession as well, that's there too.

Okay, awesome.

Can you give just a brief overview or what you think makes Chapman University's PA program so awesome and special and something that you wanted to be involved with?

Yeah, I. Yeah.

After having been at Loma Linda University for 16 and a half years or so, I became really excited about the scholarship for this scholarship program when I first heard of it, because I'm first generation college graduate and just acutely aware of the challenges and barriers that people have.

If you don't have the support when you're looking around for how to go to college, how does it all work?

How do I apply?

And so when I was at Loma Linda, I always had a kind of a special place in my heart for students who had barriers to PA school and were facing adversity.

And so I always loved working for that with them and always took a lot of joy in their successes.

And so when this opportunity came along to work exclusively with students that underserved students facing adversity, I thought, wow, what a great opportunity for me to really kind of focus in on my.

With my career, with working with these students to help them succeed, kind of help them have the opportunity that I had when I first started out as a pa, So I jumped at the opportunity and I came here and Chapman's been a wonderful place for me.

It's a wonderful school.

It's a relatively new program.

They are fully, fully accredited.

They were granted full accreditation last year and there are 50 students accepted each year to the program.

They start in January.

And it's a very modern high tech facility here in Irvine campus with a great simulation center, a lot of extensive simulation equipment, top notch clinical rotation sites, hospitals, UC Irvine, St. Joseph, St. Jude, California Hospital, Memorial Care.

So really strong, strong connections with clinical sites.

But what I'm really impressed with is they have a very low attrition rate when they accept students.

They keep students in the program, they work with them.

The faculty is very dedicated to working with students.

If they're having issues or struggles in certain areas, they work with them personally.

But again, programs, once they accept students to the program at, I love it that they have a commitment to making sure that they're successful again.

It's been a great program.

They've been welcoming to me and really supportive of this scholarship program.

And so it's been really an exciting opportunity.

So can you talk a little bit about where or how the need for the scholarship was identified and I guess where that kind of passion came from for the program to say this is something we want to do to support our mission?

Because I think for students, sometimes when you read program missions, they can all start to run together.

It sounds like they want to help.

It sounds like they want to do all these great things, but that doesn't always happen.

But I think with the Simon Scholar program, it's a way that Chapman is saying, like, no, we're really dedicated to making sure that, you know, anyone who wants to do this profession can do it.

And we'll get into some of the logistics about the scholarship in a second.

But I want to understand where that came from and kind of what was behind that.

Absolutely.

I'll give you a little background there.

One thing before I forget, I don't want to forget to mention when you're talking about the Chapman PA program, they also have 100% pass rate for two years for board.

Can't leave that out.

You know, that's really, really a big deal.

So I don't want to, don't want to overlook that.

That's huge.

And yeah, they're very proud of that pass rate.

Again, commitment to student success.

So, yeah, going back to the mission and the Simon foundation, the Simon Family foundation, came up with this idea of trying to alleviate some of the health care provider shortage in Orange county and San Diego county here in California.

And they searched around for different ways of relatively quickly having a big impact on that provider shortage and improving access to health care and the areas of need here in Orange and San Diego County.

They considered medical school supporting medical students.

But when it came down to comparing PA school to medical school and how long medical school would take to get graduates out there to have an impact, the Chapman PA program being two years, there was no question that they wanted to support PA education.

And so they jumped at the opportunity to support the scholars here.

Mr. Ron Simon is, like I said, a very generous donor.

And again, $9 million have been awarded for the scholarship program.

And you talk about putting your money where your mouth is.

I mean, that is a major, major commitment to this endeavor.

And he.

Mr. Simon had already had a history of supporting underserved students facing adversity at the high school level.

For many years, they've had a high school program that's funded student, funded students financially in high school and at the undergraduate level.

So this is really their first graduate level endeavor into PA school.

And so, but their philosophy is that it's.

It's not enough just to give money to students and pay their tuition.

You need to provide them with support.

And so the program has always provided mentoring, additional resources, workshops, seminars, guidance along the way to ensure that students are successful.

And because of that, most of the Simon scholars who graduated from high school successfully go to college, successfully graduate from colleges all over the country.

And so they've got a history of being very successful in their endeavors.

And so so far in our endeavor here at Chapman, at the PA program, things are going really well.

Things are been a very successful program so far.

So we're tracking student outcomes.

But the idea is that when students graduate, obviously this has a huge impact on their lives.

These are students facing severe adversities and poverty in their lives.

So they've got a shot at becoming a PA and the number one profession in the country and going to work in underserved areas here in Orange and San Diego county, they make a commitment to doing that.

So you're having an impact on the provider shortage.

The underserved minority students are going back to their communities and working with patients who identify with them.

That improves patient outcomes.

So it's a win, win for everybody.

And again, we're still only in our second year of granting the award, but so anyway, it's a very exciting Very unique program.

Youth, you probably talk to people all the time looking at scholarships for PA programs.

You've probably never heard of anything quite like this.

Not like this.

Definitely not.

And so that's 10 out of 50 students.

10 Out of 50 students receive full tuition scholarships.

And now in January, when we received, when we, the second cohort begins, that'll be 20 students going to Chapman University full time, simultaneously receiving full tuition scholarships.

So it's really, really exciting.

I mean, I've seen obviously been a PA education a long time there, the NHSC scholars that the government supported.

There are other private scholarships as well.

But this is really, really kind of a one of a kind scholarship.

It really is.

And that's what's so cool.

So it's full tuition.

So explain to students what what that means and what that covers.

Is that throughout the entirety of the program, what does that look like for a student who is accepted into that program?

It's basically from day one to the end of the program, it's just, just like it sounds, it's full tuition.

It doesn't cover living expenses, housing, books and things like that.

But it really is, it's.

You don't have to pay, you don't get upfront, you don't get reimbursed, the foundation pays it up front.

You don't see a bill or really for the whole two years of PA school.

And so students, although they may take out some financial request some financial aid for housing and to live off of during that time, it's expected that that would be minimal.

And so that when they graduate, students don't have that to make that tough decision of do I have now I've got this student, this financial aid debt for all the tuition.

So I'm not going to have to make a decision to go to the highest bidder, the highest paying job into say a super specialty job that pays the most to pay off my tuition.

Students can effectively choose to work in the underserved areas and go back and really have a, have an opportunity to give back to those areas that they came from and that they want to return to in Orange and San Diego County.

So yeah, so that takes that question mark off the table.

Now the other big nice thing about this is significant is that students who come from poverty areas and have a history of poverty, they're less likely to take out debt, student debt, and they're less likely to apply to medical school, nursing school and PA school because of that.

So this really essentially just removes that barrier to a great career.

So that's what's really cool about part one thing.

That's really cool about it.

Yeah, no, that, that is amazing.

It's just, to me it takes off.

It's just a burden.

And that's what a lot of, you know, especially pre PA students that I work with and talk to are concerned about is knowing they want to be a PA but how am I going to pay for it?

How am I going to afford this?

Which PA is a great profession and there are so many benefits, but that is kind of a scary, unknown, uncharted territory that you can't work really during PA school.

School.

So you, you have to have some help.

If you don't have something like this program, which there are not.

I don't know of any other programs like this, to be honest.

I hear every once in a while like a one off, like, you know, bigger scholarship that a school has, but usually it's open, I feel like, to all medical education programs there and a PA may win every couple years.

But this is, it's so cool to me that this is PA specific and that that meets the goal of what they're trying to do.

You've probably heard of the scholarships for medical school where someone will come in and pay all the tuition to medical school.

I mean, that's really occurring more frequently lately.

And so I didn't.

I'm anticipating that as we get the word out here about our program that both on a regional and national level, you'll see more and more of these donors stepping up and supporting PA education in this way.

Once they, once our stories of how successful we are and the impact it has on the students and the community, I'm anticipating that there'll be more programs like this around the country.

So that's another reason I'm thankful that we're talking to you today on the the east coast and sharing the information.

I was going to mention that when we give these awards, you know, some of these students have lived in poverty their whole lives and they've experienced homelessness.

And you know, they come, many of them come from immigrant families where they don't.

They came here with their, their parents at young age, at a young age and didn't speak the language at all.

And they had to work at a very young age and worked through their undergraduate years and still succeeded.

And so when we call them and we get them on video to award these scholarships to them, you can almost see the weight of this burden of poverty and the finance come off their shoulders.

You can see it in their faces and it's really exciting and very rewarding for me to be a part of that and to know that we're having already having a significant impact on these students and their families as well, because.

It helps them tremendously or even a generational impact.

That's really cool.

So what are the criteria?

What's the application process like?

Is this something where if anyone applies to Chapman, they are automatically applying to the scholarship or do they have to apply separately?

You have to apply separately.

It's not automatic.

There's a separate, separate application that needs to be filled out.

The application is fairly straightforward and there is a focus on your personal story of adversity in the essay.

There are letters of recommendation as well that need to be submitted.

And because it's important that we establish that there's a financial need for this funding, that we do request that students forward tax forms for themselves and their parents to us.

And so we review that and then the next step is an interview with us.

And that would be after the students are accepted to the PA program.

Okay.

So it's kind of an ongoing.

Both processes go simultaneously.

And so we plan to notify everyone about the awards by end of September.

I said the cutoff for the application is September 15.

The criteria are that students are from underserved backgrounds, underserved minorities, or from underserved areas.

Those could be rural areas.

They are first generation college graduates.

Your siblings could also graduate.

It could be first generation college graduates as well.

And you'd still be qualified as long as your parents don't hold bachelor's degrees.

Students also are from history of personal adversity.

And it's not a contest of who has had the most adversity in their lives or the most challenging adversity.

It's really more important.

But what you learned, your ability to overcome those adversities and what you learned from them that we're really interested in what impact that had on your character, your decision making, your goals, your decision to become a PA and so also history of leadership, history of service to others, plans to.

Obviously you have to be.

You have to be accepted to the PA program here at Chapman.

And willingness made a make a commitment to staying in Orange county or San Diego county for three years.

San Diego, America's greatest city.

And Orange County, I mean, you're right down the.

Right down the street from the ocean here.

Students are surfing on the weekends and I can think of worst places to go to school and to live.

That's really beautiful here.

So most people don't have any problem with making A commitment to be here at all.

So those are, those are the main criteria.

But we're also looking for, again, primary residence in Orange or San Diego County.

If you're considering moving to these areas to establish residence, I would just contact us.

We can talk to you about that, how that could work.

I want to make sure I got everything there.

Economic adversity, and we talked about that and history of academic excellence and achievement.

Obviously, you know, you've got, you want to establish that you've got an academic strong record to be accepted to the Chapman PA program.

But again, many of these criteria are the same, similar criteria to the applicants to PA school.

And so the odds are that if you're applying to the Chapman's PA program, you may already satisfy the criteria for the scholarship award.

So definitely something that if you're interested, talk to us about that.

So that's kind of how the application process goes and the criteria.

So there are also other things that we look for when people do apply that may want to keep in mind.

Obviously, like I said, establishing financial need is really important.

I would say also that we look at what are you going to be doing with the award?

How are you going to take advantage of this opportunity?

Do you have hopes and dreams for having an impact after you graduate as a PA to help your community develop new programs?

So also looking at what kind of impact this will have not only on you, but on the world itself once you graduate, that's really a factor in what we're considering as well.

And that's in line with the goals and missions of the Simon Foundation.

Does that help?

Yeah, no, that definitely.

I mean that My next question is, what beyond just the criteria are you actually looking for?

And I feel like you just answered that completely.

And I think that, that this type of opportunity, I mean, like you said, it could be life changing for students.

And I think it's really cool, especially that y' all are focusing on your area and you're able to use the PA program to give back to your community.

And I think just for PAs in general in the PA profession and healthcare in general, but really for the PA profession, that's a great thing because people are going to see your PAs and your graduates and know the reputation that you have, especially based on these scholars.

So super, super, super cool opportunity.

And I think as more students learn about this, and I think for pre PA students and you may remember going through the process, I don't know how it was for you, but it's overwhelming and it's stressful without Even I think people don't even look at the financial side sometimes because they just are still trying to get all the requirements and make sure they're on track and apply and get their applications in.

And so all of that seems so overwhelming that they may forget to even look into these things as options.

And so I think by knowing that this is an option that Chapman University offers, that will help students to look at what programs are focusing on and really whether they are acting on their mission and on their principles and objectives that they have listed on their websites.

So I think y' all are walking the talk, talking, Walking the talk, talking the walk.

Whatever it is we're doing, whatever that is, we're doing it for sure.

Absolutely.

I think that, yeah, I think that from the top down, the university has a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

And by making this commitment to the program, the fact that we've accepted the first cohort of students from underserved areas, underserved populations, has already had an impact on diversity in the PA program.

And by definition, by having students, these students in the program, they're going to have an impact on diversity within the PA profession, which is a big.

An important topic and an important venture right now is improving diversity in the profession.

So we're making have an impact on both worlds, education and the future PA world.

So, yeah, it's been really wonderful and being a part of this, this product process, this program.

And yeah, we've got a ways to go.

We're still developing and like I said, recruiting.

And we'd love to talk to anybody out there who has an interest in the scholarship, if you're also interested in scholarships, obviously, definitely take a look.

If you don't have meet the criteria for this scholarship, you know, definitely take a close look at the NHSC scholarships.

It's very similar.

You make a connection to working in shortage areas after graduation, they help with a partial or full tuition scholarship.

Definitely take a look at that.

Look at the PA Foundation.

They've got scholarships available for students.

Look at your state's PA association for scholarships and awards.

But every single program will have a link to scholarships and awards that are unique to that program.

So I really, really recommend you take a look at those, because what I find, since I'm doing this, like I said, this is kind of a new career for me, managing scholarships, is that so many of the times students will assume that they don't have a shot at the scholarships.

Yeah.

And last year we received.

We didn't.

Since it wasn't publicized so much, we had just started marketing and we talked to students over and over again who said, I didn't think I had a chance of getting this scholarship award, so I didn't apply.

And you know, those folks may have had a chance at the scholarship.

You don't know how many other people are applying for these scholarships.

And I'd encourage people put your applications in and you just don't know.

So there's a couple of these folks that received our award for the full tuition.

They were shocked.

They thought they had no chance whatsoever.

And you know, to me it was amazing.

I thought that.

I think the people count themselves out pretty frequently on a lot of these scholarships and awards and it's a shame to pass up an opportunity like this when it's there.

Yes, just try for it.

Okay, so one last question, then we'll talk about who to contact just for clarification, because I know I'm going to get this question.

Yalls program starts in January.

Well, these are folks who have already applied to the Chapman PA program for this coming January.

And so this year folks are.

Yeah, correct.

And so for those that are interested in applying to both the Chapman PA program and the scholarship for next year, Our portal opens May 1st next year for the scholarship for the.

I think it's April 29, just a couple days before ours.

But they basically coincide both of the application cycles.

So that's kind of the timeline and but yeah, we're going year to year.

It's kind of a continuous cycle.

And so definitely interested in talking to folks who either applied to the current Chapman PA program or those that will be applying next year.

If you're going to be establishing residency in Orange or San Diego county prior to and moving here and thinking about going to school in Southern California and you're considering Chapman, we'd love to talk to you about that.

So yeah, that's basically.

Basically where we're at.

Is the best person to contact?

Is there a general email or contact or are you the best person or is that all that list on the website.

Where do you want it is listed on the website.

Our administrative coordinator is Ksenia Kvaruchko and she will be the point of contact for questions, any questions related to the scholarship program.

We can also connect you with the Chapman University PA program.

If you have questions specifically about the program, probably just go to the website and just give us some information about yourself or just reach out to us.

We'd love to talk to you about it and see what we can do to help out.

You never know, you may be going to PA school tuition free.

I know.

I'm so excited to hear from students.

I hope I get to hear when they get in and hear from y'.

All.

So, yeah, the biggest question I get from even the students who, you know, there are students actively in the program who got in before we started the program.

They said, is it too late to start again?

Can we go back and start all over?

I said, no, it's too late.

You already started, unfortunately.

But.

But yeah, yeah.

Hey, at least they asked.

I guess that's true.

You never know.

All right, guys, I hope this got you excited about this program and that it's something you'll look into.

If you have questions on where to go for more information, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram at the PA platform or send an email and I can point you you in the right direction.

Also look at the program website.

You can also just Google.

So Chapman University, Simon Scholar PA program, and all of the information will come up.

And I'm so excited for y' all to have this opportunity, and I really look forward to connecting with more Simon Scholars in the future.