TeaLover Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Hello All! I'm new to the site and this forum has been such an amazing resource for me. I am newly embarking on this journey to becoming a PA and it will be a career change for me (I was formally in public accounting). This is going to be quite the journey and I'm extremely nervous, I feel like I'm all alone in this and have very little support from anyone right now. I will be starting pre reqs this spring however I want to be working simultaneously on gaining HCE as early as possible. Being that I'm not currently in the health care field I imagine it will be fairly difficult to get my foot in the door. So I am debating whether I should go the RN route first. There are a few inexpensive accelerated RN programs in my area that are relatively short (15months at most). Although highly competitive, I have a 3.4 GPA and a clean slate on my sciences, I believe I can put all my effort in, make those grades and get in. I'm considering this because I can gain great HCE as an RN while also satisfying this requirement for PA school. I'd be able to break into the industry and be working in less than 2 years in addition to taking some time to save in the process to help fund PA school in the future. Is this a good way to go or might it just be prolonging my progress to PA school? Other things I've considered is becoming an EMT basic, or becoming a CNA. These are pretty much my top choices as far as trying to gain HCE experience. I'm looking for paid opportunities especially because I'm not working as I used to and need the extra income any way I can get it. Does anyone have any advice on this? I'm also open to gaining HCE beyond my top choices if suggested. Anything would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trigator Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 I don't want to shy you away from pursuing PA school, but if you are applying to an RN program, look into an accelerated BSN-NP program. I work with several NPs who have all gone through the process. You graduate the first year with a BSN, and can work as an RN while finishing the NP degree (you'll come out of it less in debt). At the University of Florida, I even think some of the non-clinical courses are offered online. Just something to look at as obtaining an RN degree, gaining experience, and then applying to PA school may take about the same amount of time when all is said and done. If you're set on the PA route, any type of hands-on medical experience is great. I work as a clinical research coordinator. In addition to copious amounts of actual patient contact, I get to work with newer medications in the pipeline and some really neat diagnostic technology. I do all of our in-house blood draws, EKGs, and help the physician with just about everything. You don't particularly need to go back to school to gain quality HCE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 13, 2015 Moderator Share Posted January 13, 2015 but it certainly helps and sets you apart... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpackelly Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 You know, usually I do not recommend this but if you can get in and finish in 15 months and gain your HCE at the same time, the accelerated RN is worth it. It also is a career safety net in case you have to move quickly or unexpectedly to a place where there are no PA jobs, for example, a partner transfer. You would be a very attractive candidate for a PA Program and in addition, you can work some shifts as an RN while in the program if you are cash short. The professions seem adversarial at times but can be very complementary. Some of the best PAs I know were RNs before, and didn't go the NP route because they wanted to learn medicine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemon Bars Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 It seems to me you breezed past the part where you have to take anatomy, physiology, microbiology, a year or more of chemistry, possibly nutrition, psychology and several other courses just to get into nursing school. If you have not taken science classes you are looking at about two years of pre-requisites before you can even apply to nursing school - you will not be able to work as an RN while you satisfy these pre-requisites (and more) for PA school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 14, 2015 Moderator Share Posted January 14, 2015 It seems to me you breezed past the part where you have to take anatomy, physiology, microbiology, a year or more of chemistry, possibly nutrition, psychology and several other courses just to get into nursing school. If you have not taken science classes you are looking at about two years of pre-requisites before you can even apply to nursing school - you will not be able to work as an RN while you satisfy these pre-requisites (and more) for PA school. depends. some of the post-bs bsn programs include a lot of that stuff in their programs because the gened stuff for the bsn (english, language, etc) is already met by the prior bs. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted January 14, 2015 Administrator Share Posted January 14, 2015 RN is a very good place to be--you can go PA, NP, CNM, CRNA... any way you want to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 14, 2015 Moderator Share Posted January 14, 2015 RN is a very good place to be--you can go PA, NP, CNM, CRNA... any way you want to go! yup. hard to go wrong with RN, RT (Resp), or Medic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
db_pavnp Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 To the OP, this is a complex question because the time and monetary investments between the pathways are very different. The forum can really only help in suggesting that all the pathways are safe. Your age, financial situation, married / kids status, and ability to move across the country can play major roles in your decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dndandrea Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 RN is a very good place to be--you can go PA, NP, CNM, CRNA... any way you want to go! Not to mention staying a RN and working your way up the management chain. As far as I know, there are a lot of opportunities for RN. Nurses run the show at hospitals. Every inpatient unit of our hospital including the ER is ran by a RN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm7sus4 Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 ...look into an accelerated BSN-NP program. There ya go; if I were in your shoes, this is what I would do. In fact, I weighed the option carefully when considering PA school, but determined that I do want to be an RN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm7sus4 Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 It seems to me you breezed past the part where you have to take anatomy, physiology, microbiology, a year or more of chemistry, possibly nutrition, psychology and several other courses just to get into nursing school. If you have not taken science classes you are looking at about two years of pre-requisites before you can even apply to nursing school - you will not be able to work as an RN while you satisfy these pre-requisites (and more) for PA school. It's not a biggie...at my alma mater the nursing students were taking lower division sciences, many of which you could nearly sleep through if you are adept at studying. Not to imply that the courses are easy, per se, but we're not talking 400-level vertabrate physiology or immunology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeaLover Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 It seems to me you breezed past the part where you have to take anatomy, physiology, microbiology, a year or more of chemistry, possibly nutrition, psychology and several other courses just to get into nursing school. If you have not taken science classes you are looking at about two years of pre-requisites before you can even apply to nursing school - you will not be able to work as an RN while you satisfy these pre-requisites (and more) for PA school. Thanks for your response. Actually I've looked into sooooo many accelerated RN programs and PA programs and there are a few overlapping courses I'm going to be taking regardless i.e. A &P, general chem and organic chem for certain accelerated RN programs (this one is more of an exception for that particular program). I don't mind taking these classes I really want to be in the medical field as a PA so I want to set myself up well to give myself the best chance at getting into a great program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeaLover Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 To the OP, this is a complex question because the time and monetary investments between the pathways are very different. The forum can really only help in suggesting that all the pathways are safe. Your age, financial situation, married / kids status, and ability to move across the country can play major roles in your decision. I'd consider myself still young, I'm 24 and I decided to make this career change early after a lot of careful consideration, self reflecting, and this burning feeling that a career in accounting (and the corporate world period) was not the place for me. Right now the only thing holding me financially is my car, which I'm working on selling so I don't have to worry about paying the note and insurance while in school. Other than that, I've moved back home and with a small part time job I can easily take care of my remaining bills. I also don't have any kids to take care of, so besides the car, I'm pretty flexible financially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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