Are there any "at your own pace" online colleges?

March 24, 2021 5:43 PM

I need to quickly finish several biology classes as pre-requisites for physician assistant school. Are there any colleges or community colleges in USA that have "complete at your own pace" courses, so I could potentially do something like Anatomy 1 over the next 6 weeks, and Anatomy 2 over the few weeks after that? I know Houston Community college offers multiple "summer semesters" but I want something even more malleable.
posted by maxexam to Education (7 answers total)

Yes. There are lots. Search for “online self-paced”.
posted by turtlefu at 7:19 PM on March 24, 2021

I just checked that Western Governors University teaches Anatomy I and II. Have not taken any of their courses, have heard someone praise their mastery-based rather than schedule-based system.
posted by clew at 7:47 PM on March 24, 2021

Do you already have knowledge of anatomy? These courses tend to be really intense. I took a normal semester anatomy 2 course this past fall and it is not for the faint of heart. It's a lot of material and a lot of processes. It's the kind of thing you want full mastery of if you're going into diagnostic medicine, and even through the PA program it should be deepening the knowledge of anatomy, not just review. Like fully half of my class dropped out because there was too much material to cover. I was only taking one other class at the time, but anatomy 2 took easily 25-30 hours of study time a week for me, including the online lectures.
posted by erattacorrige at 8:44 PM on March 24, 2021 [4 favorites]

This sounds like competency-based education (CBE). If you feel like you could ace Anatomy I in a week or two without doing the busy work, CBE (theoretically, in some implementations) allows you to do that. As clew mentioned, "mastery-based" is a related search term; CBE is mastery-based AFAICT.
posted by CheesesOfBrazil at 3:53 AM on March 25, 2021

Two of my dearest friends have undergraduate degrees from Western Governors and were very happy at the pace they were able to get done (BFF got done in 3 6-month terms. Granted, that was bach #2 and she already had two masters [it's a long story], but). I know nothing about their science offerings, but overall, they both recommend the school. (One caveat, the mentorship is kind of heavy handed. It took awhile for BFF to convince her mentor that no, really, this is degree #4, I don't need hand holding.)
posted by joycehealy at 10:52 AM on March 25, 2021

You should definitely get written documentation from the physician assistant school you are applying to that any particular CBE or self-paced option you are interested in will meet your pre-requisite/admission requirements. The PA programs I am familiar with have VERY specific requirements for the types of Anatomy and Physiology classes they will accept, down to the types of lab experiences students have and in some cases the textbooks used. So... if you find something that meets your timeline, be sure to get confirmation that it will count for your desired program.
posted by mjcon at 7:12 PM on March 25, 2021

I sent you some memail , op
posted by elgee at 12:38 PM on March 26, 2021