Shadowing Hours

[Gabriela1]

I am working as an MA for a PA currently. Occasionally, I do watch procedures she does, and basically 'shadow' her during my job. Could these times count towards shadowing hours for PA school? Thanks!

[Guest thePAway]

If you’re on the clock during those times then it doesn’t count. I did this too as an MA and I wrote about it in my PS and the job description but shadowing needs to be when you’re not being paid and your only responsibility is to observe 

[DomRRTtoPA]

On 8/11/2019 at 11:25 PM, thePAway said:

If you’re on the clock during those times then it doesn’t count. I did this too as an MA and I wrote about it in my PS and the job description but shadowing needs to be when you’re not being paid and your only responsibility is to observe 

I would say that this might be too stringent, your telling me that the 1000's of hours i have spent working with pa's have no benefit for me deciding that I might enjoy the profession as my own? Shadowing is very loosely defined term to allow for all experiences to be considered. The benefit of shadowing is not for schools to decide, it is to benefit you moving forward in your choice rather than blindly entering a career. Instead ask yourself, where you actively engaged with discussions about the pa profession? Did you gain a higher understanding of the pa profession? Did your encounters make you 100% certain that this profession would be a good fit for you? 

All this being said, contact the schools you are applying too and directly ask them about any requirements they have for entry. Shadowing is for you not for them.

Also the benefits to working with lots of pa's are that you know them. Dont be afraid to ask them to follow one for a day.

Edited August 17, 2019 by DomRRTtoPA

[Guest thePAway]

1 hour ago, DomRRTtoPA said:

I would say that this might be too stringent, your telling me that the 1000's of hours i have spent working with pa's have no benefit for me deciding that I might enjoy the profession as my own? Shadowing is very loosely defined term to allow for all experiences to be considered. The benefit of shadowing is not for schools to decide, it is to benefit you moving forward in your choice rather than blindly entering a career. Instead ask yourself, where you actively engaged with discussions about the pa profession? Did you gain a higher understanding of the pa profession? Did your encounters make you 100% certain that this profession would be a good fit for you? 

All this being said, contact the schools you are applying too and directly ask them about any requirements they have for entry. Shadowing is for you not for them.

Also the benefits to working with lots of pa's are that you know them. Dont be afraid to ask them to follow one for a day.

I never said that working with PAs doesn’t have benefits, I actually said that I worked alongside PAs at my job as an MA and that I wrote about how I worked with them in my personal statement as well as my job description in CASPA. This had a huge impact on my decision to apply to PA school, however, some schools do have minimum shadowing hour requirements and if you’re being paid as an MA that is counting towards PCE and not shadowing when you’re logging hours in CASPA.