First Timer!

[danielle1993]

Hi everyone, 

 

I just discovered this awesome forum and this is my first post. I wanted to ask everyone about how they knew for sure they wanted to go down this path and how recent grads feel PA school was. I have only been able to set up shadowing up with one PA but its about 4 months away because he is so busy. I'm in my senior year of college and I plan on taking a gap year and working in the healthcare field. I have a 3.85 GPA and 3.84 Science GPA. I just want to have that concrete feeling of "YES. This is what I want to do!" but so far my feeling is more like, "YES. This is the least sucky thing out of all careers I have explored." 

 

Any advice on "soul searching" to figure out if this is what I would love? 

 

Random: But do you do any animal dissections in PA school, besides cadavers? 

 

 

Thank you!! 

 

Danielle 

 

 

[EMEDPA]

sounds like you have good grades and a good plan for getting HCE.

most pa programs focus on human anatomy and dissection as the general bio sequences that are prereqs for pa school include non-human lab work/dissection.

[GatorChomp]

Your future HCE and shadowing experiences could be the "soul searching" you're looking for. It was through my experience as a Rehabilitation Aide that I figured out PA was the path for me. I advise that whatever you do to gain HCE, learn from it and truly take in every bit of it because it may confirm or alter your ultimate path in Medicine.

 

Aside from that, your cGPA and sGPA are solid. Gain HCE, volunteer experience (both clinical and non-clinical), shadow and you'll be a solid candidate. Pick up a certification or two if you have time as well.

 

Good luck!

[Chelsey Weaver]

You will have a more concrete idea once you work in health care and get shadow experience. I recommend getting your BLS because you will need that prior to starting pa school anyway.

 

I have been working in health care for two months now and it has really opened my eyes to SO MUCH. It has made me consider MD as opposed to PA. You never know what you'll discover once you start in the field. Find out if your local hospital has volunteer opportunities while you wait to start shadowing.

[JP86]

Since you are "soul searching" as you shadow, one thing to focus on when you shadow is trying to visualize yourself in that PAs shoes. Something that I noticed was drastically different than I thought it would be is how heavy the responsibility weighs on your shoulders. When I was shadowing before PA school and even to an extent on rotation during PA school, I always loved how it felt to be there in the action and couldn't wait until I had the knowledge to do it on my own. To an extent, I had a false sense that you really have a grasp on things by the time you graduate. Now that I'm 3 years out, it still surprises me how much more stressful it is than what I had imagined. Part of it is because our program harped constantly on covering yourself against lawsuits, so every chart I do I am thinking about how the chart would look like in court if it went that way. Constantly thinking about covering yourself against potential lawsuits takes a good deal of enjoyment out of it for me. It's something I'm currently trying to work through...a mental hurdle so-to-speak. Not everyone views it this way.

 

My take home point is to put yourself in their shoes realizing that even when you graduate, there is so much you don't know. Try to realize the importance of each decision, no matter how small it seems, that the PA you are shadowing makes. If you are someone who can manage that stress level, then keep at it. If you don't like that kind of stress, really give it some thought.