teenyfish Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I'm currently a 4th year student at a university where part of our schooling is made up of 6 month full time internships, and I have been taking advantage of these to try and get some more HCE. During my most recent rotation I worked at a physical therapy clinic as an aide. I'm in the process of applying right now for this upcoming summer - fall 2015, but because I am a biology major the positions that would entail actual hands on experience are very limited (mostly for nursing and heath sciences majors) and I'm not sure how likely it would be for me to get one. I could go back to physical therapy but I wasn't in love with it and I want something more in line with my career goals. As of right now I have approx. 1600 hours of HCE, and I plan on taking a gap year and applying in 2016. So I have two options I am thinking of right now: 1) Hope that I get one of the HCE heavy positions that I've applied for (~4), and do my internship until Jan 2016, take my last semester of classes, graduate & apply May 2016. 2) Get my CNA license this summer, finish my degree in the fall and then apply for a full time CNA position in Jan 2016 and work through applying in May 2016 and my gap year. I could probably get a part time position in the fall too while I'm finishing my degree. I'm leaning towards option 2 but a few of the jobs I've applied for are really neat and I feel like I would have an easier time getting a LOR from an internship supervisor. What would be the most logical and beneficial for my application next year? Thanks if you've read this far, I know it's a long one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted March 11, 2015 Moderator Share Posted March 11, 2015 some programs require PAID hce so I think the stuff in your program might not qualify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenyfish Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 I was paid for all of my work during my internships. They're technically called co-ops but some people don't know what that is. It's really quite a good deal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zbritt Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I'm also finishing up my degree at a school that has the co-op program, so I can relate. Both choices sound good, I think you just have to weigh the jobs you're applying to now and compare them to PA programs you're interested - make sure that the tasks you'd be doing would involve just as much hands-on clinical experience as working a full time job with a CNA license would. Maybe mention to them in your interviews you're interested in PA school and ask about how much PCE you'd receive. For one of my co-ops, I worked as a nurses aide at a mental hospital, which was great experience working with patients as an undergrad with no CNA, but I can't say I had as much involvement as someone with a CNA working full-time probably has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teenyfish Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 I have a few interviews next week, one for a position that upon the more detailed emailed job description sounds more like a front desk position than I was led to believe and another is in clinical research, which doesn't seem like the best HCE. I'll definitely ask about the amount of patient contact I'll have at each position. The only thing that is holding me back from pursuing the CNA license is the cost ($1,000 - $1,250) which will take a chunk out of my meager college savings, but I suppose it is worth it in the end! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zbritt Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Hmmm yeah avoid front desk positions as much as you can, unless half of your time you'd be working with patients, like possibly a clinical assistant position. Clinical research is also iffy... a lot of programs don't accept it, and a lot still do, but they don't consider it the best HCE. Yeah the cost is definitely a factor, it's the same for an EMT license or anything similar. I've heard through these forums that it's possible to get good HCE full time positions without a license through CL, but at least where I'm from, I haven't seen the opportunity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamsRPossible Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 I think that, since you already have 1600 hours HCE, you should look into the requirements of your target schools and consider going for the more relevant co-op positions for your goals. You probably have more than the minimum for most it all of them, & while it's good to go over the minimum, quality counts, as does variety. If you've surpassed the requirement for hands-on, I think an explanation of what you were looking for and why would only enhance how sharp and well-rounded you would be...and look. Also, while we have to check the boxes, once the box has been checked, there's a point where we need to stop that approach and go after the things that really educate us toward our goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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