PA no matter what it takes

[PAmePLZ]

Hello everyone!

 

I really need some honest guidance.

 

I am a recent UCI undergrad in Public health sciences B.S. with a cGPA of 2.4. Before the eyes roll back...yes I know how did I ever manage to do that. I started as an engineering major and quickly realized mathematics was not the strongest tool in my shed, I did horribly in the physics and engr courses. I transferred to Public health because Biology is very competitive at UCI, and Public Health offered most the classes i need to get into PA school. Determined to get things moving I took an EMT certification course. The work hours and course load did not mix well, and I wanted to find a MA job in a private practice that fit my schedule while still at UCI (this is during my 4th year). Fell in love with orthopaedics, specifically a group in Newport that is OUTSTANDING enlightened me on the topic of orthopaedics (C.O.S., for those who want to really know).Now I got the eyes on the prize, going for PA school with hopes of specializing in orthopaedic surgery. 

 

HCE: 1100+ hours 2.5 yrs experience 

 

Doctor shadow: ~50 hours

PA shadow: ~30 hours

- i got so many hours due to the fact that I worked very closely with my PA and Dr., and requested to shadow in the OR as much as I could in the 2 years of working there. Five physicians with different specialties worked in the group along with their PA's, this allowed me to experience all the different types of orthopaedic surgeries. 

 

Volunteer:

- Arthritis Foundation: 100 hours 

- Irvine Urgent Care: 6 months

 

GRE: TBA Dec, 8th 2015

 

Those who are still with me, thanks you so much! really...

 

FINALLY:

Presently I have resigned from my MA position and have started studying for my GRE (Dec 8th 2015). I am trying to get classes at my local CC but its proving very difficult being that I am treated with freshman class standing. It does not look like i will be getting the classes I need quickly or in the order i need them. I am HIGHly considering a postbacc-pre health course. Specifically from KGI (Keck Graduate institute in claremont). 

 

Q1: take classes course by course or pay $30,000 for a postbacc course?

 

Q2: should I apply to PA programs for the 2016 year anyway and see what schools call me for an interview?

 

Q3: GPA 2.4, what can really be done with my case? I am very passionate about my goal in becoming a PA. Ive seen the care they can give patients. With stress coming from every direction being a Dr., its hard to focus on your patient and follow them through their patient care. Ive seen PA's literally offer their bad back, and get down on their degenerative knees just to tend to their patients, just to see them progress. I will never forget the day witnessed a 83 year old man walk comfortably with his grandchildren again with both his total knee replacements done in one surgery; there is nothing like that feeling in the world to me. 

 

any help is needed

 

Stay Blessed,

 

Dee

 

[Guest PALois]

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[MT2PA]

The above is the best advice you will get.  Please do not waste your money applying next cycle with a 2.4.  The likelihood of your app getting past the initial barriers is very slim with that GPA.  You also need to try and figure out your science GPA as that is also a huge component.  

 

You do not have a fast track option for getting your app ready - it is going to take a lot of time and credits to improve the GPA.  While you're doing that, get some great HCE. Course by course vs postbacc is really up to you, one isn't better than the other.

 

You've got a lot of work ahead of you and long, hard road.  if PA is what you want, you'll take the time to get there.

[UGoLong]

If you have a BS, why do you have "freshman standing" at a community college and what does that mean? I had degrees and went back to community college for coursework. I signed up and took the classes. What's the issue?

 

You have drive based on projected job satisfaction, rather than a track record of showing that you have the academic power to get through. The work is hard and it takes effort. Your story sounds as if you didn't maintain the right balance to get through your old program. Somehow you have to convince a school that you would be successful this time. That takes more than drive to reach the end goal; it takes repeating classes and doing well.  It also takes being able to do more than one thing at a time (you really quit your job to study for the GRE? That is unusual to say the least.)

 

Best wishes.

[glopez]

If you have a BS, why do you have "freshman standing" at a community college and what does that mean? I had degrees and went back to community college for coursework. I signed up and took the classes. What's the issue?

 

You have drive based on projected job satisfaction, rather than a track record of showing that you have the academic power to get through. The work is hard and it takes effort. Your story sounds as if you didn't maintain the right balance to get through your old program. Somehow you have to convince a school that you would be successful this time. That takes more than drive to reach the end goal; it takes repeating classes and doing well.  It also takes being able to do more than one thing at a time (you really quit your job to study for the GRE? That is unusual to say the least.)

 

Best wishes.

 

I'm not sure how bad it has gotten at community colleges elsewhere, but here in southern California community colleges have become so impacted that adding courses has become extremely difficult for new students. Regardless of his BS, he will be treated as a new student (freshman) and will be given a terrible registration date to add classes. It will be very likely that every course he attempts to get into he'll have to crash. 

[EMEDPA]

go the community college route. don't do a formal post-bac.

1-2 classes at a time while still working. Get all As, no exceptions.  HCE is your strong point. get over 2000 hrs and that will help sell you to certain programs.

don't apply next year. you are likely 2+ years from being able to apply with a gpa > 2.75, which is the low cutoff for a few programs. don't rush this. get the hce. lots of it.

[Timon]

I think everyone who has posted has given very good advice. In addition to what Drhouse mentioned, and following that other thread linked, I suggest you look at the bigger picture of how you're going to get where you need to go and the timeline needed to pull it off.

 

My advice is a 3 part process building off of what was mentioned in that linked thread.

 

Part 1 is acceptance of the road ahead of you and truly laying out a pathway to your objective. That means identifying programs, calculating how many units required, and coming up with a timeline that's appropriate and realizing that this may be a 4-6 year process.

 

Part 2 includes enrolling in an allied health degree instead of a pre-health degree that leaves you nothing but a piece of paper and some courses at a level that you've already accomplished. You should look at taking classes and earning a degree or cert in fields like RT, RN, paramedic, and ETC, something that will give you a lot of units that will leave you with a good paying job when everything is said and done.

 

Part 3 is identifying it's a numbers game at this point and you're looking at having to achieve roughly a 3.8 cGPA for 100 units +/- to meet the minimum requirement to apply for PA programs. You should really be looking at programs like that are feeder programs for PA schools like Touro Nevada's MHS program or Western U's MSMS program once you've finished one of these allied health programs OR if you choose just to take science prerequisites, apply once you reach the min requirements to applying. Realistically I think the MHS program will give you the fastest and most direct route to your destination over what was mentioned earlier, but I'm not sure if you meet the requirements for admission to there yet.

 

I wish you the best of luck!

[surfca40]

Okay, so the OP is from Southern California, so I can shed some light on that as I'm in a very similar situation.  Majority, if not all, of the community colleges in this area are extremely impacted.  Registration priority is based on a number of things; however, you only move up on the priority list as a non-graduated student.  So, for example, majority of community colleges will consider you a new student your first semester, then afterwards, you slowly get more and more priority the longer you've been there, until you reach about 100 units, then you get dropped to the bottom.

 

In the OP's case, she already has a Bachelors Degree.  Some community college districts only take into consideration courses taken through their district, while others take into consideration all courses completed.  I know this because I'm in the same exact boat - taking courses at a CC with a Bachelors Degree.  The districts that don't count outside courses will consider her as a new student, and she'll get very low priority initially and it'll take some time to build up "seniority" so to speak.  Those districts that count outside courses, well, she's doomed there as she'll get the very last priority group every time because you already have a degree.  

 

To show how impacted colleges are, a local district I'm enrolled in had its first day of Spring 2016 registration today.  Registration has been open since 0800 PST, and it's now 1430 PST, so 6.5 hours, and some classes are already full, and that's just priority registration (student government, veterans, etc.).  Once it gets to the last priority group, there may be nothing left.

 

To the OP, you can PM me if you want more specific details as to the community college districts.  The other option I had looked at, which doesn't really work for me but might be better suited for you, is an Accelerated Bachelors of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program.   Since you already have a Bachelors, you may be able to qualify for one of these programs - I forget the entrance requirements though and if there are GPA restrictions.  You complete the course work in a little over a year of full time course work,w which is a lot of units, and it would help boost your GPA if you get all A's.  You can then work as a nurse (plus having your BSN will open a lot more opportunities here and higher pay - Wife is a nurse so I'm aware of the So Cal nursing job market) and get decent HCE while taking additional courses to boost your GPA.  That way you'll have great HCE and a higher GPA.

 

The other thing you probably want to consider in regards to getting courses is Extension programs.  CSU Fullerton has a great Extension Program called Open University.  Basically, sign up for Open University, look at the schedule and find what classes you want.  On the first day of the class, if there are still openings, show up to class and you can get an add code.  Fall 2015 had tons of open classes, I could have gotten any class I wanted through Open University, but luckily for me, I have veteran priority registration at the Community College, which is cheaper, so I went that route.

[kennedypa]

I think everyone who has posted has given very good advice. In addition to what Drhouse mentioned, and following that other thread linked, I suggest you look at the bigger picture of how you're going to get where you need to go and the timeline needed to pull it off.

 

My advice is a 3 part process building off of what was mentioned in that linked thread.

 

Part 1 is acceptance of the road ahead of you and truly laying out a pathway to your objective. That means identifying programs, calculating how many units required, and coming up with a timeline that's appropriate and realizing that this may be a 4-6 year process.

 

Part 2 includes enrolling in an allied health degree instead of a pre-health degree that leaves you nothing but a piece of paper and some courses at a level that you've already accomplished. You should look at taking classes and earning a degree or cert in fields like RT, RN, paramedic, and ETC, something that will give you a lot of units that will leave you with a good paying job when everything is said and done.

 

Part 3 is identifying it's a numbers game at this point and you're looking at having to achieve roughly a 3.8 cGPA for 100 units +/- to meet the minimum requirement to apply for PA programs. You should really be looking at programs like that are feeder programs for PA schools like Touro Nevada's MHS program or Western U's MSMS program once you've finished one of these allied health programs OR if you choose just to take science prerequisites, apply once you reach the min requirements to applying. Realistically I think the MHS program will give you the fastest and most direct route to your destination over what was mentioned earlier, but I'm not sure if you meet the requirements for admission to there yet.

 

I wish you the best of luck!

Great advice here. I graduated with a 3.1 for my first bachelors degree and realized that wasn't going to get me very far. After a couple month break I enrolled in a RT bachelors program and worked hard at finishing with a 4.0. In the meantime I took every volunteer opportunity and leadership position I could at school. After graduating I began working as a RT to gather a couple of years of paid HCE. During that time I specialized in neonatal and pediatric RT. After all that was said and done and I applied through CASPA, my GPA was still different from what I expected (basically a 3.1 + 4.0 does not = 3.55). My advice is to plan ahead, do research, really start looking in to each school that you are intersted in and work toward the requirements. Don't rush the process, learn from it. If PA is what you really want, take the time and apply yourself. Best of luck!