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Would a PA School Except Someone Like Me?


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Hi guys,

First time poster but I have a question regarding PA School. I am currently in my last semester of my bachelors degree at the University of Michigan. I am a non-traditional student who, after coming out of high school decided to work instead of go to school. One of my first few jobs was as a patient transporter in a hospital. I was lucky enough to move up to floor and worked as a CNA for 4 years in an ICU. I enjoyed the job but there were things about it I disliked.I loved the patient interaction and helping with procedures but disliked the hospital atmosphere in general.  I also felt I wasn't paid very well for the level of work I was doing. In the end I decided to go to school at 25 still unsure with what I wanted to do with my life.

 

I am now 28, and in my last semester with a General Studies degree. I've come to realize that of all of the jobs and experiences that I've had up until this point one career that I really found fascinating was the PA who worked in my hospital. I worked nights so I would often work side by side with her during the shift and she would tell me all of the things she disliked and liked about the job. Thinking back now I think I would really enjoy the career and am considering pursuing it. My issue is I am now in my last semester at the University. I haven't taken very many science classes here except for the intro courses. I transferred from community college and did take A and P and Micro which I did very well in.

 

I'm pretty unsure of what to do next. Would a PA school consider someone with my background?  I still have access to my schools career sites but I wouldn't even begin to know what steps to take first! Any recommendations would be great! I did not really enjoy the nursing field although I did pretty well at it. The work/life balance was great with the 3 twelves and everything but the random pulling to other floors (Med-Surg to Ortho- Ortho to ICU) was exhausting. I was thinking of getting a job as a medical assistant although I am not licensed and never have been. I would love to work in a clinic! Thank you guys for your help!

Edited by IloveYou909
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People get into PA school from all kinds of backgrounds.  That shouldn't be a problem.  But you'll have to go back and get all the prerequisite classes, of course.  I would say go ahead and finish your General Studies degree so that you'll have a bachelor's degree, and then go back and take your science prereqs as a post-bacc.  Working as a medical assistant would be a good thing too.

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  • 1 month later...

I chose the PA path as a traditional undergrad and became a medical assistant to gain the healthcare experience hours. It took me 6 years to get into PA school, partly because I had to retake a lot of prereqs and mostly because I didn't put enough effort into my applications (I didn't get in until my 3rd cycle). For the first 2 cycles, I'm pretty sure I applied to schools I wasn't even qualified for. But there are plenty of non-traditional students like us, so if you truly want to become a PA and put in the work, your application will show it!

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8 hours ago, TheColorBlue said:

I chose the PA path as a traditional undergrad and became a medical assistant to gain the healthcare experience hours. It took me 6 years to get into PA school, partly because I had to retake a lot of prereqs and mostly because I didn't put enough effort into my applications (I didn't get in until my 3rd cycle). For the first 2 cycles, I'm pretty sure I applied to schools I wasn't even qualified for. But there are plenty of non-traditional students like us, so if you truly want to become a PA and put in the work, your application will show it!

Hi!  I’m curious about retaking the pre reqs. Did you take them at a CC?  Did you take them on line??  I would like to retake a couple of mine and online would work best with my work schedule, especially with Covid.  Thanks! 

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4 hours ago, somedayapa0215 said:

Hi!  I’m curious about retaking the pre reqs. Did you take them at a CC?  Did you take them on line??  I would like to retake a couple of mine and online would work best with my work schedule, especially with Covid.  Thanks! 

Hi there! I’ve been retaking them over the course of 10-ish years (wow I feel dated lol) so it’s been through community/technical colleges and universities. I did take abnormal psychology online through one of the universities I went to, but it was a during a short term between fall and spring semesters.

I think it depends on the program, but it seems like most schools will accept online coursework for certain prereqs. For example, if you have a science prereq with a lab, most (if not all) programs require that you are in-person for the lab. You’ll have to do some research on that.

Bottom line, programs don’t care whether it’s CC or university as long as the school is accredited and that info is easily accessible. I hope that helps! Sorry that ended up being long-winded! 😂

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1 hour ago, TheColorBlue said:

Hi there! I’ve been retaking them over the course of 10-ish years (wow I feel dated lol) so it’s been through community/technical colleges and universities. I did take abnormal psychology online through one of the universities I went to, but it was a during a short term between fall and spring semesters.

I think it depends on the program, but it seems like most schools will accept online coursework for certain prereqs. For example, if you have a science prereq with a lab, most (if not all) programs require that you are in-person for the lab. You’ll have to do some research on that.

Bottom line, programs don’t care whether it’s CC or university as long as the school is accredited and that info is easily accessible. I hope that helps! Sorry that ended up being long-winded! 😂

Not long winded at all. Thank you!  One last question, what do you mean by not putting enough effort into your applications?

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22 hours ago, somedayapa0215 said:

Not long winded at all. Thank you!  One last question, what do you mean by not putting enough effort into your applications?

I submitted literally minutes before the deadline for the first two cycles, and I didn’t put enough time into my personal statements (PS). I have a bunch of friends who offered to give feedback, but I didn’t give myself (or them lol) much turnaround time. I also didn’t do proper research and so I think all of the schools I applied to were out of reach to begin with, i.e. my GPA wasn’t even within their minimum.

This cycle, I did A LOT of research into schools that accepted lower GPA and focused on applicants as a whole rather than just by the numbers. I also studied for months and retook the GRE, and I gave myself plenty of time for the PS. I originally planned on submitting CASPA as soon as it opened, but well, COVID happened lol. I did submit a lot earlier than the previous years, and I’ll forever be an advocate of “APPLY EARLY!” 😅

Now that I’ve been accepted, I’m super motivated to try to help as many folks as possible! Please don’t hesitate to ask more questions.

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2 hours ago, TheColorBlue said:

I submitted literally minutes before the deadline for the first two cycles, and I didn’t put enough time into my personal statements (PS). I have a bunch of friends who offered to give feedback, but I didn’t give myself (or them lol) much turnaround time. I also didn’t do proper research and so I think all of the schools I applied to were out of reach to begin with, i.e. my GPA wasn’t even within their minimum.

This cycle, I did A LOT of research into schools that accepted lower GPA and focused on applicants as a whole rather than just by the numbers. I also studied for months and retook the GRE, and I gave myself plenty of time for the PS. I originally planned on submitting CASPA as soon as it opened, but well, COVID happened lol. I did submit a lot earlier than the previous years, and I’ll forever be an advocate of “APPLY EARLY!” 😅

Now that I’ve been accepted, I’m super motivated to try to help as many folks as possible! Please don’t hesitate to ask more questions.

Thank you!  I appreciate the input and congratulations!!

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