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Surgical Tech before PA school? ADVICE PLEASE


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Hi all!

This is going to be a hefty post, but I really need some advice from anyone with experience on this or just advice in general.

Here is a little bit about me:

I am 26 years old and am currently working as a CNA II on the surgical Unit at a local hospital. My ultimate goal is to become a Surgical First-Assistant in the OR. I know that you can become a First assistant by a few different ways... As a PA, as a Surgical tech with extra training/certifications, or as an RNFA. I know for sure that I do not want to be an RN, and have always gone back to wanting to become a PA in the OR. When I finally decided to go back to school in Fall 2017 at a local community college, the original plan I had in mind was to go for Surgical Tech while working on PA Pre-reqs. I wanted to do this to get into the OR faster, get experience(and a pay raise) and make sure that I really wanted to do first assisting while working towards PA school. After getting deeper into school, I have managed to pull out a 4.0 and have been given some grants and things... but After meeting with an advisor, I have pretty much been turned upside down as to what I should do. The advisor told me that if I try to get pre-reqs for PA admittance done, while being in the surgical tech program, it will be a complete overload and I will still have to do more classes/terms once the surgical tech program is done anyway, in order to be able to apply for a PA program or even a 4-year university. Pacific University, in Oregon-where I live, offers a Bachelor completion option for the PA program that students with 90 or more transferable credits (An associates degree) and 3.5 or higher can apply to.. I am confident I can do that and know that I will want to become a PA regardless, in the long run....considering time as well,  it would take a hell of a lot longer if I choose to stick with the Surgical tech program first, as in my original plan. Another problem I have in deciding is that I really don't want to be a CNA for that much longer...and I really want to be in the OR. like.. now. To make things even more complicated, I just got a letter from the surgical tech program, notifying me of my acceptance. 

So here is what I am needing advice on:

Should I take the admittance to the surgical tech program to get into the OR quicker and start getting experience while gaining useful resources/connections, but set back my ultimate goal of becoming a PA? Would this just be a huge detour that may not even be worth it? Or should I say forget the Surg tech, go for an AAOT- transfer degree, stay on the surgical unit as a CNA II and push towards a bachelors degree or the bachelor completion PA program option at Pacific? 

What are my chances in becoming a Surgical PA right out of school if I don't have direct OR experience like I would if I went for Surg tech first prior to PA school?

Considering my age... length of time each would take.. financially.. where I want to end up. What makes the most sense?

Thank you for everyone who even took the time to read this messy, messy, post.

-Charly

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I took the Surigcal Tech route to PA. My BA is in journalism and I worked in media for years before I decided to go back to school at 28 to start working on PA prereqs - those took two years, and during the second of those years I completed the Surgical Tech program. When I started down the long road to PA school I was CERTAIN I would want to work as a surgical PA. I've now worked as a surgical tech, been accepted to PA school (I start this fall), and am almost certain I don't want to work in surgery. Never say never, of course, but overall I really did not enjoy my OR experiences. That's a much longer story that I'm willing to discuss with you over DM but I don't need to get in to it here. 

Anyway, if you KNOW you want to go the PA route (which I recommend, because Surgical First Assists are not recognized in many states, and the jobs are very scarce), do not waste your time in the surg tech program. You are going to be frustrated at spending that time and money and energy learning to do a job that you don't see yourself in long-term. I struggled with that immensely. Also, I consider myself to be very "academic" - good at studying, dedicating myself to learning, reading textbooks, etc. My surg tech program was NOT that. We had quizzes and tests, but no lectures, no set path for studying, no set textbooks. We were being taught a skill, not the information behind it (side note that the program I attended had a LOT of problems and most, if not all, of my cohort hated the program structure). 

That said, I did take PA prereqs alongside the surg tech program (which was short, only 3.5 quarters). For about 6 months, I was exhausted and stressed - I was taking 30 credits per quarter and that included a 30 hour/week clinical internship. It was also my final 6 months before applying to PA school, so they were all the upper-level final sciences I needed. So it was hard. But definitely possible - I ended with a 3.9 from nearly the nearly 100 credit hours I took during those 2 years at community colleges. So don't let anyone convince you it's not possible. YOU determine what you're capable of and how much you want it. 

To answer your question about working as a surgical PA after school, I have never once thought that my background as a surgical tech would give me any leg up over other new PA grads without a background in the OR. Being a surgical tech is vastly different than working as a PA. So yes, definitely still possible for you to get a job working in surgery as a new grad. The bigger challenge there is that if you ONLY want to be working in surgery, that may prove difficult, since many new grad PAs that I've met spend the majority of their time in clinic. 

With everything you've mentioned, I would avoid the surgical tech route and probably pursue the bachelor's completion program. Stick with being a CNA as long as you can tolerate it and until you have at least 1000 hours (or 2000+ if you're planning to stay in Oregon, I remember those programs wanting higher PCE numbers). Pacific University has a great PA program, so they should be able to advise you on good steps to take before you apply. 

As I said, happy to discuss further in a DM. 

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another viewpoint here- I know several folks who knew they wanted to be surgical PAs, worked as surg techs before PA school, and landed great surgery pa jobs. if there are jobs in your area it is solid training and a path I would recommend. 

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  • 4 months later...

I’m curious as to what you decided!  I’m a one year post grad of and Associates level Surgical Tech program,  who works as a surgical assistant for a facial plastic surgeon.  I really want to go back to become a PA.  I was a CNA in my early 20s.  I’m 32 now and love surgery.  I don’t want to be an RN either (more personal reasons that may be similar to yours).  I live in DFW, so my problem is how competitive the programs are around me.  

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14 hours ago, Lizzsbee said:

I’m curious as to what you decided!  I’m a one year post grad of and Associates level Surgical Tech program,  who works as a surgical assistant for a facial plastic surgeon.  I really want to go back to become a PA.  I was a CNA in my early 20s.  I’m 32 now and love surgery.  I don’t want to be an RN either (more personal reasons that may be similar to yours).  I live in DFW, so my problem is how competitive the programs are around me.  

I’d suggest applying to programs that aren’t only local, unless you have reasons you must stay where you are. All the schools I researched highly value surg tech hours, and with your additional experience as a CNA you should be good on your PCE. 

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