MT2PA

As above, plenty of information out there. Or better yet, do a trauma surgery rotation. A first time poster with a laundry list of questions that can be answered with some research screams 'assignment for school'. Do some searching. Put in the work.

FWIW there is an EM PA residency (fellowship? can't remember which term they use) in Lakeland....if that's within your driving distance. You may have missed the window for applying this year but I have no idea. It's new but I have a classmate who seems to be getting a lot out of it (and is a true residency with learning, not an underpaid on the job training scam)

Nope. That's too low. You can't negotiate enough benefits to justify the low salary to make this worth it.

And I'd venture to say it's a stretch for HCE (sorry but housekeeping duties won't count). I guess patient transport COULD be HCE but usually HCE are professional type jobs that just don't have patient care (lab tech, X-ray tech, etc etc).

Average. Every program is different and any answer you get here is pure speculation. I could lie and tell you you're a shoe-in, but you aren't. No one is. They only way to find out your chances is apply and see what happens.

I'd list them as part of your HCE/PCE. It may have been 'shadowing' but it was part of your job training. As above - whatever you decide to list them as - make sure those hours only count once (i.e as shadowing OR job hours, not both).

You're really jumping the gun. Each program has their own rules about finding preceptors for rotations. If you have connections locally you could informally reach out and see if they would be willing to precept you in the future. There is a LOT of paperwork that goes into setting these up and it's nothing you can do ahead of time. Just be patient and wait until your program starts talking to you about your clinical year - trust me, they do this months in advance of starting your first rotation. They know what they're doing and the timeline for rotations. Trust them. You might rub a lot of people the wrong way if you show up day one (or even before you start!) worrying about this. Your program's clinical year staff can only work on one cohort at a time...they aren't ready for you yet. Be patient.

GW is unique in that you do not get evaluated by the school of public health for admissions. Long ago they decided that if the PA program found you acceptable/worthy of admission, you would be good enough for the public health program therefore they essentially defer to the PA admissions committee's decisions. At least that's how it used to be and I doubt that's changed. You are evaluated the same as the PA only applicants. Because the dual program may be more difficult (if for no other reason than 3 years of full time school is a LOT), they do NOT look at those apps more 'softly'. Pure speculation here, but I would imagine they look at those more closely - you have to be able to handle the load. If you can't handle the PA program alone, you certainly won't be able to handle the dual program. There are a larger number of applicants for the PA only route, but there are also more spots....ratio wise I think it's pretty even of applicants/interviews to spots available. Don't over think this. If you have a reason/desire to get a public health degree, then apply for the dual route. You still have to be a good applicant for the PA program.

You're overthinking the data. It's a good offer for FP for a new grad. RE: PTO - 3 weeks most likely equates to 120 hrs (i.e 40 hrs/week x 3 weeks), not 21 days. You should clarify though that that's what you get. It's low/average. As long as your CME week is separate it's not bad.

Plan on 3 months. The earliest for my class for starting was about 3 months after graduating and that's with most of us taking PANCE 1-2 weeks after graduation. Everything takes time and it's sequential. That's for those of us that had positions prior to graduating.

I can tell you the market is NOT bad enough in the area to be taking scribe jobs just for the chance to be near a physician who might be hiring (also, who wants their first impression to be hey I'm so desperate for a job I'll scribe...but please hire me as a PA?!). VA is like any other area....maybe harder to find jobs in a 'city', sure. But also very much pick 2 of the 3: location, specialty, pay. If you're so desperate you're considering a scribe position, you're ignoring real openings that may just not be exactly what you want.

It's a little unfair given my specialty, but 500k tops the WBC counts for me. But that's CLL for ya.

If you're going to consider not taking it, you need to look at the programs that don't require it and A: decide if those are programs you would otherwise be competitive for and B: if those are programs you would like to attend. Of all the ways to pick programs to apply to, choosing ones simply because they don't require the GRE seems like the least valuable measure in the long run.

Instead of highjacking an unrelated thread, go find the NHSC postings in the forum.

Frankly, I think it would NOT qualify as PCE. Maybe if you had the degree/training behind it (i.e actually a licensed LCSW). Maybe. It's unique experience for sure. Your best bet will be to contact programs individually.