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Hi,

Through my experience of my week stay at a hospital (due to Lung Collapse, lung hemorrage, and now dealing with anemia) and my interactions and talks with nurses, PAs, medical technicians, etc. I wish to go into PA (physician assistant).

However i am confused of the application process into becoming a Physician Assistant. 

I know it requires at least 2000 hours of Clinical Experience and one way to do that is to become a Radiologist Technician. But I am confused of this process as I have spoken to the Radiologist Technicians there and they only have a AS degree (in Radiological Sciences) I already have my AS degree in Biology and will be having my BS degree next year (Biology). Is there any programs I must take to become one? I find it rather strange that I would be graduating from a 4 year university only to take another 2 years to earn a degree in Radiology just to be a temporary Radiology Technician. 

Is there some way where I can undergo training right away since I am a pre-Med Biology major? I don't want to lose another 2 years to study for something that I couldve done (AS degree) just to work until 3000 hours and go for 2 more years into PA. 
This is what I think it seems the pathway to be (based off my life):
AS (Bio- 2 years) --> BS (Bio- 3 years) --> AS (Radiology - 2 years) --> Clinical experience/work (3000hr/ 1-2 years) --> PA school (2 years) --> work as PA, done with school

Normally it should be graduate with BS (4 years) --> Clinical Experience/work (1-2 years) --> PA school (2 years) --> work and done with school.

Thank you

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First let me correct you on a couple of things. Number one, a Radiologist is a physician....so there is no "radiologist technician". Secondly and less importantly, it's technologist not technician...I know it seems like a play in words but it's like saying "physician's assistant" rather than "physicians assistant". So if you really are interested in the field it's important to get the name right...Radiologic technologist or rad tech is fine.

 

Now to your question...an associates degree in radiology is 2 years of core material....any school I have ever heard requires pre-requisite courses to be taken before the program starts...this is unlike other programs who incorporate them into the program. That being said, you won't be getting out of taking any of the program classes whether you have a bachelors degree, masters degree or whatever going in. In this job you are exposing people to sometimes significant levels of radiation and you need to know what you're doing.

 

If you really are just using this as stepping stone and have no interest in it at all, I would have to recommend just getting your hours through CNA or ER tech type positions till you accumulate the hours.

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Radioman is right. Those rad tech programs (for the most part) aren't designed to be "stepping stones" to higher education. The goal of the program is to produce techs who can perform certain specific duties as part of the health care team, much like a PA program. A lot of individuals go into this position as a career. They aren't going to cut you slack because you have a biology degree.

 

As you are going to likely find out if you pursue physician assistant school, there really aren't any short cuts. It took me 3-4 years of taking science courses while working full time and volunteering 10-15 hours a week in a biochemistry lab to become a competitive applicant for the schools that I wanted to attend. If you don't want to put 2 years into a rad tech program, there are a few options depending on your situation. None of them is going to drastically shorten the amount of time.

 

Medical assisting: probably the most basic of medical professions. You essentially will be taking blood pressures and medical histories for the doctor. Some states require going to an MA program, but others rely on physician oversight. I did this for a year and a half in outpatient clinics, and found it great experience on learning how to interact with people about their health. 

 

EMT-B: The program is usually 3-4 months. I did mine over summer and it took the entire summer a few days a week for several hours. Depending on where you live, if you are an EMT-B you'll be relegated to assisting a paramedic and driving the truck. You will see a wide variety of disease and trauma if you work at it for a while, but a lot of your transports and calls will be bogus.

 

CNA: I think the course is a couple weeks. In Florida, I believe you can challenge the certification exam. It would be wise to check your state requirements. You will be assisting patients with the everyday activities of living that they cannot do without assistance (eating, bathing, changing bed pans, brushing teeth, helping RNs and LPNs with basic wound care, etc). I have a great deal of respect for CNAs because they do the dirty work.

 

Clinical Research Coordinator: This is what I've been doing for the past 2.5 years. You will have to check with the schools that you are applying to and see if they accept this as true patient care. Each office is going to be different, as I am seeing patients everyday and charting with the physician. I am doing this with a BS in psychology in a psychiatric clinic. I have almost nothing to do with regulatory affairs (reporting to the FDA, pharma), so my hours are almost all patient care hours. All of the major schools I applied to in the southeast accepted this kind of experience.

 

ER Scribes: Also check to see if the school accepts this kind of experience. They basically shadow practitioners in the ER and transcribe everything that is being done. I have the least amount of experience with this job, so someone who does please chime in. I never really thought of this as direct patient care since you rarely touch the patient, but many schools accept it.

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I am confused.  Are you currently becoming a rad tech?  Is your question about whether or not rad tech training or pre-med courses are sufficient to count towards PA school?  The answer to that question is no.

 

There is only one way to PA school:  take the pre-reqs, get LORs, accumulate HCE take the GRE (for most schools), apply through CASPA.  There is no other way.  The order in which you complete those tasks is not necessarily important (except the application, of course).  The exact classes you take and the amount of HCE you accumulate is up to 2 aspects: how hard you're willing to work and what your prospective schools require.

 

I will add this as well: PA contact as a patient is not sufficient to make the jump onto this path.  The only way to know if you want to do this for a living is to get some experience treating patients first, then spend time with a PA and put time in understanding their role in clinical healthcare.

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Thank you for the responses

 

I have looked into the pre-regs for PA school and I've finished all of them but one class and lab. I still have 1 more year to graduate but I was wondering on how to become a Rad Tech for clinical experience. I was deciding between this and EMT.

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Keck School of USC 

Patient Care Experience

2,000 hours of hands-on patient care experience must be completed prior to enrollment

Preferred experiences include accredited, credentialed professions that provide patient assessment, treatment, patient care plans, and diagnostic testing. 

Preferred applicants will have direct patient care experience working in clinical settings that involve a range of patient responsibility and involve a high level of critical thinking. Only paid hours are acceptable.

Examples of preferred clinical experiences

Military medic or corpsman
Paramedic/EMT (waiting time not included in hours)
Nurse (LVN or RN)
Radiology technologist 
Physical therapist
Respiratory therapist
Occupational therapist
Medical technologist
Medical assistant (certified; back office hours only)
Athletic trainer
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loma Linda PA School

Clinical Experience
Hands-on, paid patient care clinical experience is preferred. Successful applicants often have worked as one of the following: emergency medical technician, licensed vocational nurse, medical assistant (back office), medical scribe, medical technologist, military medical corpsman, nursing assistant, paramedic, psychiatric technician, radiologic technician, respiratory therapist, chiropractor, registered nurse, etc. Other health care experience is equally acceptable as long as the clinical experience is hands-on in nature. It is important that PA applicants are familiar with medical care environments and the role of a physician assistant, and have experience working with patients. Volunteer clinical experience is also considered in the application process and should be entered into the CASPA application, but the application is encouraged to describe their hands-on experience whether it is paid or volunteer.

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You know you dont have to be a rad tech to get those hours... you can do a variety of other things such as ED Scribe, Imaging tech aide, volunteer at a clinic that allows you to  care for the patients, etc ( i can't think of anymore lol). Anyways the point is there are several other things you can do to obtain those hours and you don't need 2000. Look up schools, the hours vary from 0 to 2000. 

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Keck School of USC 

 

Patient Care Experience

 

2,000 hours of hands-on patient care experience must be completed prior to enrollment

 

Preferred experiences include accredited, credentialed professions that provide patient assessment, treatment, patient care plans, and diagnostic testing. 

 

Preferred applicants will have direct patient care experience working in clinical settings that involve a range of patient responsibility and involve a high level of critical thinking. Only paid hours are acceptable.

 

Examples of preferred clinical experiences

 

Military medic or corpsman

Paramedic/EMT (waiting time not included in hours)

Nurse (LVN or RN)

Radiology technologist 

Physical therapist

Respiratory therapist

Occupational therapist

Medical technologist

Medical assistant (certified; back office hours only)

Athletic trainer

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Loma Linda PA School

 

Clinical Experience

Hands-on, paid patient care clinical experience is preferred. Successful applicants often have worked as one of the following: emergency medical technician, licensed vocational nurse, medical assistant (back office), medical scribe, medical technologist, military medical corpsman, nursing assistant, paramedic, psychiatric technician, radiologic technician, respiratory therapist, chiropractor, registered nurse, etc. Other health care experience is equally acceptable as long as the clinical experience is hands-on in nature. It is important that PA applicants are familiar with medical care environments and the role of a physician assistant, and have experience working with patients. Volunteer clinical experience is also considered in the application process and should be entered into the CASPA application, but the application is encouraged to describe their hands-on experience whether it is paid or volunteer.

 

While being a Rad Tech has helped me acquire hours it is certainly not the way to go if your end goal is Physician Assistant school. From my experience, It took 2 years worth of pre-reqs (taken above full-time status) to be able to apply to the Radiology Program. Once I was in the program that was another 2 years of courses and clinical. After that I had to spend 2 more years at a University to get a Bachelors degree while working as a Rad Tech (again way above full-time credits).  The only reason I could do that in 2 years was because a lot of my credits transferred to the University and I took every winter and summer session. I would suggest doing something like EMT or CNA. You will get well-rounded HCE that way and not waste your time. 

 

P.S. despite what that school says, it is Radiologic Technologist. Not radiology technician, x-ray technician, radiology technologist or whatever else they make up. You will do well to call us by the proper name :)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I get your question, 

    Yes rad tech is a good way to go.  But like others mentioned it is a full career.  Pay starts around 45/year on average, and it's like 90% of BSRN nursing pay- if you specialize to CT MRI you can get 70k /year.  Speaking of nursing, my CC that I went to had 6 quarters for an AS RN (associate nursing degree) but Radiology Technologist is 8 quarters, that's two solid years of useful info.  If you work at a hospital you need 90% of those classes.

 

AS RN 6 quarters

NAC/CNA 1 qtr. (2.5 months)

EMT (1 year? / 6 mos?)

Rad Tech (2 years / 8 qtrs.)

 

So it's a good career, 3.5 years for most people with the pre-reqs.  You can absolutely do it, I love this job; but it's not the most efficient way to P.A.

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I went this route as well as another degree in nuclear medicine.  While it has helped me in interventional radiology, it would definately be shorter taking another route.  If you want to be a PA in radiology then I would go this route.  If you are just doing this for the expereince, then I would find a short route.  I think it helped me getting into school because very few applicants have the radiology experience that I had.  Plus if for some reason PA didn't work out I had another career to fall back on.

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Hi radtech91:

 

I was an Army medic (EMT for about 5 years), then changed my job as a Rad Tech. In the Army is a one year program (condensed). I did all to find my way to PA. I'm now applying to schools hopeful of an acceptance. I wish you the best. 

 

Thank you so much! The best of luck to you as well!

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