EMEDPA

many programs have thousands of applications for a class of 30-50. You need all your ducks in a row to apply and gain admission. It is a very competitive process. the typical applicant works for several years(average is > 2000 hours) in health care after college before applying and has considerable time shadowing PAs and volunteering in some capacity. I was a pretty typical applicant/attendee at my program with a BS degree with good grades, 5 years as an ER tech and 5 years as a paramedic. I was one of the youngest in my class. class avg age was 35. it is more like 26 now I think.

You will still need all the prereqs, good grades, and HCE to get in. There is a military PA program (IPAP) that gives preference to folks with significant military experience. As a point of clarification, there is no S at the end of physician in physician assistant. Your college academy background sounds challenging, but compare this to a single parent raising a child while working full time as a paramedic and attending college at the same time. Everyone has their challenges...long answer to your question if you will get preference based on attending a service academy. you probably won't. (no disrespect intended- and I say this as someone who almost attended West Point).

They do report an overall score and tell you what the pass level was on that particular test. For most folks it looks something like this: Your score 540 required pass 325

the bar is set pretty low for a pass. also, many of the questions you felt were hard may have been trial questions, which are not graded. If you did well in school I am sure you passed. as mentioned above, the vast majority of folks do.

I assume there is an SP involved in this mess. Maybe round with them one day and pick up some info from them. This sounds shady to me as well. you need everything in writing asap.

I have been using Thiamine, steroids, and Vitamin C for sepsis, 1.5gm IV. There are a few ongoing studies showing it may help. https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(16)62564-3/fulltext

Whitaker was first American to summit Everest. I met Ed Viesturs a few years ago too( only American to complete all 14 8000 meter peaks and 5th ever to use no o2). Nice guy. Also signed a book for me. http://www.edviesturs.com/about-ed

yup, my dad was an old school nose to the grindstone doc. he did very well for himself, but was not very good at work/life balance. If he had been, I have no doubt that I would be a doc now.

double that for em....

EM docs as a group are pretty happy. most work 10-12 8-12 hr shifts/month and make 250k-350k/yr. If my kid wanted to go into medicine I would recommend MD/DO >>>>any other pathway.

you have good grades and your experience is better than 90% of today's applicants. Shadow a PA and/or get a letter from a PA you work with if at all possible to show you know about the profession through close exposure. I had two letters, one written by a doc I worked with for years, and the other by a PA I worked with for years. I was not even going to apply to the program I ended up attending except for the recommendation of that PA. he was right. I could not have asked for a better education than I got at Drexel. Look carefully at the rotations offered by the programs you are considering. Try to focus your applications on well established programs around 10-20 + years as they tend to have the best sites. Best of luck.

I think you would be a fine addition to any PA program and our profession. A program would be silly not to offer you an interview with your background and stats. best of luck! Please add U.WA/Medex to your list of programs. You meet their experience requirements with 2000 hours of HCE so far and would fit in well there with your background. ( I have heard they have the best clinical preceptors too.....:) )

I was the highest paid APC in that group and made 75/hr. most folks there made 65/hr. At my new job I make $15/hr less than the FP docs who are there on the days I am not and about 60% of what the EM boarded guys make. . I am good with that.

Jim Wickwire. he gave a talk in Portland with a slide show a few years ago about his ascent of K2 and surviving the highest overnight bivouac in history near the summit. I got him to sign a copy of his book for me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wickwire https://www.amazon.com/Addicted-Danger-Affirming-Life-Death/dp/0671019910

I am a big fan of this K2. Met the first American to summit it a few years ago...