Gap Year- what to do

[Guest thePAway]

Hi! I am graduating this May and will be submitting my apps hopefully by the end of May. I was wondering if I should be using my gap year to do stuff PA related such as volunteering or patient care hours or if I should just use this time to work and earn money by waitressing or something else. I guess the question is if I submit my applications in May and start a volunteer or patient care job and update programs, do programs care about this since I would have already submitted my apps? Or will they only consider what I submitted at the time of application?

[janemoe]

I'd imagine in some schools' supplemental applications, they may have questions like "How will you spend the next year?" So if you were spending that year volunteering and working on PCE, you'd have a great answer for this kind of question. That shows you haven't just stopped as soon as the application was in. It would show you're volunteering and gaining PCE to truly become a better healthcare provider, not just for the sake of filling up an application. 

So maybe earn money while earning PCE. You won't be getting tips like you would as a waitress, but you'll still be getting an income. You'll be "killing two birds with one stone"- racking up PCE and earning money. With waitressing, you'd only be earning money. Or maybe do both. Work on PCE and earn money part time as a waitress or something else like babysitting or tutoring; have a side hustle. Hope this helps.

[paPassion7]

I agree with the above comment. You also should not expect to get in your first cycle applying. Although many people do, there are many people who apply two/three cycles before being accepted. From what I've read and heard from many others on this site, it's much better to go into an application cycle expecting to have to reapply. By constantly continuing to improve your application, you're showing a commitment to advancing your knowledge in healthcare. Whether that be EMT, CNA, MA, etc, these will all benefit your future as a PA student and future practicing PA. If you work as a waitress (or something non patient care related) after applying, you're risking not having any improvements to add to your application if you did have to reapply. Good luck!

[MT2PA]

Work on bettering your app for a second cycle.  If you don't get in, you might not find out until right before the next cycle which won't give you any time to improve at that point.

It's better to operate under the assumption you won't get in and need to be improving your application.  If you do get interviews, programs may ask what you're doing during the application cycle.  A job that is patient care related will be much more impressive than waitressing.

FWIW good PCE should be a paid position.

[Adubbs210]

I would work on increasing you PCE and volunteer hours. One of the easiest ways to set yourself apart is to have a volunteer experience - regardless of whether it is healthcare related. if anything continue to work and gain PCE until after your interviews. Then if you know you can make more money in a different non-healthcare job (ie waitressing) I would recommend doing that after you've been accepted. You can send programs an email with an update about any job or volunteer changes you have made even after submitting your application they may not count towards your PCE hours if you've already submitted (it's school dependent) but at least show your experience is continuing to grow. And these experiences can also be mentioned during your interview as well.