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Undergrad Major for PA School?


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Hi there! I'm currently a freshman in college, and am looking to become a Physician Assistant (have been since high school). Anyway, currently I'm enrolled in a B.S. biology major. After researching some more and finding out about the HCE requirements for PA school, I've been thinking of switching over to a nursing degree (BSN) + doing the pre-reqs for PA school. The reason for this is because if I don't gain enough HCE in my undergrad years for PA school, I can take a year or two after undergrad to work as a nurse to gain that experience. Also, in the worst case scenario, if my plan of going to PA school falls out for any reason, I will still have a degree in which I can earn a decent living, pursue further education with it, and work in the healthcare field. My only concern with this is the time it might take. I know its pretty early in my college career, so I don't think this should be a big concern, but I would really like to complete my undergrad in a time of 4 years. With the BSN + PA school pre-reqs, would that be doable? Has anyone else done this before, and how did you manage to get through it?

 

Another reason I'm looking to switch to nursing is because again, if my plan for PA school falls out, the only thing my biology degree would be useful for is lab work or research. That does not interest me at all. I am most interested in working in the healthcare field, along side other healthcare professionals and working with patients. What do you guys think? Should I continue on with the B.S. in biology, or is it possible that I could switch over to nursing while doing PA school pre-reqs?

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Personally, I think it's a pretty good idea. You would also have a chance at being a Nurse Practitioner, as well. I've never done a BSN, so I can't really weigh in on whether taking the pre-reqs along side nursing classes is do-able, but I'm sure someone has. With that said, if you stayed with biology, you could still gain HCE by taking a CNA course (those aren't usually very long), or obtaining an EMT-B. Though, a BSN would pay more and may lead to a more satisfying career if, for some reason, PA school didn't pan out.

 

Many people on this forum will stress that you shouldn't worry about the time that it would take to become a PA. Time is a good thing when it comes to becoming a PA. I think it's a better route, in my opinion, to take those few years off between undergrad and get that real patient experience where you're working regularly - the experience you gain would probably be paramount when you finally do get into PA school. I think nursing would allow you to do that quite comfortably.

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Personally, I think it's a pretty good idea. You would also have a chance at being a Nurse Practitioner, as well. I've never done a BSN, so I can't really weigh in on whether taking the pre-reqs along side nursing classes is do-able, but I'm sure someone has. With that said, if you stayed with biology, you could still gain HCE by taking a CNA course (those aren't usually very long), or obtaining an EMT-B. Though, a BSN would pay more and may lead to a more satisfying career if, for some reason, PA school didn't pan out.

 

Many people on this forum will stress that you shouldn't worry about the time that it would take to become a PA. Time is a good thing when it comes to becoming a PA. I think it's a better route, in my opinion, to take those few years off between undergrad and get that real patient experience where you're working regularly - the experience you gain would probably be paramount when you finally do get into PA school. I think nursing would allow you to do that quite comfortably.

Thank you very much! Yes, thats another thing I was thinking; I would have the pathway open to being a Nurse Practitioner. I've researched both careers extensively, and would enjoy being a PA (its my first choice) but a NP I wouldn't mind either. And then of course, the BSN will be there for me. 

 

That is true, I probably shouldn't stress much about time. I could squeeze in an extra year if needed for undergrad to finish pre-reqs + BSN. It would cost a little more, but I'll do what I gotta do to get to being a PA. 

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First and foremost, you should major in something you're interested in. If that's biology then do that. If its finance then do finance. As for your plan, it's an okay plan if you don't intend to attend PA school right after undergrad. This is a good path if you want to take a gap year or two to live life/work before going into PA school. However, if your goal is to just get into PA school right away then I think having a nursing degree might do more harm than good. I think adcom would question why you pursued nursing but not work in the field as a RN before applying to PA school. 

 

Also, you can definitely do the prereqs for PA school and your nursing degree within 4 years. Most of the prereqs are already required as a nursing major. 

 

So the question is: Do you want to take a gap year or go straight to PA school after undergrad? 

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Hidden in all this is that, whatever you take as an undergrad, it should lead to a job that you'd like to be doing upon graduation. Nursing might work for you in that regard. 

 

It can take time to get into a PA program and you'd want to be supporting yourself (and maybe a growing family) in the interim.

 

Good luck!

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Thank you guys! I mean yes, biology does interest me, but so does nursing. Plus, from searching the types of jobs I can get as a biology major vs. a nursing major, I much rather would choose the work a nurse does, especially with the ability to go into NP/PA programs. I may end up taking a year or two after undergrad to work as a nurse, especially since I want to rack up HCE to better my application. As for pre-reqs, they vary from school to school, but they're all mostly similar correct? I'm in Pennsylvania so I would most likely be applying to PA programs in Pennsylvania.

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Sounds like a good plan.  Be careful though- the school I am doing post-bacc pre-reqs at has a lot of nursing majors.  The basic science courses are all split- with the easier courses being for nursing majors, and the harder version being for science majors/pre-med.  (i.e. microbiology is split into a 200 level for nursing students, and a 300 level for others.)  I'm sure it's not like this everywhere, but something to look into.

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Prereqs vary from school to school. The best way is probably to go to their websites and then build yourself a spreadsheet of what their specific requirements are and what unique ones you'll need to take for each program. Not as hard as it sounds.

 

Thank you! I'm going to definitely have to do this. Is this the official PA program list? http://directory.paeaonline.org/ 

 

I assume it is since its from the PAEA.

 

 

Sounds like a good plan.  Be careful though- the school I am doing post-bacc pre-reqs at has a lot of nursing majors.  The basic science courses are all split- with the easier courses being for nursing majors, and the harder version being for science majors/pre-med.  (i.e. microbiology is split into a 200 level for nursing students, and a 300 level for others.)  I'm sure it's not like this everywhere, but something to look into.

 

Ah okay thank you thats something I'll look into. I'll have to talk to an academic advisor, but so far it seems as if my university only has 200 level microbiology courses. Although, there is a 300 level called "Pathogenic Microbiology". Not sure if thats any different. 

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Bio degree jobs = sucky. Theres just not much variety. I have a degree similar to a bio degree but make more as a tech than my friends with lab jobs.

Yeah thats a reason why I want to switch to the BSN. Biology degrees just don't get very good jobs, unless you decide to get a PhD and do research or something similar, which is of no interest to me. The only thing that really catches my interest is healthcare and thats about it job-wise. 

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If I could it all over again I'd probably do BSN to PA or LVN (so I could work) to BSN to PA.

 

Right now I'm a semester away from a BS in Exercise Science. After I graduate I'll either get my EMT-B or look for jobs in cardiac rehab.

Do you need a training program for jobs in cardiac rehab?

 

 

On another note, does anyone know of any CNA training programs in Pennsylvania? I'm having difficulty finding some.

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electric, from what I'm seeing online (monster, indeed, etc) most cardiac rehab job postings are still for registered nurses. Other postings I see are for "exercise physiologists" that require a masters degree plus an internship in cardiac rehab. 

 

Every now and then I'll see a "wellness coordinator" posting that just requires a BS in Kinesiology/Exercise Science with an internship. 

 

I just finished a 400 hour internship at a cardiac rehab and whoever is running the program needs to have knowledge of the exercises and also needs to be able to read ECGs because the cardiac patients are hooked up to monitors as they do their exercises. It's also good to be able to check BP manually. There's several books on how to properly run a cardiac rehab program. An RN's knowledge is underused in a cardiac rehab setting, IMO. And there have been some billing changes, so an RN isn't required to do the initial assessment anymore. So that might have some affect on RNs in cardiac rehab.  

 

I hope that answered your question lol. I guess a short answer would be no, but if you want to get far in the field you would need a masters and self-educate on certain things. 

 

If I can't find a job as at least a cardiac rehab tech, I'll get my EMT. 

 

At the place I interned at, the RN was being replaced with an exercise physiologist fresh out of grad school. She was NOT happy lol. 

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At the place I interned at, the RN was being replaced with an exercise physiologist fresh out of grad school. She was NOT happy lol. 

 

Who would be haha? The professor for my clinical exercise physiology course stated that they cannot replace their exercise physiologists (BSc) quick enough.

 

They end up leaving for higher paying careers by going back to school to earn their MS. 

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I could understand her frustration, especially considering she was 2 years away from being able to collect her pension. She was offered another job so she technically wasn't "fired" but she refused to take that job.

 

When I tell you this lady was pissed..she flat out refused to train the new person. She put in her 2 weeks notice before the new person even started, so they had to scramble to find a temporary replacement. It was a mess lol.

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It has crossed my mind to get my masters in exercise physiology so I'd have better job prospects. But I know I wouldn't be happy in that field.

I hear you Kwame. I got my B.S. in Exercise Physiology, and went on to do my M.S. in Exercise Science because even with almost 5 years of prior healthcare experience I couldn't land an Ex Phys job. Of course it turned out that the M.S. may help me offset some of my undergraduate coursework, but the job opportunities are definitely starting to open up. It was very limited when I first graduated in 2011, so I sort of gave up and went into sales. However, that being said I don't think there's another undergraduate major (outside of BSN) that can give you a better overview of the human body in its entirety. I kind of would always explain it to my friends as A&P  on steroids. 

 

For me honestly if I were going the BSN route it would be very difficult for me to then do PA vs NP or even CRNA. Most NP programs are heavy with online or correspondence aspects, so you're able to work the entire time. Worked in a Critical Care Unit with 3 nurses completing their NPs and working fulltime up until the last 6 months I believe. BSN will definitely open more opportunities for you.

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