geraleen Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Hello, I am in my 20's, my husband is air force AD and i have a almost 2 year old, I am very interested in becoming a Physician Assistant . I am wondering how I would have to start off. I only have my highschool diploma . I know I will be using FAFSA, I don't know if I can get any other help for classes. I am also looking to see what is beST for me either online or campus, my husband has some crazy hours sometimes and I am interested in either classes at night or online. Where would be best to study for what I am describing?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakingpatience Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Most of the PA programs require a bachelors degree to apply to. While taking classes online can be great for convenience factor, I would caution against taking any of the classes that are prerequisites for PA schools online (so basically your sciences) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonlegit Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Look into a local community college to start your bachelors degree. Classes are cheaper by the credit hour than universities, and CCs often have very flexible hours in order to cater to students such as you (and me). I took classes nights, weekends, and online. I too echo the thoughts of the poster above in that I would be very careful choosing classes to do online. You will REALLY have to do your due diligence and make sure that the classes you take are transferable to a university, and many online science classes do not count. Even if they do, they can potentially be looked at in a negative light later on down the road. However, community college is a good way to start off an education in my opinion. Get your feet wet so to speak. Each school's individual financial aid office can help with loans. Remember to go into that with open eyes/ears and big person pants on; I found that they were all too happy to give me money as soon as I signed, and I could imagine how it would be easy to rack up a lot of debt without a concrete school plan. I saw it around me all the time - "I don't know what I want to do with my life but I'm taking some classes", "Nursing" (no intention of actually getting into nursing), "early child development" (just wanted loan money and didn't actually have a college plan). If I had any advice, I would say remember the big picture. Control your debt, move at a reasoned pace so you achieve good grades, and have a degree plan. Don't count on counselors to help you very much. It's more or less required to have/get some health care experience as well, so as to have an idea of how medicine is practiced in the real world before PA school. Many of us work low-level jobs in hospitals, clinics, or in emergency services both as a JOB job, as well as getting relevant experience. Now would be a good time to look into that as well. Try hospital aide work or EMT-B work. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraleen Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 thank you all for the response , I really do appreciate it alot! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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