Prior service member back in school to become PA.

[sownsu]

Hello all!

I recently just separated honorably from the Regular Army, after four years

Just some quick facts about myself:

My wife is enlisted in the Air Force, active duty - enlisted
I plan on using my post 9/11 GI Bill to attend University of Wyoming, I will be attending as a Freshman
I am in the Wyoming National Guard
I am in the ROTC program at my university.
I am working on obtaining any scholarships I can grab.
My current major is Biology, to become a PA. (The reason why I chose Biology as my major is because some of the prereq for PA school do collide with one another)
I do plan on continuing my service in Army, hoping for national guard, but active duty won't hurt.
And plan on getting my degree within 3 years, working throughout all semesters. 


So, I am hoping there are others who have been in my shoes, ie prior service into college/rotc/ng back into the service as an officer PA.

My questions are; 

Since I am in ROTC I will be considered a cadet in the national guard, following an officer around "shadowing" to gain more knowledge of leadership, etc. Which I am hoping to follow a medical field officer.
Would that be considered as my clinical hours? 

Would ROTC/Army guarantee a position as a PA; as long as I graduate, met all the req and prereq for PA school.

Would I be able to attend PA school right after graduating / commissioning in?

General time frame for PA school? 

Any information will be helpful.

Please if you use any explain any abbreviations used. 

Thanks again for your time and help!

 

 

 

 

[sownsu]

And I also understand nearly everything is based off the needs of the Army.

However I heard for National Guard, it's different...  Can anyone give me some insight to this?

[Steve]

 

Hello all!

 

I recently just separated honorably from the Regular Army, after four years

 

Just some quick facts about myself:

 

My wife is enlisted in the Air Force, active duty - enlisted

I plan on using my post 9/11 GI Bill to attend University of Wyoming, I will be attending as a Freshman

I am in the Wyoming National Guard

I am in the ROTC program at my university.

I am working on obtaining any scholarships I can grab.

My current major is Biology, to become a PA. (The reason why I chose Biology as my major is because some of the prereq for PA school do collide with one another)

I do plan on continuing my service in Army, hoping for national guard, but active duty won't hurt.

And plan on getting my degree within 3 years, working throughout all semesters. 

 

 

So, I am hoping there are others who have been in my shoes, ie prior service into college/rotc/ng back into the service as an officer PA.

 

My questions are; 

 

Since I am in ROTC I will be considered a cadet in the national guard, following an officer around "shadowing" to gain more knowledge of leadership, etc. Which I am hoping to follow a medical field officer.

Would that be considered as my clinical hours? 

 

Would ROTC/Army guarantee a position as a PA; as long as I graduate, met all the req and prereq for PA school.

 

Would I be able to attend PA school right after graduating / commissioning in?

 

General time frame for PA school? 

 

Any information will be helpful.

 

Please if you use any explain any abbreviations used. 

 

Thanks again for your time and help!

 

 

 

 

 

I looked into some of your questions a few months ago, and to be honest, the best way to become a PA is without affiliating with the Army. The problem is that you're ROTC now, meaning that you'll be obligated to service for however many years(I'm not sure what it is). During that obligation, it will be impossible to attend a civilian PA school. They are full time ~27 months and with your commitment to your unit, it just won't work. They have IPAP within the guard/reserves/active which may be a better path for you.

[3GeronimoPA]

Talk to your state (or any state's) AMEDD recruiter.  If they have a slot, they can bring you onto their books with a recognized commission while you attend PA school.  Active Duty is over strenght and is slashing 95 PA positions over the course of this anticipated draw down.  This means the guard can strong arm as many slots as they have available from IPAP.  They will be the only people who may be able to guarantee you a slot if you are fully qualified.  Staying Guard and hammering this stuff out on the civilian side and away from IPAP is your next best step.  You do not want to be a PA on active duty until another war kicks off.  Things have recently moved to the next level of stupid as far as promotions go and the bonuses have significantly changed as well.  It's kinda like we had a seat at the table as long as we were willing to do something no one else was willing to do.  Now we are being told to conform to the expectations of abandoning taking care of Soldiers and training medics in order to pursue 1.0FTE in clinic and non-medical leadership jobs out of clinic.  What do my brothers and sisters on Ft. Bliss get in return for working 12-14 hour days 5 days a week away from their families?  They get to go work overflow from the ER out fo their hospital's family medicine clinic for a day of acute appointments for a day on the weekend every few weeks.  Military medical leaders have completely divorced themselves from being what the Army needed.  Now we are becoming a twin image of our civilian counterparts except we have providers who can't say no or quit their jobs.  There's no representative for the providers who will say, "these hours are draconian".  There are only people who know how to tell their bosses yes and tell you no when it comes to your time.  Sorry to be a downer but I figured I owed you an honest assessment of what an active duty guy would consider "viable options" in your shoes.  Pick up the phone.  The worst they can tell you is no....

[sownsu]

I looked into some of your questions a few months ago, and to be honest, the best way to become a PA is without affiliating with the Army. The problem is that you're ROTC now, meaning that you'll be obligated to service for however many years(I'm not sure what it is). During that obligation, it will be impossible to attend a civilian PA school. They are full time ~27 months and with your commitment to your unit, it just won't work. They have IPAP within the guard/reserves/active which may be a better path for you.

I haven't contracted with ROTC yet, but I might just have to in order to avoid going to another AIT because swapped from 11b to 68G when I left Active Duty to NG.

 

 

 

Talk to your state (or any state's) AMEDD recruiter.  If they have a slot, they can bring you onto their books with a recognized commission while you attend PA school.  Active Duty is over strenght and is slashing 95 PA positions over the course of this anticipated draw down.  This means the guard can strong arm as many slots as they have available from IPAP.  They will be the only people who may be able to guarantee you a slot if you are fully qualified.  Staying Guard and hammering this stuff out on the civilian side and away from IPAP is your next best step.  You do not want to be a PA on active duty until another war kicks off.  Things have recently moved to the next level of stupid as far as promotions go and the bonuses have significantly changed as well.  It's kinda like we had a seat at the table as long as we were willing to do something no one else was willing to do.  Now we are being told to conform to the expectations of abandoning taking care of Soldiers and training medics in order to pursue 1.0FTE in clinic and non-medical leadership jobs out of clinic.  What do my brothers and sisters on Ft. Bliss get in return for working 12-14 hour days 5 days a week away from their families?  They get to go work overflow from the ER out fo their hospital's family medicine clinic for a day of acute appointments for a day on the weekend every few weeks.  Military medical leaders have completely divorced themselves from being what the Army needed.  Now we are becoming a twin image of our civilian counterparts except we have providers who can't say no or quit their jobs.  There's no representative for the providers who will say, "these hours are draconian".  There are only people who know how to tell their bosses yes and tell you no when it comes to your time.  Sorry to be a downer but I figured I owed you an honest assessment of what an active duty guy would consider "viable options" in your shoes.  Pick up the phone.  The worst they can tell you is no....

 

I've been hearing that a lot, about just finishing up as a civilian would be easier, which I'll have to think about.

 

I am also, or was from Fort Bliss; 3/1 AD 1-41.

But I appreciate your response, really opens my mind up to decide what I wanna choose. 

[OrthoSurgeryPA]

I would ask our questions directly: http://www.usarec.army.mil/armypa/

[sownsu]

I would ask our questions directly: http://www.usarec.army.mil/armypa/

Thank you, I already sent them an email last week.

 

Just trying to obtain all information I can =]

[EMEDPA]

shadowing is generally not considered hce(to answer another of your questions).

hce is hands on, best done with some kind of certification like emt, cna, etc. and generally required to be paid time.

[OrthoSurgeryPA]

To piggy-back on what -E said, SIGNIFICANT HCE is preferable to Adcoms. This may or may not be paid but direct hands-on HCE will always make you more competitive. Good luck in your journey.