Non Clinical to Clinical

[JCS525]

So I tried to post this in another forum, but it was suggested by another member to re-route this to the pre-PA discussion.  Hopefully there are practicing PA's participating in this forum....

 

Hi,

I am curious to hear from those that have worked in hospital administration or functioned in a similar capacity and are now employed as a physician assistant (seemingly the reverse route?).

I worked in veterinary medicine for 6 years and decided to leave for a pre-MD/PA route. That road got disrupted for personal reasons, and I went on for a Master's, got a CPA, and worked in health industries for the Big 4 in assurance (big pharma/life sciences).  I then went to private industry and worked on healthcare related audits.  I now have the opportunity to either apply for PA school in 2020/2021 or take on a healthcare administration type role. 

I would love to hear some feedback of those that have participated in both.  Experiences, responsibilities, hours, stress level, flexibility, earning potential, anything you would like to share...particularly those that have been in a managerial or executive role for a healthcare institution and traded that for a clinical role.  It's a hard thing to leave a job that is paying north of 6 figures to go back and re-invent yourself all over again, but ultimately I am 34 and still have a long road of a career ahead of me (even though I feel SO old)....

(Note: I only have 4 classes left (3.8 sGPA) and I also have PCE hours (EMT-B, CNA, etc) and shadowing and volunteer experiences as well as LORs - so I wouldn't be starting from total scratch)

Edited July 30, 2019 by JCS525

[Lauramarie87]

I am not from an experience such as hospital administration but I think I can help (I am currently starting my clinical year of PA school). I had experiences as well that were healthcare related but what I was told when I was applying was that while those were valuable experiences, they did not qualify as patient care. So after getting my bachelor's degree I went back to be a NA in a hospital to get patient care hours that were ubiquitous. 

If you're worried about earning potential, that's something you can google. PA schools have a 3-5% acceptance rate so only go this route if you're sure this is what you want to do.