Hello All, (Seeking Advice)

[ChristopherGillespie]

I am new to the forum here, and this will be my first post. As of lately, I've been stressing out because of everything that has happened to me and the decisions I need to make for my future. 

Currently I attend Pace University for Accounting and Taxation, but my heart is not in it. I've always wanted to be in the health professions I just never had the guts to actually sit down and decide that this is what I want to do. I decided to transfer in the Spring to my local Community College (Orange County CC - NY). I was going to try and get into the Nursing Program, but I heard there could be such a long way for it. 

I've been thinking more and more, and I don't want to be that male nurse, to do all the heavy lifting. I also want to help the community. My GPA hasn't been that stellar but I've only been in college for 3 semesters and it probably looks bad that I haven't been doing well, and I keep changing my mind. 

My first semester I attended a school upstate (which I won't disclose) but I was attacked, leaving every bone in the left side of my face broke. This was a blessing because it lead me to what I actually want to do and that is to help people. I transferred to Pace U in NYC in the Spring of 2013. In which I was still dealing with the case and everything which ended up closing because the police had a mishap in their investigation. My first semester I got a 2.56, given I was out of school for about a month. I was also really scared to go back to school but forced myself.

My second semester I got a 3.3, which isn't too bad, but I know I can do better. This semester I haven't been doing well.. My grandmother passed away in front of me, while I was visiting her in the hospital on Thanksgiving night. This gave me another dosage of why I want to be in the medical field. I don't know if I'm going to actually finish off great or not.

I did look into medical school as well, but I just can't see myself doing 9-12 long years of schooling+residency. I'm the first kid in my family to actually go to college which is stressing as well, because there is added pressure to do well. 

Y'all are probably asking why I want to be a PA rather than just a RN. Well the fact is, I do want some leniency in being in charge. I don't want to change diapers for a living, or like I said do the heavy lifting. I want to make sure a person is comfortable and ultimately feel pleased with the care they have been given. 

I want to go into Emergency Medicine, (I don't know exactly what the equivalent to that is for a PA). I find the urgency and the need is constant, and what exactly I am looking for. Hopefully when I do attain my BS in Nursing that I am able to work in Trauma or the ER.

I guess what I am ultimately trying to ask is for advice. What should my steps be? Should I go into Nursing or should I do a normal degree in science while getting health care experience? I did apply to become a scribe at my local hospital, and the Chief Scribe told me that he would be pleased to have me on the team, just not currently as he isn't hiring anyone.. Which kind of gives me a glimmer of hope, because I want to be in the hospital doing whatever I can!

Thanks in advanced to everyone that helps me -- and I am sorry that this is quite long.

[UGoLong]

From the sound of your post, your only experience in the healthcare business is as a patient and a family member. That's fine; we come to this profession from somewhere else. The question that your post raises in my mind is what have you done to research the path you want to follow from here on out? 

 

You've had a rough road so far. I would suggest that you be quicker to get input than to radically change your life direction. Spend some time shadowing nurses and PAs before you transfer schools or start to figure out now to get from here to there. It is very easy in life to head in a direction and only later realize that it's the wrong one for you.

 

Calm down, be patient, and do your research. In the mean time, do well in whatever it is that you take in school.  And, if the attack is still affecting your performance, get some counseling for that too. Regardless of where you head from here in life, you will need to put yourself in order first.

 

Good luck!

[JohnnyM2]

You have an interesting story overcoming adversity. The first thing you need to do is get focused and get the grades up. You seem to communicate well and have a good attitude about improving your grades. Now you need to do it! Being an er scribe is great experience. Start looking at PA school prerequisites and put together a game plan. 1) good grades - try to graduate with a 3.5. 2) Do some PA shadowing so you will know what a PA career is all about. If you can, shadow PAs in more than one specialty. 3) Many schools require HCE and being a scribe is a terrific way to get it. My daughter is a scribe and has learned an unbelievable amount of medicine. When she starts PA school in May, she will have two full years of scribe experience and knowledge. 4) At some point try to do some volunteer work to round out your resume. This isn't the only game plan and others have successfully followed different plans, but you need a plan and you need to know why you want to become a PA. Not wanting to change diapers or be the male nurse who gets called to do the heavy lifting are not reasons to be a PA. Wanting to help people is also not a sufficient reason. There are lots of ways to help people without becoming a PA. Try to learn enough about the profession so that you can exactly verbalize why a career as a PA is your vocation. Good luck.

 

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[dilemma84]

I would definitely recommend you to shadow nurses and Pa's first to understand the roles of each. Not all nurses do the heavy lifting and changing diapers. That is more for the CNAs to do. In addition, there is nothing wrong with being a male nurse. Pa programs are very challenging. They require great commitments and determination. My suggestion is to get your BSN first. It is a job in demand. If you like being a nurse later on you can stick with that. If you decide being a PA later on is for you then you have your BSN to go to work for your HCE. 

[Baloo]

I would definitely recommend you to shadow nurses and Pa's first to understand the roles of each. Not all nurses do the heavy lifting and changing diapers. That is more for the CNAs to do. In addition, there is nothing wrong with being a male nurse. Pa programs are very challenging. They require great commitments and determination. My suggestion is to get your BSN first. It is a job in demand. If you like being a nurse later on you can stick with that. If you decide being a PA later on is for you then you have your BSN to go to work for your HCE. 

 

I would second exactly what ru2013 said, they laid out an excellent game plan for you. Not only will that give you time to get your GPA up (which should be your top priority) but you will be able to accrue a lot of quality HCE and will be light years ahead of your classmates in PA school, should that be your path, who just did a phlebotomy course. Another option would be to finish your degree and get an EMT-B certification over the summer. Regardless of what you chose, sit down and list out what you need to get to PA school (good grades, quality HCE, shadowing, volunteering, etc.) and make a plan for yourself. Also, comb through the various PA schools' websites of programs you're interested in. Some give heavy weight to HCE and others lean more on your GPA and GRE scores. Some put a heavy emphasis on primary care, underserved populations, etc. take note of all of these things so you can tailor your game plan to where you think you want to be. The good news for you is that you have time. 

 

In regards to your comments about nurses: I'd suggest going to the ED or an ICU and reassessing your feelings about the RN profession in today's healthcare team. You're grossly misinformed if you think that male or female nurses do all the heavy lifting and butt wiping (this is mostly done by the CNAs). I don't mean to come down on you, you asked a legitimate question and came here for help which is why we're all here and I certainly don't know everything and there is a ton of misinformation out there about the current role of the RN, a bit of a hangover from decades ago when the role was much more like what you, unknowingly yet incorrectly described. This underscores your need for some quality HCE, start with volunteering in an ICU for a few weeks. Those RNs all have at minimum a Bachelor's (side note: there's a huge shift / initiative coming for hospitals to only hire RNs with a BSN not associate's degrees also highlighting how integral an RN is to the healthcare team, several hospitals in my area already implement this so if you do go the RN route do a bachelor's program) and most are CCRNs with Master's Degrees. They're doing a lot more medicine than you think, trust me and the experienced RN's (20+ years) with Master's Degrees can run circles around med students / newly minted P.A.'s who half of the time double check with them prior to saying a word to their attending.

 

If it makes you feel better I was just like you when I began volunteering in an ICU a year and a half ago. I was completely humbled and floored by the sheer amount of medicine the RN was supposed to know and how vital they were to the patient and the team. It's a completely evolved profession from the old days of "wiping butts" get yourself into a hospital and see for yourself and good luck! You're in the right place and I have no doubt you'll be successful.