RN to PA

[HeyJ1234]

I have been an RN (with BSN) for almost 15 years. Over the years, I have worked in the ICU, Shock Trauma, PACU and outpatient. I had pursued a CRNA degree in the past but had to leave the program because of a family accident/illness. After a seven year hiatus, I am establishing a new 5 year plan with my family/kids and am still eager to pursue advanced level education.  

According to the programs I am interested in, I have the credentials, the hours and the grades (pending some additional refresher courses for A&P and genetics) and was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to make my application more competitive.

I'm not sure who PA school favors (medical or non-medical personnel) and want to be as prepared as possible for the upcoming application process. Any advice is truly appreciated!

[EMEDPA]

apply to older programs that value experience and if your grades are good you should get in. Best of luck. You are an ideal PA school applicant.

[Guest HopeToBePAC]

Yes, PA schools favor medical personnel/experience over non-medical, in fact, this is a requirement for a majority of s schools. Clearly you're going to be very competitive in PCE requirements of schools due to you working as a nurse. On top of that, if you have good grades, write a good personal statement, and are able to explain why you're switching from nursing to PA (and not, say, NP instead) then you have a great shot of getting in, IMO. 

[kidpresentable]

Not interested in anesthesia anymore?

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

I had a similar background prior to PA school. RN and went to CRNA before I realized that the OR is a terrible environment and I would rather doing more general medicine. As long as there are not any black marks on your records, you'll do great and get in just fine. You'll have to answer the question about why not anesthesia a lot. People cannot fathom leaving that kind of salary on the table, but for me there wasn't any amount of money that could keep me in the OR.