You have HOW MANY patient contact hours?!

[Gerrly]

So, looking at the requirements for the local PA programs, the general recommendation is 200-500 hours. When I look at some of your stats, I'm seeing thousands of hours. Exactly what are you all including? I know some of you are EMT's or MA's, etc. Do those of us with just shadowing experience even stand a chance??

 

My broad healthcare experience is as follows:

• 2 years as a pharmacy tech
  
• 1.5 years as a clinical lab asst
  
• 1 yr as a clinical research asst, during which I attended clinic 5x per month with my physician-boss
  

How does my experience stack up? I'm 26 years old, I have 2 young kids, and my husband works 65 hours/week, so my options for increasing contact hours are extremely limited (with daycare expenses and all).

[IdahoPA]

I listed about 5800 HCE hours as a military medic. The average for my class was a little higher, but my school requires at least 4000 hrs. Not all schools place as much importance on HCE. There are lots of threads on this forum about which schools don't so you could check those out. Additionally, some schools might count pharm tech as HCE. What are your cGPA and sGPA like? If you have limited HCE, you should have a stellar GPA. So...I wouldn't say you're in a hopeless situation, you just have to figure out the right schools to apply to. :)

[GatorRRT]

6000+ hrs by program start as a respiratory therapist

[Gerrly]

Eh, my cGPA and sGPA are similar: ~3.4. Sigh.

[EMEDPA]

talk to the programs you are interested in. many do not accept research, pharm tech or lab experience, although some do.

I had > 10,000 hrs as an er tech and paramedic.

3.4 by the way is fine.

[Gerrly]

But the 500 hours I accrued going to clinic with my boss would count, right?

 

I'm applying to Drexel (I know you went there) and others in the area. My boss at CHOP is an adjunct prof at Arcadia for their genetic counseling program. I'm hoping a letter of rec from him will help me there...

[flyingsquirrel]

Good luck. I didn't get into Drexel with a 3.9 and 11,000 hours as a paramedic.

[Gerrly]

Oh, fantastic.

[cinntsp]

Good luck. I didn't get into Drexel with a 3.9 and 11,000 hours as a paramedic.

 

This just goes to show that every school is looking for something a little different.

[EMEDPA]

But the 500 hours I accrued going to clinic with my boss would count, right?

 

it would count as shadowing, not hce.

[EMEDPA]

This just goes to show that every school is looking for something a little different.

did you at least get an interview?

that sounds like the profile of many who attended hahnemann/drexel with me.

[marilynpac]

talk to the programs you are interested in. many do not accept research, pharm tech or lab experience, although some do.

I had > 10,000 hrs as an er tech and paramedic.

3.4 by the way is fine.

 

Many of those tech jobs are considered low tier....depends on the school, which may ask for higher GPA...esp core.

[winterallsummer]

I had 4000+ BUT when I interviewed, I found that VERY FEW applicants were even in the 1000 range (and they were still getting interviews). I have been saying this for a long time - this forum is a misrepresentation of how many hours you need to be competitive to apply. Many of the people I came across had very few hours or almost all volunteering or worked in non-clinical health care jobs (i.e. unit secretary, lab, etc). So please do not despair. Yes there are some people with a lot of hours but they represent a small part of the spectrum. If you can hit 500 hours I'd say you are in good shape. Once you are in the 4 digit range you have an advantage. *Disclaimer: some schools do expect 2000+ and if you are below that mark don't apply to those schools.

 

Also, I only reported my hours working as a PCT as HCE. I accumulated them over the past 3 years (so 2 1/2 at the time I applied). I had research hours and volunteer hours and I put that elsewhere on the application, as I did with my shadowing hours. Only working as a PCT counted for me. I have heard of people pushing it... i.e. in research working with people, but IMO this is not real hours and it could come back to bight you in the ***. Just call with the schools and check CASPA carefully.

[Gerrly]

Oh, thanks so much for your response! I seriously have been really down the past 2 days thinking about this. I had thought I was a decent candidate, then came across this forum and wanted to cry. I know I'm not a stellar cadidate (on paper, that is-- I happen to think I'm PERFECT for this job ;)) I just didn't want to be applying without any chance of acceptance.

[greenmood]

You need to find schools that are a good match for your experience, that's all. Your GPA is good. There are plenty of people who get in to PA school with less than 1000 hours of patient contact. We can argue for hours about whether that's good or not, but I know it happens. The problem comes when you try to apply to schools who state outright that they are looking for applicants with lots of experience, or who tell you their average matriculant has 5000 hours.

 

I had 8000 hours as a PT aide. I discovered early this year that a small number of my classmates had never actually touched a patient with any degree of autonomy.

[flyingsquirrel]

Nope. Didn't even get an interview at Drexel. I did get plenty of other interviews and I'm very happy with the school I'll be starting at in six weeks.

[allisones]

Gerrly, don't get discouraged, just be very thorough in checking out what a school is looking for. I had less than 1000 hrs working in healthcare, applied to 4 schools- interviewed at 3, withdrew app from 4th. I was accepted to 2 of the 3 and waitlisted at the third. It can be done, just make sure that you are prepared for your interview and have an otherwise strong app. Every school looks for different things and that may change from year to year. I strongly advise that you communicate with the schools directly. They are the ones that can tell you what you need and what they are looking for.

[wisemakl]

There is hope :) I do have a tad higher GPA 3.8cum 3.6sci but I had almost NO patient care hours. I did have about 500 hours of volunteering (most not healthcare related). I had a summer research internship at a children's hospital last summer in the NICU (but i never even touched the babies) and even that at the time of application at at 40 hours. It all depends on where you apply. I have no idea where you are from but here are the schools I had luck with! (I'm from OH)

 

Marietta College (OH)

University of Mount Union (OH) -- there is no forum for the program

University of Toledo (OH) *where I chose

University of Southern California (CA) *waitlisted

University of Colorado (CO) *interviewed and denied

Western University of Health Sciences (CA)

Cuyahoga Community College/Cleveland State University (OH) *Declined interview offer

 

Obviously I don't know what went wrong with USC and CO... but I really think that my HCE prevented me from being accepted or waitlisted (in addition to not interviewing well) for Colorado. At USC, the same MAY be the case but I don't think so. Someone I interviewed with has no HCE in any form and was accepted later in the interview cycle.. so I believe there is hope there!!

 

Hang in there, just choose wisely on the programs that you apply to. Pick some "long-shots" and some "highly-likely" options. Then ROCK your interviews!

 

You can do it!

[Guest hubbardtim48]

5,500 HCE as a respiratory therapist

[Gerrly]

Thanks so much for all the feedback!

[cinntsp]

when I interviewed, I found that VERY FEW applicants were even in the 1000 range (and they were still getting interviews). I have been saying this for a long time - this forum is a misrepresentation of how many hours you need to be competitive to apply.

 

Truth^^^

 

 

 

I had ~2400 hours as a medical technologist at the time that I submitted my app. My patient contact was limited to my phlebotomy training while in school.

[Doc Savage]

I had 4000+ BUT when I interviewed, I found that VERY FEW applicants were even in the 1000 range (and they were still getting interviews). I have been saying this for a long time - this forum is a misrepresentation of how many hours you need to be competitive to apply. Many of the people I came across had very few hours or almost all volunteering or worked in non-clinical health care jobs (i.e. unit secretary, lab, etc). So please do not despair. Yes there are some people with a lot of hours but they represent a small part of the spectrum. If you can hit 500 hours I'd say you are in good shape. Once you are in the 4 digit range you have an advantage. *Disclaimer: some schools do expect 2000+ and if you are below that mark don't apply to those schools.

 

Also, I only reported my hours working as a PCT as HCE. I accumulated them over the past 3 years (so 2 1/2 at the time I applied). I had research hours and volunteer hours and I put that elsewhere on the application, as I did with my shadowing hours. Only working as a PCT counted for me. I have heard of people pushing it... i.e. in research working with people, but IMO this is not real hours and it could come back to bight you in the ***. Just call with the schools and check CASPA carefully.

 

 

This is very true... to an extent. PA schools all have different requirements. If I based what I thought was a competitive applicant on just my school, I would say 4000 is good, but 6000 is competitive. At other schools it may be that 500 is good, and 1000 is competitive. You have to do your research. If your HCE is limited then the schools you can apply to is limited. Although the trend is heading towards less experience, there is still a number of schools that require a lot of experience. If you do not mind relocating, then it is a moot point. If you are surrounded by an area that requires a lot of experience, then apply, but do not be shocked if you do not get in. No one person can tell you you are competitive or not unless you submit to them a list of schools you are planning to apply, along with your stats.

 

Applied to one school, 3.8 GPA 10,000 hours as a Combat Medic and 4000 hours as a Critical Care Technologist. Interviewed and accepted!