FlyingToHealing Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Hi, I am a Pre-PA student thats currently knocking out my PA Prereqs. I am also searching through potential PA schools I will apply in couple years and I couldn't help to notice some of them have a 2000-4000 hr direct patient requirement? I was a little shocked by that since those type of hours are only attained by current healtcare professionals. I am Active Duty military, I fly jets and I am a little bummed that I would need to get out of the military, get a job in the Medical field for 2-3 years just to have enough hours built up to apply to some PA schools. Can anyone shed some light on their experiences with this and how they got around the requirement if that is even possible at all? It seems odd that the requirement to get into PA schools are more stringent than Medical School. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiggySRNA Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Hi, I am a Pre-PA student thats currently knocking out my PA Prereqs. I am also searching through potential PA schools I will apply in couple years and I couldn't help to notice some of them have a 2000-4000 hr direct patient requirement? I was a little shocked by that since those type of hours are only attained by current healtcare professionals. I am Active Duty military, I fly jets and I am a little bummed that I would need to get out of the military, get a job in the Medical field for 2-3 years just to have enough hours built up to apply to some PA schools. Can anyone shed some light on their experiences with this and how they got around the requirement if that is even possible at all? It seems odd that the requirement to get into PA schools are more stringent than Medical School. Thanks for your help. Because at one point the profession was created for those that are already a health care professional (military medics) who in restrospect have met the requirements before even thinking about pursuing this profession. But newer programs are becoming entry level but still requiring some form of direct patient care experience. That said, flying planes is awesome experience (the ability to remain calm under extreme stresses) but sadly it's not health care related. Also, the requirements are more stringent than MD/DO school because it's an accelerated medical program and they want individuals who have been in health care and are committed to it (so no way around it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAGuy55 Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Healthcare experience is a core component of any PA school application. Why is it more odd? PA is one of the top jobs in the country and each school has a 2-5% acceptance rate. It's not some low level easy process. It you want to be competitive, get a job in the healthcare field (EMT, CNA, MA) and work for a year (1 year = 2000 hours) then apply. Do some more research into the process too. Lots of good resources on this site. No offense to you, and I mean this in a constructive way, but it seems that you know very little about the process/profession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAMEDIC Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Hi, I am a Pre-PA student thats currently knocking out my PA Prereqs. I am also searching through potential PA schools I will apply in couple years and I couldn't help to notice some of them have a 2000-4000 hr direct patient requirement? I was a little shocked by that since those type of hours are only attained by current healtcare professionals. I am Active Duty military, I fly jets and I am a little bummed that I would need to get out of the military, get a job in the Medical field for 2-3 years just to have enough hours built up to apply to some PA schools. Can anyone shed some light on their experiences with this and how they got around the requirement if that is even possible at all? It seems odd that the requirement to get into PA schools are more stringent than Medical School. Thanks for your help. You could apply to IPAP. Problem solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONE40pt6 Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Second vote for IPAP, also consider asking your CO to get trained up in TCCC and EMT. You could probably get some experience working with flight surgeons while you're still in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingToHealing Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 Thank you Diggy and PGuy55, So lets see, I admit I haven't had much healthcare experience in my life, as in doing it for work. I've always been interested in pursuing healthcare profession and wanted to be a Doctor since high school. Life never took me that direction and now as I am approaching my military retirement I finally get a chance to pursue my passion and interest. With that said I came across a PA about 5 years ago who got me very interested. I didn't want to start early on my prereqs because most schools want to see recent classroom experience as in 5-7 years so I didn't want to start too early. I never thought PA school would be easy but neither is Medical School. So if I was representing school faculty I would be more concerned that my Medical students of 4 years or more would drop out and not be ready compared to students that were committed for 2-3 years as PAs. I realize the process of becoming a PA is not easy, but neither is MD/DO or Fighter Pilot, or Engineer or many other professions that require long commitments, sacrifice and dedication. I am also aware of how PAs became to be what they are today. I've researched the subject thoroughly so my surprise about experience level requiremetn shouldn't be regarded as a hit or a negative mark towards PAs. If I made a choice to attend school to finish my prereqs while putting in 60-70 hours a week serving in the military and have to take a prereq course that will take at least 20 hours per week is a indicator of my lack of commitment, then I am not sure what other ways would prove that I am serious about becoming a PA is? I have spent my last four months of deployment shadowing PAs/Doctors and none of them think that having prior Medical experience is necessary. I actually have a friend that was a former fighter pilot that finished PA school a year ago. She was also in the same boat as me, no prior medical experience, bunch of volunteer work and was accepted at Texas Tech where she became a PA. Now I am a realist and I realize that even though I have zero doubt I would be successful in the program, certain schools have that as an added requirement because of the large pool of applicants. At the end of the day if that is what it takes then unfortunately I will need to get hired as a EMT, CNA, MA but I don't see the point if I have proven several times in my life that I can take on a rigorous curriculums and finish successfully without quitting. Bottom-line, if the reason is to prove to the school that I can hack it, I have already done that but if it is the new standard, another qualifier to get in because of the large pool of applicants with similar applications then that one I can understand more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingToHealing Posted February 16, 2016 Author Share Posted February 16, 2016 You could apply to IPAP. Problem solved. Second vote for IPAP, also consider asking your CO to get trained up in TCCC and EMT. You could probably get some experience working with flight surgeons while you're still in. Unfortunately IPAP is only open to Enlisted members seeking retraining, as far as I know. I am an Officer and also a fighter pilot so pretty much impossible to get retrained even if they waived the requirement to allow Officers to apply. We are in a critically manned field so they have a difficult time letting us go. Thats why I literally have to wait for my retirement to go into the PA field. On the other hand, I am moving to another base this Summer, it will be a a non-flying tour, I can maybe try to get my EMT training there since I should have more time not flying. Thanks for the suggestion though, I would really like the opportunity to go through the military route. One of the guys I am shadowing went through the IPAP and he likes it. He was also prior enlisted prior to going to the Military PA school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAMEDIC Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Unfortunately IPAP is only open to Enlisted members seeking retraining, as far as I know. I am an Officer and also a fighter pilot so pretty much impossible to get retrained even if they waived the requirement to allow Officers to apply. We are in a critically manned field so they have a difficult time letting us go. Thats why I literally have to wait for my retirement to go into the PA field. On the other hand, I am moving to another base this Summer, it will be a a non-flying tour, I can maybe try to get my EMT training there since I should have more time not flying. Thanks for the suggestion though, I would really like the opportunity to go through the military route. One of the guys I am shadowing went through the IPAP and he likes it. He was also prior enlisted prior to going to the Military PA school. I just graduated from IPAP and we had Air Force officers in our class. It is no longer restricted to just enlisted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator rev ronin Posted February 16, 2016 Administrator Share Posted February 16, 2016 I am losing one of the EMTs from my fire department to PA school this April. She's a former Army Warrant officer/Kiowa pilot, who got out of the service and took an EMT job working on BLS ambulances to get where she wanted to go... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MT2PA Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 It's not so much that the HCE requirement is to determine who is committed. You're right, taking pre-reqs while working 60+ hrs a week is commitment. But there is a BIG difference between shadowing and actually working in healthcare. THAT'S what the HCE requirement is for: to make sure applicants sufficiently know what they are getting themselves into going into healthcare. Part of it relates back to why the PA profession started (why PA students tend to have HCE while med students go straight from undergrad to med school). PA programs want to produce PAs that WANT to practice medicine. Obviously med schools want to produce doctors that want to practice, but med students take on a much longer commitment in terms of years and financially to pursue med school - so it's kind of on them if they get themselves into it and change their mind. PA programs are generally 2 years - even people who aren't sure may think 'hey, it's 2 years for a masters degree that pays pretty well and isn't as pricey as med school'. PA programs don't want to waste time on students who are going to leave the profession after 2 years because they didn't realize that healthcare isn't sunshine and rainbows and that patients aren't always just so grateful for what you do. I'm not saying that you are one of those students, but that IS why there is an HCE requirement for PA school. In order for the PA profession to grow, we have to get people who want to be in it for the right reasons who are going to be committed to it for the long haul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONE40pt6 Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 I'm not sure that's what Dr. Stead was worried about when he took army medics instead of bright, commited high school kids and taught them how to be providers. I think the point of HCE (at least originally) was to make up for the relatively short amount of training it takes to be functionally equivalent to a physician with the expectation of providing excellent care with minimal collaboration (supervision). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cop to pa Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Navy Corpsmen, not Army medics. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ONE40pt6 Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Navy Corpsmen, not Army medics. ;) Apologies, no disrespect. And thanks ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyNameWasUsed Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 why would anybody give up flying fighter jets to go back to school...T_T i wanna fly jets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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