FIBULA12 Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 OK. So, I was planning on getting a B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics. But, after doing further research I found out that the same school I was planning on attending also offers a Pre-Physician assistant degree. Getting a degree in Pre-PA seems like a good idea, since I obviously want to become a PA. Would anyone recommend a Pre-PA degree or Nutrition? Anyone actually went the Pre-PA route and if you did how was it? Need advice on this! Thanks in advance for any replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FIBULA12 Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 http://www.radford.edu/content/csat/home/pre-health/areas-study/prephysician-assistant.html Link if anyone wants to check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted March 14, 2015 Moderator Share Posted March 14, 2015 I think most of the pre-xyz degrees are not a good idea. what happens if you decide not to go to pa school or never get in? better to do a generaic biology, anthropology, life sciences, psychology, etc cdegree and take all the prereqs. that leaves you more options for the future. I was medical anthro with a plan to go to pa school. if I never got in I could still have pursued, mph, phd in archaeology, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator LT_Oneal_PAC Posted March 14, 2015 Moderator Share Posted March 14, 2015 I think most of the pre-xyz degrees are not a good idea. what happens if you decide not to go to pa school or never get in? better to do a generaic biology, anthropology, life sciences, psychology, etc cdegree and take all the prereqs. that leaves you more options for the future. I was medical anthro with a plan to go to pa school. if I never got in I could still have pursued, mph, phd in archaeology, etc I ditto emed. Pre-anything degree isn't worth the paper it's written on. Always better to diversify your education in case things go awry in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator True Anomaly Posted March 14, 2015 Moderator Share Posted March 14, 2015 Sometimes these pre-whatever degrees are specific to the graduate program at that particular university- not the type of program in general. With PA programs having varying pre-requisites, you have to make sure this particular pre-PA program will cover the bases of whatever PA program you apply to. I tend to agree with EMED- more to his point, all PA programs care about academically is that you've taken all pre-reqs and you have a good GPA- they don't care what your degree is really called Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAGuy55 Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Did I read the original post wrong? You can graduate with a bachelors in Pre-PA? I thought Pre-PA/Med/Dent/Pharm/Vet just meant you were taking the necessary pre-requisities. You usually are just on a Pre-PA track and earning credits towards X Bachelors degree. You can get a bachelors in anything but I would recommend one in the sciences. Why not get a degree in dietetics then have something to fall back on? I have a Food Science degree and had to leave my job to work as an EMT to get relevant experience. I would have done the dietetics route instead and had more relevant experience since you are learning toward the nutrition route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dndandrea Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Did I read the original post wrong? You can graduate with a bachelors in Pre-PA? I thought Pre-PA/Med/Dent/Pharm/Vet just meant you were taking the necessary pre-requisities. You usually are just on a Pre-PA track and earning credits towards X Bachelors degree. You can get a bachelors in anything but I would recommend one in the sciences. Why not get a degree in dietetics then have something to fall back on? I have a Food Science degree and had to leave my job to work as an EMT to get relevant experience. I would have done the dietetics route instead and had more relevant experience since you are learning toward the nutrition route. Many schools offer a health science (pre-PA track) BS degree. It's basically a stepping stone degree into graduate school, but can be pretty useless as a degree by itself in my opinion. I will have my health science (pre-PA track) BS degree this spring and got accepted to the school that's linked to the one the one that offers it and other schools if that means anything. It's just the common pre-reqs with some humanity courses and electives. The only reason I did this is because it allowed all my credits from my community college to transfer and allowed me to finish my degree in under 2 years. Otherwise I would have never done it. It would be much wiser to get a 4 year degree in something you can make a living off of if you don't make it into school. Another upside is you can gain experience in a more respected field of medicine (such as a BSN) and apply later on when you're more comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilovelost Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Have you started college yet? If not, are you 200% sure you want to be a PA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonlegit Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 FWIW, if you really look at the degree requirements, you might find that a bio degree or something similiar is essentially a pre-professional health degree. It just adds a handful of easy classes (shakespeare, film, scuba diving, gym class) for humanities requirements, and at the end of the day, it might be advantageous to have this more "generic" sounding degree - for all the reasons others mentioned above. I'm doing a bio degree, and let me tell you.... when the first day of classes rolls around and everyone does their intro... its "bio, and I want to be a doctor." And I also agree with those that said you need to be wary that the associates degree is not specific to your local PA program. Obviously, most schools require a bachelors, and the other cert schools would likely need other classes in addition to what you would take in this associates program. While your school may pitch this pre-PA degree as a great stepping stone to their program (and that may be true), you surely wouldn't want to limit yourself to only one school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annbrd Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 As a registered dietitian with a BS nutrition /dietetics I do not recommend having that as a major unless you plan to do the internship and take your exam and work as a RD. Choose a more generic science based major that will get you all of your science experience and volunteer at a hospital or pursue nursing or EMT certification , etc. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patobe123 Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I am 99% sure that any pre-health related areas of study (pre-med/pre-dentistry/pre-PA) do not grant degrees, they are just tracks that you will follow so that you are ready to apply to schools. You can't graduate with a degree in pre-PA studies, however, you can earn a degree in Nutrition and Dietetics while following the pre-PA track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BARONEUS Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 One could argue that a "stand-alone" bachelor of science in any area is more competitive on a PA school application than a pre-PA track. Oh, the irony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHuang17 Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 I'm sort of stuck in the same situation as you were in. I'm debating whether to major in Allied Health Science-PrePA and do like a minor in Psychology or major in Behavioral Neuroscience. What decisions did you end up making? Did you stick with Nutrition? Are you in PA school now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellness Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 I'm sort of stuck in the same situation as you were in. I'm debating whether to major in Allied Health Science-PrePA and do like a minor in Psychology or major in Behavioral Neuroscience. What decisions did you end up making? Did you stick with Nutrition? Are you in PA school now? To reiterate what has already been said, I would pick a degree that you like (preferably a science degree), and make sure you get all the important prereqs. Pick a degree that you can see yourself working in if the PA route does not pan out or you decide that it is not for you. Personally, I switched to nutrition and dietetics from biology (ended up minoring in bio) because it focused on human health, required me to take almost all of the prereqs for PA school, and I could see myself working in that field if I did not go to PA school (though I think I would be considerably less happy). Disclaimer: I am not a PA student yet but am interviewing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karebear12892 Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 Pick a major that interests you, not necessarily one that you think "looks good." You will learn all of the science you need through your prerequisites and in your first couple of semesters of PA school. I majored in business management. I was accepted to PA school on the first try and I'm doing just as well academically as those in my class who were science majors. Do what you love! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchampigny Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 If I'm an employer, I would want to see an actual field (microbio, health psych, bio, etc). Pre-PA is not a major. It is a TRACT. It leaves a lot up to interpretation when you are applying for jobs, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
south Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 I've always said it - do it in something that you like and/or are really good at, or is useful. I majored in something completely irrelevant to medicine but I enjoyed it very much and got phenomenal grades, which helped me out later. If you really like Bio and are good at it, or you don't have a preference for anything, go ahead and get a Bio major. If not, major in something cool or useful and take the magic 8 or 9 classes that you need along the way. I say useful because if I had to do it again, I might have (dual?) majored in Spanish. I am from Phoenix. Necropost replying is fun on a blazing hot Saturday morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT2PA Posted June 17, 2017 Share Posted June 17, 2017 Get a degree in something that will land you a job/career without going to graduate school. PA/MED/etc is never a guarantee and I promise you'll enjoy your life a lot more if you can have a 'real' job and afford things like not living with your parents, vacations, cars, saving money, etc on your own while you're trying to get into a professional program instead of working 2 jobs as an EMT/scribe/CNA desperate with all of your eggs in one basket waiting for your adult life to start. Have a back up plan. "Pre-" degrees do NOT offer backup life plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moorecarson121 Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 I think you should go the athletic training route! Redford offers that program. ATC's are medical professionals that work with athletes. You might have to squeeze in o chem and a couple other pre reqs, but you will take most of what you need. The best part is that you come out with a license to practice athletic training. Any work you do as an ATC would be high level hands on medical experience. It also, as others say, gives you something to fall back on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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