Is being a registered behavioral technician considered PCE?

[nithnith28]

As an RBT, I will be working with children with autism in a home setting. Is this considered quality patient care experience? I have contacted several schools and they all replied with generic information such as "For patient contact experience the committee is looking for hands-on experience working directly with patients such as being a EMT, CNA or phlebotomist for example". 

[Laybunny]

Personally, I listed my behavioral therapist experience (I was not registered, but I was doing the same things you are doing). I contacted my schools and pretty much all of them accepted it as PCE. However, one of my schools stated that they wanted to see a majority of my patient care experience come from a healthcare setting where PAs might work, such as a hospital or clinic. So while I would definitely list that experience, I would also try to diversify it by having some experience as a medical assistant, CNA, etc. 

And of course, the best way to figure out what your programs look for is by phone call or email. It's odd that they're giving you vague information and I would probably try to get a more helpful response by really describing the position you had. In fact, here is a copy-pasted email I sent, if you'd like to borrow it. I was able to get some very informative responses from using this:

"Hello, 

I am interested in applying for your Physician Assistant program for the 2020-2021 cycle, and I had a question regarding accepted patient care experience. 

I currently have some experience as a Certified Nursing Assistant, and I was thinking of pursuing hours as a behavioral health technician / behavioral therapist. In this position, I would be aiding in treating children with autism and related developmental disabilities by using Applied Behavior Analysis principles (ABA therapy) as a form of treatment, and customizing the treatment plan for each patient. I was wondering if this experience could count towards my patient care experience hours.

Thank you for your help!

[Your name]"

If you want, you can also message me the programs you're interested in and I'll let you know if any of them were ones I applied to and that I know accept the experience. 

I hope that is helpful!