ShazRN Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Hello, I am new to this forum. I am a nurse and looking into the PA programs. I was wondering if there are any nurses on this forum that went to PA school and can guide and provide insight on PA school from nursing prospective. Thank you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajames Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Hey, theres been a lot of posts on this in the past. I would keep digging around if no one gets to you soon enough. Wanted to chime in because there are so many who do go on to become PA from RN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShazRN Posted May 20, 2018 Author Share Posted May 20, 2018 Thank you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator LT_Oneal_PAC Posted May 21, 2018 Moderator Share Posted May 21, 2018 Gladly willing to help, but would need more specific questions. In general, good idea and glad I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShazRN Posted May 21, 2018 Author Share Posted May 21, 2018 @LT_Oneal_PAC how long you were a nurse for before you decided to become a PA. As a nurse and a PA, What area did/do you work in? How was the transition from nursing to PA school, in terms of classes, clinicals etc. Being a nurse helped you in PA school, in terms of the course work? How was work life balance when in PA school? Did you still have your nursing license? Sorry too many questions! Thank you so much for responding to my post!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAAdmission Posted May 21, 2018 Share Posted May 21, 2018 I had a couple nurses in my class in PA school. They hung onto their RN licenses and worked per diem shifts here and there and made great money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator LT_Oneal_PAC Posted May 21, 2018 Moderator Share Posted May 21, 2018 6 hours ago, ShazRN said: @LT_Oneal_PAC how long you were a nurse for before you decided to become a PA. As a nurse and a PA, What area did/do you work in? How was the transition from nursing to PA school, in terms of classes, clinicals etc. Being a nurse helped you in PA school, in terms of the course work? How was work life balance when in PA school? Did you still have your nursing license? Sorry too many questions! Thank you so much for responding to my post!! I’m atypical. I worked full time as a RN for 2 years and part time 2 years in ICU. During the first 2 years I went to NP school for 3 semesters (paid for by employer) to show I could handle grad work and get into anesthesia. I went to anesthesia school and worked part time in the ICU. Realized I was miserable working with surgeons and went to PA school with a navy scholarship. I worked in family medicine in the navy for 3 years and now I’m a civilian EM resident for the past few months. the transition to PA school was pretty easy, though this is also partially due to previous grad school work. The other nurse in my class who worked in ortho for a year also found it an easier transition that other students. I had a pretty good work life balance. I had a kid in PA school and went rock climbing twice per week for at least a half day, but not during clinical. That time was pretty busy. Clinical were both easier and harder because you weren’t a newbie, but some preceptors treat all students the same so it can be frustrating to be doing things you’ve already mastered, like IVs and the like, instead of bigger procedures. Of note NP school is no different in this regard. i do have my license because it’s cheap an easy to keep up. All my medical CME counts for nursing. Never know when it might be helpful like get flight certified or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShazRN Posted May 21, 2018 Author Share Posted May 21, 2018 @LT_Oneal_PAC thank you so much for the detailed response. I have been an ICU nurse for 3 years. I have a bachelors in biology, bachelors in nursing and a masters in business. I did look into CRNA school but I am more interested in surgery; therefore, started looking into PA schools. The problem is most of the PA school require the pre-requisites to be within 10 years and mine are definetly older. Did you have to repeat any of the classes to get into PA school? Would you mind let me know what PA school you went to? thank you so much for your time and help! shaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator LT_Oneal_PAC Posted May 22, 2018 Moderator Share Posted May 22, 2018 11 hours ago, ShazRN said: @LT_Oneal_PAC thank you so much for the detailed response. I have been an ICU nurse for 3 years. I have a bachelors in biology, bachelors in nursing and a masters in business. I did look into CRNA school but I am more interested in surgery; therefore, started looking into PA schools. The problem is most of the PA school require the pre-requisites to be within 10 years and mine are definetly older. Did you have to repeat any of the classes to get into PA school? Would you mind let me know what PA school you went to? thank you so much for your time and help! shaz None of my prereqs were over 10yo, so cant help much with that. I had to take gen chem 1/2 and take an additional bio 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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