For current practicing P.A's. How did your undergrad education influence your current practice?

[place123]

You hear a lot from people in many other disciplines that you forget most of what you learned in your undergrad education and once you get to the "real world" and start working you only use a small percentage of it.

 

What is the difference between a biochemistry major vs a sociology major(plus pre reqs of course) once they are in the working field for a few years?

 

How much does undergrad education influence PA performance?

 

Anyone have any experience with this?

[rev ronin]

I don't know how it would be possible to quantify this, since no one person can have two 'primary' undergraduate experiences.  How would I, as a computer information systems major, know how my approach differed from a biology major?

[place123]

I don't know how it would be possible to quantify this, since no one person can have two 'primary' undergraduate experiences.  How would I, as a computer information systems major, know how my approach differed from a biology major?

in your specific situation your best inquiry would come from an associate that was a biology major.

 

someone who possesses a science degree might be able to chime in and tell us how much they remember from their undergrad degree now that they are working.

[ksmith10]

 

How much does undergrad education influence PA performance?

 

It doesn't.

[db_pavnp]

Individuals with solid clinical and / or science based educations have distinct advantages when it comes to tearing through PA school material.  The same can be said of anyone innately gifted, regardless of major, or individuals who really know how to study very efficiently from day one.

 

The subsequent advantage is then breathing room to more deeply pursue topics of interest or general levels of depth than less fortunate individuals will have time for.  And come out of programs with generally higher scores and shorter adjustment times into practice.

[thinkertdm]

I was a psychology/anthropology major in undergrad, and it doesn't help one damn bit.  I did take a lot of science courses as well, and those may have helped during PA school, but I think really that the study techniques I learned helped more than the actual material. 

[jb5158]

I majored in biomedical sciences and while it probably provided a good base for PA school learning, it doesn't affect my day to day job as a PA whatsoever. I agree with thinkertdm that it probably helped more with study techniques and looking at things in a scientific way than anything. 

[Acebecker]

I was a kinesiology major with an emphasis/major in athletic training.  I was certified as an athletic trainer in 2005 and have been since.  (For those of you who don't know, athletic training is an allied health profession with the designated role of prevention, recognition, evaluation/assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of athletic related injuries.) 

 

I use what I learned as an undergraduate almost every day in my urgent care practice.  I use it very little in my wound care practice. 

[EMEDPA]

I was a medical anthro major. anthro has a lot of electives so I ended up with more bio classes than my bio major wife because she had to take biochem, ochem, calc, physics, etc, which I did not have to take. I remember most of the bio and almost none of the chem I took.

when I went to PA school I attended a 3 yr part time program in which the first year was split into 2 years and the nl 2nd yr was a full time 3rd yr. this really helped me learn the material because I took 3 classes at a time instead of 6. I could actually do all the supplemental reading etc.I also had a strong medical background(er tech and paramedic) so knew a lot of the basics day 1. I also know how to study well, make outlines, divide big projects into manageable component parts, etc, which really helps with studying. I don't think your major really matters at all as long as you get a strong foundation in A+P. I lucked my way into an excellent senior A+P class by showing up everyday and waiting for someone to drop. we only had maybe 16 people in the class with 4 to a cadaver for full body dissection.

[lancer_dancer01]

my underground background was in respiratory therapy which helped me through PA school as I was already exposed to learning medical anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology. I use my background knowledge everyday being that I work in pulmonary medicine. One of my best friends was an athletic trainer before PA school and now works in ortho so his background was useful as well. 

[GetMeOuttaThisMess]

Sports broadcasting probably didn't carry over much into medicine. Wanted to replace Verne Lundquist, Dick Enberg, or Chris Scheinkel (going back a ways). UT-Austin didn't encourage due to field not being stable and everyone in the 70's wanted career stability.

[Will352ns]

My undergrad hasn't done too much for me (Business Admn).  Some of my sciences have helped (Biochem and such).  

 

What really helped was my previous experience.  That said, I still feel that I am only keeping my head above water.  What do you call the guy who had a lot of previous experience prior to PA school who just graduated?  A new grad.  My point is...I am learning more now than I ever did.

[cg02186]

Depends on your undergrad degree. Mine was in athletic training so all my healthcare experience prior to PA school was orthopedics. Naturally, I'm decent at Ortho and that's probably where I'll end up going. We have a mandatory Ortho rotation and one of my electives I'm leaning pediatric Ortho. Although I'm not a PA yet so who knows, I'm open minding to any field that interests me.

[Evolute]

I was a human biology major. Many of those courses helped greatly, especially A&P. I took the course, then (the next year) taught as an undergrad in the human cadaver lab for a year where I had the privilege of learning/doing human dissection, after which, for the next 3 semesters I taught 90-100 students/semester as a grad level TA in the cadaver lab. So anyway I felt well prepared in that regard...... as for my other studies......

 

Chemistry: well, the second semester of inorganic chem was so great that I took it twice, as for the final of my second semester of organic chem lab I scored 100%...... yeah, 100% which netted me a cool 89.9% for the course.......yeah.... well.... in this prof's class that's a B

 

Math: Nobody cares what the probability is that you will pull a blue marble out of the bag. Statisticians can make the numbers favor whomever is signing the paycheck. Calculus was interesting.

 

Physics: Gravity sucks, and humans always lose (when trying to defy it). E=MC squared is the only real traffic law.

 

Psych, Everybody's crazy and schizophrenics love cigarettes 

 

Finally, entropy wins.   

[BruceBanner]

I was an exercise physiology/chem major.

 

The exercise phys helps a bit with sports injury; but honestly that has more to do with my own background in weight training than anything else. Chemistry, not really at all. Undergrad is just a necessary hoop we all have to jump through to get a professional degree and owe the government a lot more money.

[SERENITY NOW]

I think others have said it well above.  If you pick one of the hard science majors like biochem, you are going to do well in the basic science part of PA school and the rigors of those classes will greatly help your study habits for the rest of PA school.  It may not help a lot of your day to day job, and it will likely come at the expense of having to take a wide range of science classes that will be largely worthless for you (organic chemistry, physics, etc).

 

 By choosing a major that isn't one of the hard sciences, you may have a harder time with some of PA school, but on the other side it can really help you.  Some mentioned athletic training above, which is a good example.  Getting a BSN also be another great undergrad choice for gaining practical knowledge you can take with you.  I personally chose a Spanish major in undergrad and looking back now it was a great decision for many reasons.  I use Spanish on a daily basis with my patients and I am now close to being a certified bilingual provider (this perks my employers' ears up much more than if I told them I majored in biochem).  What's more, there were other benefits of choosing a spanish major that I didn't realize at first: 1) I didn't have to take a lot of the hard science classes that aren't practically useful to PAs anyway (Ochem, physics, etc).  2) Since the spanish major only required 28 credits to graduate with the degree (after I tested out of the first 2 years), I had a lot more free time to take relevant courses, like pathology/pathophysiology, pharmacology, clinical microbiology, health care systems in the US, etc.  These classes looked better on my resume than classes like organic chemistry, they were much more relevant/fun to take, AND they were much easier to do well in, so my GPA was great.  Definitely a good way to go!!

[iskendar]

I got a degree in nursing and became an emergency department nurse right out of school until I started PA school. A lot of topics covered were similar or at least were in the same language as my current PA classes, like patho, pharm, and other medicine courses, with the added exposure to simulated patients, physical exam, and simulation labs. I also was able to get a pretty significant amount of relevant clinical experience in school, not even counting what I got while working. The volume of information was pretty large, and I had to learn how to study well then, and have made very few changes to that so far. I did miss out on the deeper, upper level sciences (other than what I got in my biology minor), but my undergrad has worked and currently still does work well for me.

[winterallsummer]

Rigorous science major definitely helps prepare one for PA school as some topics are repeated and good study habits are established.

 

Otherwise majoring in something that may be useful (business, psych, language) not a bad idea if you already have good study habits, etc.

[wisemakl]

Major in something you love.  If you are planning for a career in medicine you will be required to take specific courses for prerequisites regardless of what you major in.  Your extra 2 biology classes that you took because you were a bio major, that you wouldn't have as a Psychology major - won't tell you how successful you will be in medicine.  Plus, pursuing something you're interested in makes college much less stressful.  Have fun.  It's not all about the books. :)

[adru373]

I actually majored in psychology and I did very well in school and in practice.  Regardless of your major you need to take medical prerequisites, so major in something you enjoy.  It'll give you a unique perspective into the medical field.  Almost everyone who goes through PA school and passes their boards comes out a great clinician!  In my peers, I cannot tell the difference in quality based on their background as far as previous majors go.  I see more of a difference in performance based on experience.  Good luck!

[Febrifuge]

Not even kidding, I use my Theater major skills every single day in my practice. I can read people, pick up on small behavioral cues, and tailor my counseling and education to the person. I put little kids and their parents at ease. I pull the relevant info out of what would otherwise be a long, rambling history with a nice old lady. I can use a ton of pop-culture metaphors. And when needed, I can simply act the part of a smarter and more confident clinician.

[EMEDPA]

and the accents...you can do Texan to Texans, german to germans, Russian to Russians, etc.....:)

[roger777]

I agree. Major in what you enjoy and find enriching and which helps you develop as a whole person. Have fun and find a group of friends you don't study with. You only do it once. If you are just crazy about science then major in a science. No major is likely to be a handicap in either admissions or PA school itself. An argument for non-science:at the risk of exagerating what one can get out of school, a good liberal arts/soc. Sci. degree teaches you about human nature, how the world works, how human society developed, how technology and science has influenced society both good and bad, power relationships, as well as organizing and conveying one's thoughts verbally and in writing. You get little of this development from science alone. This learning can be enormously useful in clinical reasoning, documentation, ethics, dealing with the politics and hierchies of the program, dealing with and understanding other people incl. Patients and colleages and just navigating and understanding life in general. I find that liberal arts majors are often average at the core science stuff but above average clinical thinkers, communicators, empathsizers and networkers. Hard science majors get some of this as well through electives but there is a concern that the workload and number of requirements in a hard science BS displaces too much of this kind of learning within the limited time one is in college which for many people is the only chance they have to develop these faculties. Not having the edge a hard science major confers might be a bigger liability if PA school weren't pass/fail. Perhaps a science BA as some form of compromise is a good balance. I did 2 years of prereq. At a major research u. And feel like I was more than up to speed in scientific thinking and knowledge. Science will definately prepare you but possibly at some opportunity cost.