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Respiratory therapist for 8yrs, thinking of PA @42!! what are my chances??


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Hi everyone, im 42, with Associate Degree in Respiratory Care, Thinking of changing what ive wanted to do.i ve been an RCP for 8yrs, love it but always thinking of doing and learning more. I hv two wonderful kids that keep me going and also loosing out on my career path.

But im wondering how to start with PA career path over 2yrs now.

 

Need some advices and suggestions on what to do or how to start.

Thank you all so much for help.

laura

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I started at 39, also with an associates degree. I selected a program to do my prerequisites where I was able to finish my bachelor's degree and got admitted to the PA program (3 yr program) as a "junior" . This year I got my bachelors (health sciences) and next year I graduate with my masters (PA). Total time was 4 years but doing it that way actually saved me a year. I am the oldest in my class, but that hasn't been any issue for me. I had extensive health care experience as a neuromonitoring tech before PA school. My experience has been extremely valuable to me throughout this process. Your experience in Respiratory care will serve you well.  I am of the mind that extensive health care experience should be a prerequisite for PA school (but I know many younger folks will disagree with that). If you know you want to be a PA, I encourage you to go for it. It's not easy and you have to have a good support system around you. Shop around for a program that you feel comfortable with. Look at PANCE pass rates. Ask if their grads get jobs.Visit some open houses. Talk to students and faculty.  The longer you wait, the harder it will be to attempt. Good luck!

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Need some advices and suggestions on what to do or how to start.

Thank you all so much for help.

laura

I don't know from your post how much you know about getting into the profession, so I'm writing this post with the assumption that you're totally ignorant (if you're not, don't take it personally).

 

I suggest you look around and get a feel for what it takes to get into PA school (the ask a PA admissions director thread is one place to start). It's very competitive and a poorly planned path could delay your getting into PA school by a year or three. You will want to enroll in a school (preferably not a community college) full-time to take your prerequisites. This is what you should look at first. This is the part of the process that will take the longest and also you have application deadlines to meet and FAFSAs to fill our and advisers to talk to before you can even start.

 

Early on you should also take some time to shadow PAs. This will help you decide if that's what you want to do and will significantly enhance your ability to get accepted.

 

You will need to take the GREs and do well. Once you've gotten started on the above two points you should think about starting your preparations. One little piece of advice about the GRE that no one else seems to ever say is: limit your verbal practice to material that has been made by ETS. You can use Kaplan, Barrons, and The Princeton Review for the quantitative path, but every verbal practice I've looked at that's not made by the ETS is shockingly bad.

 

When you've come up with a plan. Feel free to come back here and share it for critiques

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi everyone, im 42, with Associate Degree in Respiratory Care, Thinking of changing what ive wanted to do.i ve been an RCP for 8yrs, love it but always thinking of doing and learning more. I hv two wonderful kids that keep me going and also loosing out on my career path.

But im wondering how to start with PA career path over 2yrs now.

 

Need some advices and suggestions on what to do or how to start.

Thank you all so much for help.

laura

It isn't your age, it's everything else that you didn't mention, GPA, science GPA and reasons for selecting the PA path. Can you get stellar letters of recommendation? Try writing your personal statement. Can you articulate exactly why you want to be a PA, what you think the profession is all about, and how you would contribute to it? Those are the really important things.

 

Sent from my Kindle Fire HDX using Tapatalk 2

 

 

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Also educate yourself by doing your own research.  Unfortunately you cannot just go by what others say.  For example there are several schools that do not require the GRE.  Keep in mind that there have been many successful PAs who tackled their pre-reqs on a part time schedule. They can also be done at the community college level depending on what the school you are applying to prefers. It all depends on where you want to go and what you are willing to do. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Laura,

 

Pick a few programs that a close to you. Look at the prereq's. Go to the programs and ask questions. I found that being a face and name was better than being just a name on paper. Try to get some shadowing experience, be familiar with the PA concept, and start applying. I bet you'll be one of the better in your class. You should do well in patient interaction and pulmonology, maybe cardio. Get going! In relation to age...You are a few years ahead of some of us.

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