Should I apply to PA school this cycle?

[lbpa2017]

Graduated in December magna cum laude with a BS in Microbiology. Graduated in 3.5 years (not sure if relevant) because I liked a heavy workload and just finished early. No real rhyme or reason to it. 

 

cGPA: 3.74

sGPA: 3.60 

 

Taking the GRE in the next 2 weeks, but my practice exam scores are averaging around 150V and 155Q. 

 

5 people have agreed to write LOR for me: 1 PA, 2MDs, my previous boss, and my academic advisor. 

 

I don't have any direct PCE. Because of this, I have composed a list of 10 schools that do not require it or their minimum is less than I currently have. I live in AL, so if you have any input in southern schools, it would be greatly appreciated!

 

My HCE is kind of all over. 55 hours ED volunteering, 45 hours shadowing 2 Derm PAs, 15 hours internal medicine MD shadowing, 8 hours of oncology MD shadowing, and I am currently working as a medical scribe at a urology clinic and have accumulated around 200 hours here which will be around 500 by the time I apply. My doctors are amazing and they let me watch procedures in the office which isn't always the case with scribing. I interact with patients a lot, but really this is simply verbal is obviously not considered direct. 

 

I have a lot of leadership experience. I was treasurer, VP, and president of a pre-health professional honor society with over 200 members (AED if anyone is familiar) and VP and secretary of an organization that promoted study abroad and helped acclimate incoming students from other countries to campus life. 

 

For the last 2 years, I worked for a volunteer office at my university, helping coordinate volunteer opportunities to help the underprivileged in my college town's community. This was paid, but I was offered this job after attending an alternative spring break trip in the most impoverished area in my state, something I talk about in my personal statement as it touched me a lot. 

 

I know these posts can be annoying, but before I spend money to apply, I want to see if I would be viewed as a competitive applicant or not. 

 

Thank you in advance!

[SCHW9076]

You NEED patient contact. Otherwise, you look great! Good luck to you, OP.

[MT2PA]

Do not apply.  The 'HCE' you listed isn't HCE at all.  The only part of it that passes as HCE is the scribe job.  The rest is volunteering or shadowing and those do not equal HCE.  Not all schools count scribe as HCE, either.

 

If you choose to apply, remember that just because you meet the minimum HCE requirements, many applicants are meeting minimums for other schools (2000 hrs) and some have years or decades of work experience putting your 200 hours to shame.  Meeting minimums is important but the goal is to be better compared to other applicants, not compared to minimums.

[cop to pa]

Agree with above: academically you are good to go, but experientially you barely qualify for programs that are liberal with what meets HCE.

 

Up to you to spend the time and money. You may get interviews at programs where you meet the HCE, but no guarantee.

[pahopeful_1]

Agree with everyone. You should wait this year. Most schools need "Direct Patient Care Experience" and unfortunately being a scribe is NOT that for most schools because you are not touching the patient. You should take a EMT or CNA course and work for a year and then apply.

[josier]

Do you mind listing the ten schools you put together?

[lbpa2017]

Do you mind listing the ten schools you put together?

LSU Shreveport, LSU New Orleans, UAB, MS college (they are very lenient on what they accept), South College, South University, UT Memphis, Chatham University, UT Southwestern, and Nova Southeastern. 

[lbpa2017]

Agree with everyone. You should wait this year. Most schools need "Direct Patient Care Experience" and unfortunately being a scribe is NOT that for most schools because you are not touching the patient. You should take a EMT or CNA course and work for a year and then apply.

I am not applying to any schools that list Direct PCE as a requirement specifically because I know I do not have it. 

[Believe]

you know you want to become a PA after shadowing for 45 hours? People are telling you not to apply because how do you even know healthcare is what you want to do? You NEED HCE to know what you are getting yourself into. Working, touching, and helping patients is much different than observing someone else do it. You owe it to yourself to gain HCE. Just because you might be able to attend PA school with no real HCE, doesn't mean you should. You will only make yourself a stronger applicant and you won't regret learning more about healthcare by doing so.

[MyNameWasUsed]

You probably shouldn't apply but I think if you apply WISELY you will get accepted somewhere this cycle. You already know not to apply to any programs requiring HCE so that's a great start. The only thing is, do you rather apply this year with HCE and be limited to a majority of schools or spend one year acquiring 1000-2000 HCE and be able to apply almost everywhere. 

 

It's kind of the question: Do you want to just settle for a program now or invest more time acquiring HCE so you can apply to even better programs later? This question is irrelevant if one of the programs you listed is your first choice. 

[anewconvert]

Even at the schools that don't require HCE the majority of applicants will have HCE. You are going to be competing against more rounded applicants.

 

Take a couple years and get some HCE.

[DiggySRNA]

you know you want to become a PA after shadowing for 45 hours?

 

I knew I wanted to become a PA at the age of 17, no HCE, no volunteering, no shadowing...maybe he knows because he knows ;)

 

23 now and looking forward to April 27th :P

[guiriguiri]

If you have 500 hours scribing, you can apply to Saint Louis University.