Best Gap Year PCE

[Dwebb97]

I will be graduating in May 2019 and taking at least one gap year to gain some PCE. I currently only have a few hundred hours of HCE but have completed my phlebotomist certification. I have not been able to find a job in my town as most clinics hire nurses and train them in phlebotomy. Would you suggest looking elsewhere to be a phlebotomist and/or scribe or doing a semester of classes to get my EMT basic and working as an EMT or ED tech? I've heard that scribe can be considered low quality PCE or not accepted at all, but also high quality depending on the school. Is that perception changing or do I need to very selectively apply to schools that will count it? I've also heard for EMT that in CASPA you can only report times that you are responding to calls and have a patient vs. the amount of time you were on the clock. Is this true? If I decided to go the EMT route, it would mean that I would have to wait an extra cycle before applying, but I would rather wait and increase my chances of getting in during my first cycle rather than applying and getting denied for not having enough hours or good enough quality PCE. Thanks in advance!

[UGoLong]

When I applied, EMT time counted by wall clock time, but then again I respond from a station. When there was down time, sometimes we would train, etc.

EMT is a good route to go, but you should first see how easy it would be to get a job in your area. Some schools do take scribe time, but I know that some don't (ours does).

[Guest HopeToBePAC]

I would continue to look for phlebotomy jobs elsewhere...since you already are certified in that. If you still aren't able to obtain a job after a few months, then you want to look at the specific schools your interested in and gauge which PCE job would be better suited for them/accepted by them. EMT and techs are both great high-quality PCE jobs then almost all PA schools will accept. Scribing, on the other hand, is only accepted by a select number of schools. So, if most of the schools you are targeting ARE scribe friendly, then becoming a scribe would be easier than an EMT or ED tech. 

[Ejohns20]

I always pop up and advocate for medical assisting. Plus if you know phlebotomy; that's one arm of the MA certification test you probably won't need to study for

[MT2PA]

I think more schools will accept scribe than people realize.  I have never heard it considered high quality though.  You can learn a lot doing it, but let's be honest - you're not really the one doing anything to take care of the patient.

Honestly just do something.  Do something you will want to wake up and do well.  Do something you'd be okay doing for a year or two or three or however long it takes you to get in and matriculate.  Do something that will help pay the bills and help you stash away money for school.  

There is really no single right answer to this question.

[Caligal]

Have you looked into CNA? Pretty cheap and it’s a fast program if you do it full time. That was the route I took for my PCE. I was initially thinking of doing EMT as well but decided not to because of the reason you stated, only having to report hours when you’re responding to calls and etc. At least with CNA, you get hands on patient care and it can be done in a month. Some programs don’t allow medical scribe for your PCE so look into the programs!

Edited January 19, 2019 by Caligal

[elainabee]

I'm currently completing my gap year and I'm an STNA (nursing assistant; depending on the state might be called CNA, PCNA, PCA, etc). 

I took an accelerated class and was certified within a month, testing and all. I found a job fairly easily too (a lot of hospitals are always hiring CNAs; nursing homes and rehab facilities are other places you should check). 

I work full time in a skilled nursing facility and even though I've only been there for ~ 6 months, I've gained a TON of valuable HCE

[rev ronin]

Q: What's a "gap year"?
A: A term from med school that has no real bearing on the PA application process. 

Seriously, if you are going to "take a gap year," you sound like you're wanting to go to med school.  It's almost like people over 25 calling themselves "non-traditional students"--it's a vocabulary for a different profession.

[Dwebb97]

I thought I'd write a little update in case anyone happened to read over this. I was accepted for multiple scribe positions in Dallas for ED and an ENT office. I was super happy to have options and then happened to run across a Clinical Allergy Specialist job and applied on a whim. I got the job during my phone interview! Now I will be running my own allergy clinic performing allergy testing and immunotherapy directly hands-on with patients. It just goes to show that sometimes things work out in ways you didn't expect and better than you could've hoped!