lgregsPAS Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 Hello all. I'm looking for information regarding direct commission into the Navy as a PA. I'm currently in PA school and will graduate in Dec 2018. So I'm looking at commissioning in January of 2019. I have read through almost all of the PA forums in the military section and I it is very helpful to hear about everyone's experiences! I have contacted my recruiter and it took a little bit of clarification for him to understand that while I am in PA school, when I graduate, I am not trying to get into the military PA school. I want to direct commission. After we got on the same page, he told me that I can't direct commission without any experience as a PA. After reading through most of the forums, I know that's not true. Other people in the forum have direct commissioned without previous experience as a PA. Or maybe I misinterpreted and that isn't true. Prior to PA school, I was on a volunteer fire department for 4.5 years and I worked full-time for an ambulance service at a busy service for 3.5 years. Do I politely argue with my recruiter? Or find another recruiter that knows what PAs do? Any advice? Thank you very much for your all's time! I appreciate any information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croooz Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 The recruiter you contacted may not be a medical recruiter...then again they might be. Best to call around. You may be able to get a direct commission however perhaps not in your timeline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator LT_Oneal_PAC Posted June 21, 2017 Moderator Share Posted June 21, 2017 You need to speak with a medical recruiter. A recruiter at any random stop is going to have no idea wtf to do with you. Literally no clue or even who to call. That said, I've known several direct commissions. While you don't need experience as a PA, none of them were able to start immediately after graduating. All ended up having to get some temp job for 6 months to one year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayfmu Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 I'm going through that process of direct commissioning after graduation, so I will comment on my experience and what I've been told. I have gone through the physical to qualify and have submitted all the paperwork. I was told by my recruiter that 6 months before I graduate I will have to come back to her and begin the process of finalizing my commitment to the Navy, as I have not signed a contract as of yet. By doing this before I graduate I will start right into the Navy after graduating school, meaning I will be sent to OCS and so forth with no need for work experience as a civilian. My recruiter told me that if I waited until after I graduated I would have to wait 6 months to a year before I could completely join the navy as a PA because then I would have to have job experience with references from employers before I could enlist. I'm not trying to explain the reasoning behind this because I cannot, this is what I was told. My recruiter has signed up PA's before so I am inclined to believe her. So from where I stand, if you want to go straight into the Navy you will have to have all the preliminary work (physical, paperwork, background checks, and so forth) done BEFORE you officially graduate. I'm on course to graduate Dec of 18 as well, and if the information I was given is correct you want to get started on this ASAP. -j Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgregsPAS Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 I'm going through that process of direct commissioning after graduation, so I will comment on my experience and what I've been told. I have gone through the physical to qualify and have submitted all the paperwork. I was told by my recruiter that 6 months before I graduate I will have to come back to her and begin the process of finalizing my commitment to the Navy, as I have not signed a contract as of yet. By doing this before I graduate I will start right into the Navy after graduating school, meaning I will be sent to OCS and so forth with no need for work experience as a civilian. My recruiter told me that if I waited until after I graduated I would have to wait 6 months to a year before I could completely join the navy as a PA because then I would have to have job experience with references from employers before I could enlist. I'm not trying to explain the reasoning behind this because I cannot, this is what I was told. My recruiter has signed up PA's before so I am inclined to believe her. So from where I stand, if you want to go straight into the Navy you will have to have all the preliminary work (physical, paperwork, background checks, and so forth) done BEFORE you officially graduate. I'm on course to graduate Dec of 18 as well, and if the information I was given is correct you want to get started on this ASAP. -j This is exactly the information I was looking for! Thank you! The person I talked to is supposed to be my medical officer recruiter. But he didn't seem to be very knowledgable. Do you mind me asking who your recruiter is? Or what city they are out of. I would appreciate being able to talk with someone who knows more about PAs and is more familiar with the process. Thank you so much for your help! LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgregsPAS Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 You need to speak with a medical recruiter. A recruiter at any random stop is going to have no idea wtf to do with you. Literally no clue or even who to call. That said, I've known several direct commissions. While you don't need experience as a PA, none of them were able to start immediately after graduating. All ended up having to get some temp job for 6 months to one year. Thank you Sir for the information. I really appreciate it. LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lgregsPAS Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 The recruiter you contacted may not be a medical recruiter...then again they might be. Best to call around. You may be able to get a direct commission however perhaps not in your timeline. Thank you for the information. I appreciate it! LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arion50 Posted August 23, 2017 Share Posted August 23, 2017 On 21/06/2017 at 7:24 PM, LT_Oneal_PAC said: You need to speak with a medical recruiter. A recruiter at any random stop is going to have no idea wtf to do with you. Literally no clue or even who to call. That said, I've known several direct commissions taxi cdg. While you don't need experience as a PA, none of them were able to start immediately after graduating. All ended up having to get some temp job for 6 months to one year. Thank you for this advice, it's really great to have shared it with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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