etacalpha Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 BACKGROUND- Hello everyone I am looking for guidance and to confirm my plans so far. I am 32 prior service Army Infantry. (7 years with 4 years overseas) I have been a paramedic for 2 years with a year as an EMT. I work an unusual schedule of: 3 on 3 off 1 on 3 off 3 on 1 off, all 12 hour night shifts. I am married with 3 kids. I am also a volunteer fireman. I am 90 minutes from a university but have a community college within 5 minutes. PLAN- I plan to complete all my general education courses required for a BS in Biology at my community college then transfer to the university to complete the rest of the degree. I do not plan to quit my job throughout this process. I also plan to shadow various PAs from PAShadowonline.com once a month. Once finished with the BS degree I plan to stop working in order to attend PA school. Questions: Has anyone here had to attend school or have suggestions on attending school with an unusual work schedule and a 90 minute drive? Will my volunteer service be considered community service in the eyes of selecting officials? (I know it is but it is not health care related is why I question it.) Will completing required courses on a part time basis cause problems in my application? Aside from maintaining a high GPA what else should I strive to do or complete in order to increase my chances of selection? Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk I apologize for misspelling, I did not double check my title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gere7404 Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I'm 32 in November, was a 91W (medic) before reclassing to 11B when my Guard unit switched from a division to a BCT, did 3 years in Iraq. I never went over the EMT-B level, got a job at the VA as a nursing assistant. I also work the overnight shift, but its much more consistant -- 2345-0745 with Tuesdays and Thursdays off. I went to a CC about 50 miles away, which wasn't as bad as a 90 minute drive. I have two kids and I watch them during the day when my wife is at work, so I sleep in a sort of shift nature. 3-4 hours before work and 3-4 hours after work. Try to take as much of your classes online, and do your homework on your downtime at work is what I do. It's doable, you've done harder stuff -- but it still is rough. Not much you time for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 I salute you for your dedication to getting through to your goal. Given your background, I think you will get interviews if your grades are good enough. In general, I have found that it doesn't make much difference where you took your prereqs or if you were a part-time student or not. Your cc approach makes a lot of sense to me. Given your location and the need to make money while you go through all of this, it's sensible. Best wishes! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disciple3 Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 Online courses and CC is definitely fine especially with your circumstances which you could spin into a great personal statement. Community service is just community service, I don't think it needs to be healthcare related but schools want to see that you are community oriented and committed to giving back. By the time you apply you should have plenty of HCE hours racked up as a Paramedic just make sure to get those good grades Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etacalpha Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 Thank you everyone for your suggestions and reassurance. I managed to trade my weekday shifts with another medic in exchange for his weekend shifts. I have a little breathing room to complete my classes now. I am trying to stop myself from focusing to far ahead of where I am and look at what I need to do short term in order to get down the road. But I'm constantly finding myself trying to drive down the road only to realize the keys are still inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHU-CH Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 You are extremely busy and you have a family - make sure you are taking some time to enjoy life every now and then! If you can manage this kind of schedule you should be well-equipped for PA school. If I were in your position, as suggested above I would probably look at online classes. Doing so will more or less take your schedule out of the picture. We have had students take pre-req courses at UNE and they said they were good courses. The only caveat is that some programs may not be willing to accept online courses. A wise first step might be to start with the end in mind. Find the 10 programs that you would really like to go to and put together a spreadsheet with requirements. Contact them directly and explain your situation and see what they think of online and CC courses. PA programs are generally very straight shooters with stuff like this. If they tell you they won't accept it, alter your plan or cross them off your list. Good luck, and thanks for your service! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etacalpha Posted August 8, 2015 Author Share Posted August 8, 2015 SHU-CH- I have created a list of 13 schools and their pre-reqs, costs, graduation stats. I was allowed to trade shifts with another medic and in doing so freed up my week to complete the necessary coursework. Thank you for your guidance and reassurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHU-CH Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 Sounds like you have it all together. Plug through the classes and we will see you in the PA world in a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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