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Change to Pre-PA after completed undergrad


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Hello everyone,

I'm curious to hear from others about their stories of switching to pre-pa after graduating in a different field. I graduated in 2016 with a 3.5 gpa as an English/Marketing major and have been working admin in a nutrition company ever since. At my job I got exposed to many different health care professionals and became interested in pursuing a PA career. I've been taking classes at a local community college this past year while still working a full time job. I plan on getting my cna license in the fall to start working on my HCE. 

I guess I'm curious as to what my chances are.

- Will it look bad on my transcript that I only took one or two classes a quarter at the community college? I had to balance working enough hours for rent and such with taking classes but so far I've gotten all As. 

- Will my former English/Marketing major hurt my chances?

I would appreciate any advice anyone has to give. Thanks!

 

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Coming from an English/marketing major will definitely not hurt your chances for PA school. If anything, I think it will show admissions committees that you really want to be a PA because you are coming from unfamiliar waters. Don't fret, I know many people that have come from non-science backgrounds that successfully made it through PA school. You should have a great time explaining why you decided to pursue the PA path in your personal statement and I suggest that you emphasize what drove you toward PA.  Is it because you witnessed what great work PAs do on the daily? Is it because PAs play a pivotal role in the healthcare model? What about PAs influenced you so heavily that pulled you from an English/marketing background?

Working full-time is no joke let alone taking classes and working full-time. As long as your scoring A's, I don't think taking 1-2 classes at a time will hurt your chances. Persevere. Set a goal, make a plan and stick to that plan. Best of luck!

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I studied journalism and english in undergrad and spent 8+ years working in media. i took all my pa prereqs at community colleges - 2 or 3 per quarter while i was still working full-time, then 2 per quarter while in a surgical tech program. i finished all my pa prereqs (there were a LOT, it's no joke coming from such a different undergrad career) at the same time i finished the surg tech program and started working as a surgical tech full time.

i applied to 12 programs, had 4 interview invites. i talked a lot about my former career in my personal statement and at interviews, but never got the impression from programs that it was an issue coming from such a different background (if anything, i felt like programs were attracted toward it - my prior studies/jobs gave me a skill set that's highly valuable in healthcare and they recognized that). focus on getting good grades in all your prereqs and obtaining plenty of PCE and it shouldn't be an issue. 

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If you do some (more?) shadowing and study the profession a little more, you shouldn't find that a majority (albeit maybe a shrinking majority as more traditional students plan for PA school) of PAs chose the profession as a second career.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


Should have said "... you should find..." not shouldn't.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

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