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Hi everybody! So, I have been on the road to PA school for the past 7(!) years. I honestly didn't think it would take this long but life gets in the way sometimes. I am applying to programs this spring and I've turned out to be quite the non-traditional applicant, as I'll detail below: -Massage therapist for the past 11 years, mostly working independently for more money but also in chiropractic and acupuncture offices as I do now -Life science major at community college (mostly just knowing out PA pre-reqs, before the state of CA decides to get rid of all PA certificate programs at CC's). Did pretty well there. -Transferred and got a BS in anthropology (GPA: 3.7), since I already had my pre-reqs done and just needed a bachelors, I decided to study something I felt would make me more well-rounded in my understanding of people (and boy did it ever!) without having to risk possibly not getting accepted right away due to impacted life science majors at my college -Clinical care volunteer at a large hospital since May '16 -Quit a slave-like scribe job after 5 weeks in the ER to accept a job as a behavioral therapist doing applied behavioral analysis (ABA) with autistic kids. I wanted to be more "hands on", work with staff who bother to know my name, and a huge boost in pay didn't hut either. I had applied for physical therapy aide jobs as well but many of them seem to want people who are on the road to PT and have an exercise background, despite often wanting PT aides to do some massage therapy. Maybe I'm just getting cold feet but I worry that my background will be too off the beaten path. I'd like to hear of any success stories from those who had non-traditional backgrounds yet still got accepted into PA progams, if there are any. Thanks in advance!

Hi, I'm currently a senior in high school and I'm interested in entering the medical field and becoming a future PA. Before I start applying for colleges, I would like to know all of the necessary requirements, classes, prerequisites, etc. that I would need before applying for PA school. What should I major in? Would I be at an advantage if I was an RN for a few years and then go on to PA school? Any advice you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I am wondering what the best route to take from your undergrad to PA School is. To me, nursing as opposed to a biology or health sciences, et. would be the most logical, because not only are you taking the same prerequisites as any other major, but you are getting the most hands on experience working directly with patients and in a hospital or other health care setting. You can also get all your clinical hours acquired through this route, and work as a nurse before applying to PA school to finish courses or to pay off loans. Will PA schools see that I am a nurse and think that being a PA was just a second option (which in reality it is the primary goal) and therefore not consider the application as much? Also, will this discourage my advisors and other people I will be working under or learning under during nursing school? I understand getting into PA school is very difficult and extremely competitive and that is why I want something good to fall back on with my undergraduate degree, and nursing has many routes I can take as opposed to some other undergraduate degrees. Any thoughts on this route or if not, a better major to choose?

I was pre-physical therapy but after doing research I realized thats not for me and PA's actually have more autonomy than PTs.