mespe006 Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Hi guys! I am about to graduate, Bio major...but I am not sure if I have HCE...I worked 2 years in a Pediatric Office. I was front desk, answering phone calls, getting patients charts ready, etc. Does that count as HCE? All responses will be appreciated, thanks much in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinntsp Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 I doubt most schools would accept that to meet HCE require ments. It sounds more like clerical work. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersenpa Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Interacting with other health care professionals AND medical information (charts.meds etc) has value The best way to answer your question is call the program(s) that you are interested in and see what they say FWIW one of my pre-PA jobs was as a Unit Clerk in an ICU. Clerical work indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SocialMedicine Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Spin it all you want .... and many PA schools will accept the spin ... but that is NOT HEALTH CARE EXPERIENCE ... and offers nothing over someone who worked in a restaurant or finance firm. Whenever I interview someone and they worked as a scribe or clerical or front desk or billing I write 0 Health Care Experience. That DOES NOT mean they are rejected but it goes into my formula. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mespe006 Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 Thanks so much for your responses. What can I do to get HCE??? Something that I could do for a short period of time because I want to start the PA program as soon as possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted May 21, 2014 Moderator Share Posted May 21, 2014 Thanks so much for your responses. What can I do to get HCE??? Something that I could do for a short period of time because I want to start the PA program as soon as possible most places want 1000-2000 hrs of paid hce minimum, that's 6 months to a year full time. you will be competing against an applicant pool that has been er techs, etc for thousands of hrs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mespe006 Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 Thanks much! I will look into getting the EMT and work as that for a yr, then apply! Thank u'll for ur help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersenpa Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 Spin it all you want .... and many PA schools will accept the spin ... but that is NOT HEALTH CARE EXPERIENCE ... and offers nothing over someone who worked in a restaurant or finance firm. Whenever I interview someone and they worked as a scribe or clerical or front desk or billing I write 0 Health Care Experience. That DOES NOT mean they are rejected but it goes into my formula. If you are interviewing candidates then you should be able to discern the difference between working in a medical practice and a restaurant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nandosport Posted May 21, 2014 Share Posted May 21, 2014 That would go under 'Other Healthcare Experience' on your CASPA. Sent from my LG-P769 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mespe006 Posted May 21, 2014 Author Share Posted May 21, 2014 Thanks for the info :) Has anyone gotten into or know of anyone that has gotten into the program without HCE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted May 21, 2014 Moderator Share Posted May 21, 2014 Thanks for the info :) Has anyone gotten into or know of anyone that has gotten into the program without HCE? only a few programs allow this. they are not programs I would attend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mespe006 Posted May 22, 2014 Author Share Posted May 22, 2014 I see! Thanks much! If I shadow physicians and nurses, and volunteer at a hospital, would that be considered HCE??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SocialMedicine Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 shadowing is not health care experience. my front desk has nothing over individuals in other professions as far as PA school goes. They schedule appointments, sit patients, handle prior authorization. You can spin it in a way where it sounds good but in my opinion it does not do much for a PA student. THAT being said I certainly do not feel individuals with minimal HCE should be out of the PA applicant pool. But it is part of the equation. health care experience sets you up to move into clinical rotations and immediately be comfortable to adsorb maximal information. Unlike medical students you do not have a lengthy period of formal clinical learning. You need to come in and already be familiar with how to speak with a patient, measure vital signs, understand what a sick patient looks like, how to ask questions from the patient and medical team etc. I do not feel scribe, front desk, billing, sets you up for that. I welcome different opinions and evidence to the contrary. I feel some of the easiest to obtain useful health care experience comes from an EMT class and then working on an ambulance or in an ER. Many EMS services are volunteer if you are unable to do EMS work pain for whatever reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersenpa Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 shadowing is not health care experience. my front desk has nothing over individuals in other professions as far as PA school goes. They schedule appointments, sit patients, handle prior authorization. You can spin it in a way where it sounds good but in my opinion it does not do much for a PA student. THAT being said I certainly do not feel individuals with minimal HCE should be out of the PA applicant pool. But it is part of the equation. health care experience sets you up to move into clinical rotations and immediately be comfortable to adsorb maximal information. Unlike medical students you do not have a lengthy period of formal clinical learning. You need to come in and already be familiar with how to speak with a patient, measure vital signs, understand what a sick patient looks like, how to ask questions from the patient and medical team etc. I do not feel scribe, front desk, billing, sets you up for that. I welcome different opinions and evidence to the contrary. I feel some of the easiest to obtain useful health care experience comes from an EMT class and then working on an ambulance or in an ER. Many EMS services are volunteer if you are unable to do EMS work pain for whatever reason. Unfortunately no one is studying this to bring evidence to the contrary We have a sum of anecdotal experience from thousands of PAs who are training these students and working with new graduates We are training PAs with all sorts of variety in experience and background. On the other side of the aisle NPs are running DE programs. These providers are out there in the world. My opinion has been, for quite a while, that the value in prevsious experience is in understanding the culture/language/hierarchy of medicine. How clinics, hospitals, and systems work. The purpose of a PA program is not to focus on taking applicants who already have it figured out, run them through courses and rotations. They are looking for intelligent, motivated people who extract value from taking care of people and want to do that by practicing medicine as PAs. Those intelligent motivated people may enter as medics, RNs, EMTs, RRTs, orderlies, scribes, and shadowers. And they are matriculating through programs, passing PANCE, and becoming competent practitioners. So the focus on applicants who "know sick/not sick" may be a bit provincial when we see across the country that PA programs are putting students with vastly different backgrounds through a rigorous >4000 hr program and creating great PAs. We can judge what "is" and "isn't" HCE, but the successes of all different types of PA students suggest that it isn't so easily defined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorRRT Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 Have you considered trying to be trained as a MA at the office you're working at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mespe006 Posted May 23, 2014 Author Share Posted May 23, 2014 Have you considered trying to be trained as a MA at the office you're working at? I don't work there anymore because I had to move away from that area and find a new job! :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mespe006 Posted June 27, 2014 Author Share Posted June 27, 2014 Hi guys, me again, promise this will be my last question regarding HCE!!! If I start working as a medical assistant (no certification)...will that count as HCE??? I would greatly appreciate any answers because I might be able to do that soon!!! Thanks in advance!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SocialMedicine Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 even if it meets technical standards of a program it is not a great prep for PA school. and would probably not be a strong + on your resume. you should not go with what people say on an anonymous forum. if you have a few PA programs top of your list I would contact them or view the website to see how they define HCE. If i made up the rules and you worked as an MA doing vital signs and blood work and EKG and history taking i would give you HCE for that. But I do not make the rules hah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mespe006 Posted June 29, 2014 Author Share Posted June 29, 2014 even if it meets technical standards of a program it is not a great prep for PA school. and would probably not be a strong + on your resume. you should not go with what people say on an anonymous forum. if you have a few PA programs top of your list I would contact them or view the website to see how they define HCE. If i made up the rules and you worked as an MA doing vital signs and blood work and EKG and history taking i would give you HCE for that. But I do not make the rules hah. Thanks much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MICURN Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Being a secretary in a doctor's office, or a scribe, or even a tech/cna does not (or maybe it's better if I say should not) count as acceptable HCE. You need to do something that gives you responsibility for a patient. Examples: paramedic, RN, LPN, RT, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.