Needed tips for becoming a PA

[Clecka]

Recently I've decided to pursue the path of becoming a PA, however I am in need of a few pointers in getting the right direction from here. I currently have a 3.5 GPA and 4.0 in science GPA (however I have only taken a handful). I'm hoping to graduate with a 3.7GPA. It would have been higher by now but I had to deal with a few very hard family and personal matters which hindered my GPA for one semester. My major is a bachelor of science in psychology. I'm well aware that it would have been better to have a science degree, but I've heard you can get in with any major as long as you have requirements filled. I have a bunch of volunteering hours outside of mental health (community events etc), and some shadowing from a PA. As for a letter of recommendation, I already have one from a professor. Also have a few extra curricular activities with the national leadership society.

My main problem is that I'm lacking on hands on experience with patients. I'm not sure what jobs would help fulfill that requirement with my unfinished degree. One medical student recommended to start as a medical scribe. If needed I can take a year off after I finish my BS in psychology and work as an assistant in psychology. I'm just very unsure where to get most of this hands on experience without getting some sort of medical certification (which I'm not opposed to). Another problem is that I'm from a rural place in the US, so I'm not sure if schools would look down on that aspect. As you can probably tell I'm mostly interested in mental health. I like psychology, however I found myself drawn more to the medical aspects rather than just therapeutic methods. 

 

Right now I have around 2 years left to build any lacking experience for applying. That's calculating in the time to take classes that are required for applying. If any of you guys have any extra tips you can give me that would be great!

[rev ronin]

* Psych degree is fine.  I do A LOT of mental health work in primary care.  Before PA school I had 24 semester hours of behavioral/social sciences (general, abnormal, developmental psych, death/dying, cultural anthropology, 2 graduate courses in pastoral counseling) and I wish I'd had even more.  I was among the best prepared of my classmates, but I still wish I'd had more in PA school.

* GPA is fine.

* If you're rural currently, see if you can get volunteer EMT experience.  If anything rural background is a plus.

* If you want full scope Psych work and have plenty of flexibility, consider a direct entry Psych NP program straight after your bachelor's.  Mind you, lots of people change their mind in PA school, and a psych NP can pretty much only do psych work forever, but they get to mix drugs and talk therapy.

[all.things.pac@gmail.com]

Everyone has a couple of bumps in the road, and a 3.7 is high enough to get you an interview at most schools considering you have their other requirements.  Come to think of it I don't think I've seen anything higher than a 3.5 for the minimum (although they may end up accepting students with a higher average gpa).  I also had a bachelors in psychology and still ended up accepted on my first try--you can definitely find ways to highlight that on your application!!  As long as you have the minimum or above you can't ask for more than that!  Get your pre-reqs, do well in your sciences, shadow PA's, get HCE and have strong LOR and personal statement.  It's all you have control over!  Every school is different with what counts as HCE so I would start by making a list of the programs you want to apply to so that you can examine what they accept as HCE and what type of student they prefer! Psychiatry is extremely underserved in the medical world.  it would not hurt to say that you are interested in that but I would also let them know that you are open to all areas of medicine and what PA school/clinical rotations would have to offer your medical education.  

Absolutes:

know about the profession

don't say you just want to practice medicine.  PA's are passionate about their career and we want people who are that way too! :)

take any  opportunity to learn

ask anyone and everyone you know for shadowing opportunities.  

 

squeaky wheel gets the grease!  

 

Good luck!!

[aquariuspa]

Hey guys! Does anyone know of any PA programs that offer advanced standing to graduates of international medical schools? I recently read on Baylor's PA program website that they do allow international medical graduates to skip the didactic year if they show competency through a test and just complete rotations and take the PANCE. Are there any other ones that do that as well?

[Clecka]

Thank you so much for your replies, I'll start looking into any other requirements I am lacking. If anyone can answer this, would working as a mental health specialist count as hands on experience? I would be working with patients who have a mental illness of some sort. I'm not sure if this would fulfill hands on experience. If it wouldn't would it be better to get CNA or EMT training and use that instead?

[newton9686]

Clecka, so my first thought is yes. However to be sure I would send your job description to schools you are interested in and ask if they would consider this direct care experience.