Aspiring Physician, planning on applying to PA, Chances at Duke?

[Pez]

MCAT: Not taken yet (planned for April or May 2017)
cGPA: 3.62
sGPA: 3.6

Healthcare Hours: 8,800 (EMT)

Worth Noting: 
-No withdraws,
-No grades lower than a B.
-Worked full time and took full time course load
-Mother Died when I was 17 years old from cancer (in 2010)
-Exposed to medicine since I was 10 years old
-I had to drop out of high school to help support my family (went back and graduated high school at 21 yo)

 

Extracurricular Activities: 
1st Journal Club Member - American Association of Clinical Chemistry
2nd Disaster Response Team Member - Medical Reserves Corp of California
3rd Tutor and Mentor - School on Wheels - Provide one on one weekly tutoring to homeless children throughout high risk areas throughout Los Angeles (Watts, Compton, Inglewood)
4th Volunteer Physician Shadowing - 75 Hours

Letters of Recommendation:
1st: Medical Director at Current Medical Facility. I have built a very close relationship. Will provide a stellar letter. His credentials is MD, FACC, FACP.
2nd: Associate Medical Director at Current Medical Facility: I have also built a very close relationship with this person. Will Provide a stellar letter. Credentials are MD, FACC, FACP.
3rd: Biology Professor and Biochemistry Professor: I received 3 A's in his class sequence. He will be able to write a good letter of my ability to learn difficult concepts.
4th: Lead Pastor of Church I have Volunteered at. They will talk about my character and how I have helped their community church through blood pressure and blood glucose screenings.

Occupation: EMT/Patient Care Technician
Age: 24
Sex: Male
Ethnicity: Mexican
Residence: Southern California

Thank you!

[DiggySRNA]

Oh god. You just opened a whole can of worms.

 

 

 

Is there a particular reason why you also want to apply to PA school?

[Pez]

Because, I want to help people, and really don't care what alphabet soup is after my name. 

[UGoLong]

But you know that you only want to go to Duke. Why's that?

[Pez]

I never said I only want to go to Duke.

 

I am applying to every CA school, and I will be applying to Duke as a dream school. 

[mandrew1]

Why would you want to add another 150 K to your debt? Then med school? There must be more to this story; the PA profession is not a stepping stone to Med School. If the ADCOM gets wind of this, you'll never get accepted.

[laferri2]

I suspect that the title is unfortunately worded and the OP is not planning on becoming an MD/DO after PA.

[UGoLong]

He looks like a good guy but I'm unsure of what he really wants to do and why. Might be an interesting essay to read.

[pabound2016]

Assuming you write a stellar personal statement, achieve decent GRE scores (nothing less than 150 in each subsection), and desire to be a PA (and not a physician like what the title says) you seem like a good fit to receive an interview from Duke's PA program. I would advise you to get a PA to write you a letter of recommendation. No guarantee, though, as many of the accepted students vastly range in their stats (age, PCE, GPA, GRE, etc). I say definitely apply, but also have a good number of other programs you would be interested in attending. No one's safe in applying to PA school. Remember you are competing with many others with similar stats. Make yourself stand out and memorable in your application.

[Petunia]

I believe I responded to your thread on another page- I am very excited to attend Duke- but there are tons of fantastic schools- apply broadly to increase your chances of being accepted.  And shadow a PA.... and get a PA letter and you are off to a good start

[Petunia]

Oh- also take the GRE not MCAT for Duke

 

but like others said- this isn't a stepping stone for med school- I am hoping that you had a typo in your title

 

No school would accept you if you said in an interview that your end goal is to be an MD or DO 

[EMEDPA]

at the very least you need a letter from a PA

[Pez]

Thank you all for the collaborative responses. My title is correct, I am also applying to MD and DO schools. I equally want to be a PA and a physician, so depending on where I get an acceptance whether its PA or MD/DO I will have to outweigh the pros and cons of the tuition, geographical area, and other important factors. I of course am not planning on letting any of the interviewers know that I am also applying MD/DO due to the chance of the stigma of PA often times being a plan B for most medical students. I find myself wanting to further my medical education period, the reason I am applying to medical school is because I am in the unique situation where I have all the prerequisites completed for medical school with competitive statistics. I figure, why not give it a shot? Heaven forbid, 20 years down the road comes and I wonder one afternoon; why didn't I just try? Furthermore, it also helps that I received fee assistance and can apply to 14 medical schools for free and sit for the MCAT for free. just saying....

 

I will try and get in touch with a PA to see if I can shadow. Is that an absolute application killer? or is it more of a conversational piece they like to bring up during interviews, to help answer the question why PA? 

[EMEDPA]

most programs require a letter from a pa.

[PA-C-to-be]

Some schools may require PA shadowing specifically, some require just shadowing of a PA/MD/DO/NP but PA is always preferable and will always be more of a leg up. Same goes for letters of rec. Just depends on the program.

 

Yeah, be very careful of how you phrase everything to avoid seeming wishy-washy on career choice. Paint yourself like you're dead set on this and only this. I totally understand your wanting to pursue every route possible to reach your goals because if they all allow you to achieve what you seek in your healthcare career, then take whatever bites. The ultimate goal is to help people any way you can so if time and money are not a factor, you do you and be the best provider possible.

 

The unofficial general consensus about people using PA school as a stepping stone to med school just leaves a bad taste in the mouth of most PAs. We are proud of this profession and work so hard to prove to the general population and healthcare providers alike that we are fully capable of performing the same duties as doctors (in most specialties) and most of us could get into med school and sat in undergrad as peers with pre-med students but we chose this over med school for very important reasons. So students doing that undermines the credibility that we've worked so hard to build up and no one likes being treated like they're inferior in any walk of life.  But I'd go as far as to say (in my humble opinion) that someone saying they'd like to be a PA OR an MD/DO and not a PA THEN an MD/DO is not hurting the progress of the PA profession but perhaps actually helping to demonstrate a more level playing field and aids in PAs being viewed as peers and not subordinates.

[anewconvert]

I of course am not planning on letting any of the interviewers know that I am also applying MD/DO due to the chance of the stigma of PA often times being a plan B for most medical students.

 

....how many Hispanic, 24 year old males residing in Southern california with a 3.6x GPA and personal statements about dropping out a high school to care for their family and their mother's death being the inspiration to pursue medicine do you think are applying to Duke???

 

 

Follow up question, do you think this forum is unknown to the ADCOMs at PA schools?

 

Follow up to my follow up: have you considered any of this before posting about your desire to go to med OR PA school and how such information could seriously impact your chances at one, if not both???

[UGoLong]

I can't really follow applying to be an MD/DO and also applying to become a PA. That's a decision that one would think could make going in: they are two quite different academic commitments and careers. I suspect that one of these career options is really a fall-back position.

 

I suppose no one can stop you from trying. If you hide what you are doing from both sets of AdComs (as you suggest), they may never find out, or maybe they will. On the other hand, having to hide something may not reflect well on your integrity. And, in the end, our integrity is really all any of us have.

[Maynard]

most programs require a letter from a pa.

 

When I was applying there were a few programs that required a letter from a provider, any provider (MD, DO, DPM, PA, NP), but they were the minority. I don't recall seeing a single program that required a letter from a PA specifically.

[oolivia1]

Why do you want to be a PA instead of an MD? You will almost always be asked this, and a truthful, thoughtful answer will be expected of you.