Liaison’s Leah Bianchi recently caught up with Clyde R. “Rick” Edwards, MHS, PA-C, co-director of admissions and clinical assistant professor at East Carolina University’s Department of Physician Assistant Studies. Rick, who will be a presenter at the Liaison User Conference later this week, talks about his upcoming visit to Boston for the event.
Leah Bianchi (LB), Liaison: How long have you been with East Carolina University (ECU)? What did you do before this role?
Rick Edwards (RE), East Carolina University: I have worked at ECU as an assistant professor in their physician assistant (PA) program since 2014. Prior to that, I was a clinically practicing PA for over 15 years.
LB: How long have you worked with Liaison’s products and services? What has your experience with Liaison been?
RE: I have served as the program director of admissions for just over two years. During that time, we have extensively used Liason’s CASPA™ (Central Application Service for Physician Assistants™) to collect and verify applicant information. I can’t imagine how much more difficult it would be to process the information without that service.
LB: What are you looking forward to at the Liaison User Conference?
RE: I look forward to having the opportunity to learn tips and pearls from other individuals who are involved in some way in the admissions process.
LB: You submitted a session via our Call for Speakers, and we were quite excited to accept it! Can you give readers an overview of what inspired your proposal?
RE: We learned of an interview modality called Multiple Mini Interviews and decided to implement it. After a few tweaks to the program, we have noted a drop in unprofessional student behaviors and the need for remediation. We feel that we can get a better look at an applicant using that modality.
LB: Who do you believe would get the most out of attending your session (e.g., current CAS users, people considering CAS, etc.)?
RE: Admissions personnel.
LB: Anything non-conference related that you’re looking forward to while you’re visiting Boston?
RE: Real clam chowder!
Download the Liaison User Conference app to add Rick’s session, Using Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI) in the Admissions Process, to your agenda.