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I was right out of college. However I had 5 years experience as an EMT and EMT instructor by the time I started PA school. 

 

I support direct to entry PA profession. For people like me with some decent HCE awesome. For people with no meaningful HCE I think they should consider a lengthier/slower program or residency afterwards. I would like to see some PA schools identify themselves as being for the low HCE student and 28 months in duration with extra time in clinical and not research. 

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I spent a year as an EMT while going to paramedic school. Worked as a paramedic in a suburban/rural area for a year, then spent 8 years as a Firefighter/Paramedic for the Memphis Fire Dept. 

 

I was right out of college. However I had 5 years experience as an EMT and EMT instructor by the time I started PA school. 

 

I support direct to entry PA profession. For people like me with some decent HCE awesome. For people with no meaningful HCE I think they should consider a lengthier/slower program or residency afterwards. I would like to see some PA schools identify themselves as being for the low HCE student and 28 months in duration with extra time in clinical and not research. 

 

Hadn't thought of this idea. Seems like a good idea. I often wonder how the folks in my class with no/minimal HCE can keep up and understand what is going on, but they seem to do just fine. Ours is a 24 months program and goes at break-neck speed, so I think 4 additional months of clinicals would be great. 4 additional months of didactic...not so great!

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Great Forum!

I WAS A  High School History Teacher for a total of 15 years  - also, a  stay at home mom for a couple years and returned to the classroom where i met my fate and was stalked by a crazy young man and his parent....scared to death to return to the classroom and a little one at home, I decided to stay in the helping professions and looked into nursing when a good friend of mine who was a MD/PhD knew me better than myself at the time and suggested PA...I thought he was just being a snob about nurses - but he knew my abilities and he was right....started all over in my studies and became an ED Tech, etc...Never looked back..."my encore career" has never been more satisfying...looking to start my own House Calls practice as an indep contractor.  The variety is amazing and keeps growing. good thing, cuz i get bored and need challenges every so often. thanks for asking!

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I support direct to entry PA profession. For people like me with some decent HCE awesome. For people with no meaningful HCE I think they should consider a lengthier/slower program or residency afterwards. I would like to see some PA schools identify themselves as being for the low HCE student ... with extra time in clinical and not research. 

this is essentially the model USC has gone to. 36 month program with 18 mo each for didactic and clinicals

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29 years corporate IT with concurrent volunteer firefighter/EMT, then EMT-Intermediate, then paramedic experience.  Started teaching EMS, CPR, etc in late 1980's.  Started part time FF/medic paid in 2002, then full-time + hours as part-timer FF/medic when corporate American "offered" early retirement in 2007.  Taught at local university concurrently so got to take PA pre-reqs largely for free. Now 2 years as ED PA with part-time job in UC, still run vollie FF/medic a bit, pretty much don't have time to teach.

 

I was the anomaly in my PA class.  Most folks were mid 20's with at most 1-3 years employment experience after undergrad.

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I am starting my PA program this August.

 

I started my career with an advertising degree working for Hunter Douglas (window coverings).  After becoming quickly disillusioned with the advertising industry I moved on to a job with Edy's Ice Cream/Haagen Dazs/Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream as a sales rep - ironically I am lactose intolerant. After becoming tired of going in and out of -20 degree walk-in freezers on 90 degree days I took a job with the American Diabetes Assoc. doing education and programming and finally I have been a Certified Pedorthist for the last 10 years (I know, you have never heard of it, here is a link for you to learn more and the wiser you will be for it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedorthist).  In that time I have owned my own company and worked clinically as a Cped.

 

I love working with patients and after seeing the conditions and diseases I have over the years I absolutely wanted to do more and be a vital part of patient care. 

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I became a volunteer firefighter and EMT-I while going to college.  I kept on after I graduated and rose to Captian, got a job as a PT tech and then for an HMO doing healthcare analysis, underwriting and actuarial analysis.  I had to leave the FD after a lay-off for an insurance job out of state as I couldn't get on with the bigger departments.  I later volunteered on a local ambulance squad for a bit and after getting laid off from 3 different insurance companies I went back and did some pre-reqs for PA school, worked at REI and at a leading respiratory hospital on their research database and EMR merge before getting into PA school.

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