NeuroDroid Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Alright, so here's my situation. I volunteer at a very large private hospital where I have direct patient experience with patients by helping them with basic necessities (if they need towels, pillows, clothing, I can go get their medicine, etc.) I do talk to patients a lot but it seems to me that most universities will not accept this towards HCE. I'm about to graduate with a Bachelor's in Psychology next May. I was planning to study two years, become an RT, work for a year or two (or more if I really like it, there's no hurry), and then become a PA. But it seemed to me that I could drastically cut the time down if I used my BA in Psych and became a Mental Health Technician. I think I would very much enjoy RT but MHT would just be a way to get HCE. I'm sure I won't hate it, but I won't love it. Overall, my final goal is to be a healthcare provider with a decent salary (50k+). Thoughts? Has anyone used MHT for HCE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gere7404 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I'm not sure. I currently work as a psychiatric nursing assistant for the va, where I do a lot of nursing assistant care, but s lot of emotional and behavioral care. I listed it as patient care experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disciple3 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 You might be onto something, spending multiple years to become/work as a RT might be counterproductive if you could use the MHT. I know I'm biased, but EMT-B is another great and fast way to get experience with minimal training. I think I'd try to do the MHT, take any pre reqs you might need for the schools you want to apply to and prepare for the GRE over training for a different "career" on top of everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiggySRNA Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Hey there I had this very same concern regarding mental health/psych CNA HCE which received great feedback. It takes a very special person to work in psych/behavioral. Turns out I am not cut out to do it after doing some soul searching. That said, I sometimes, rarely, get transferred to the geropsych unit at the hospital I work at. Check it out http://goo.gl/dyWr1x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLRP3 Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 In general PAs schools love mental health backgrounds. I have known a number of folks who have gotten in with prior HCE as counselors, direct service providers for homeless youth and mental health specialists. It will be program dependent but I bet it will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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