Posted By: Paul | Become a PA | 4 Comments
What does it take to get into PA school? Wonder no more - Inside PA Training has put together a simple infographic that answers the question. It’s fairly basic, but that’s the idea: to keep you focused on the big picture. Study it, learn it — heck, print it and post it over your desk to keep you motivated. If you have all these ingredients, you’re probably going to make it into (what we think) is the best career out there - Physician Assistant Medicine.
Hey… I worked as a Life Enrichment director at an assisted living and as an activity therapist at a state mental health hospital. I am wondering would those hours be considered as clinical experience. They were hands on with the patients and I had to do several assessments, etc. on the clients in which I served.
You will get some credit for working with patients, but if Life Enrichment Director is like an activity coordinator, it won’t be for the all-important Patient Care Experience. You need to be doing some form of assessment and/or treatment. Activity therapist will be better, as, like you said, you did some assessment.
But step back and see the big picture. Your experience with patients isn’t very medical, and you’re trying to step into a medical profession. Go and get some true medical experience. EMT, ER volunteer, Medical Assistant, or any of the other jobs that are in a true medical environment. Here’s an article that will help you decide what to do (click).
I am a current freshman in college who is very interested in becoming a PA! I am job shadowing one tomorrow to get more feel for the profession. I am wondering about the health care experience portion of applying to PA school- do most PA’s spend an extra three years after their undergraduate time to gain this experience before applying to a PA program? Is there a way to gain all the experience over the summer/during undergraduate school so I won’t have to take such a long break after my undergraduate years before going to PA school? Thank you, I appreciate it!
Generally, yes. The average age of starting PA school is 27 for a reason: it takes time to accrue the necessary health care experience. But some do it quickly by working a lot of hours and getting good quality experience. In general my favorite recommendation (that I suspect too many people DON’T take) is to wait on HCE until you’re out of undergrad. The reason is simple: if you blow your grades in college because you spread yourself too thin, it’s tough cookies. Those grades will be on your transcripts FOREVER, and I have people messaging me all the time wishing they could do them over or wondering how they can get the admissions committees to “overlook” them. So focus on school now to make sure that when you’re done your chances of getting into PA school are good. All things being equal, a 22 year old right out of college with a 3.7 GPA and little or no healthcare experience will have an easier time getting in than a 25 year old with 3 years experience as a paramedic and a 3.1 GPA.