advice or direction needed

[wolfman32]

Would appreciate feed back!

 

I graduated Southeast Missouri State in 2007 with a degree in Biomedical Science 3.234gpa.  Basically pre-med.  I had taken the MCAT and had decent scores, but ended up not applying to med school due to the death of my my Grandmother and the dependency my mother had on me at the time. For the past seven years I have been serving as a health inspector for the local health department and staying active in the comunity serving on several different boards, and even as Mayor.  From the last day of undergrad until now I have dreamed every day of the change to go back to school and become the health care professional I so desired to be. 

 

After much deliberation I have decided to apply to PA school in the next round.  I feel that the PA profession better fits me at this time in my life over med school due to my age and financial investment.  I have returned to my undergrad school and I am taking statistics, medical term, and an additional psychology class this spring to finnish up the pre-req.  I unfortunatly am also taking A&P over again due to the 5 to 7 year limit to the relevancy of the class. 

 

While in undergrad I worked as a surgical retractor holder the entire time.  I got a ton of experience on a wide variety of cases.  There were even times when a PA wasn't available and I got to fill the position. 

 

Is there any advice you guys can give a returning 32 year old nontradition trying to get it right on the first swing?

 

Schools that I am interested in are SIU, UMKC, SLU, and MSU.

 

Thanks

[melscott62]

If I were you I would skip A&P and take a 300 level anatomy class and a 300 level phys class because it will give you a boost on the CASPA gpa instead of being a retake. If you are already in A&P then I wouldn't worry about my advice! lol. Anyway, do you have any hands on patient care experience? And have you shadowed a PA? If you do not have patient care hours I'd start that ASAP. I am in your age category and just got accepted at MSU. :) Good luck!