mattblair Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 I am a former college athlete. I played baseball for the past 3 years, so I was not really able to get patient experience hours or shadowing hours. I am about a year away from completing my prerequisites and graduating in the Fall of 2021. What do I need to be doing this next year to build up my resume? What type of jobs/positions can I get to complete these hours and have a standout resume? I was hoping to get into PA school in Spring of 2022, or should I take a gap year? Any advice is welcomed. I am a biology major from Georgia and plan to apply to schools in the southeast. I have a 3.4 GPA and a 3.0 Science GPA. Just looking for advice on what I need to do in the next year to get hours and build my resume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAhopeful456 Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 Your overall GPA is fine, but your science gpa is just making the cut off for most schools. I would get some volunteer hours, and shadowing hours with a Physician Assistant. For patient care hours you can look up what most schools accept, a lot of people become CNA's, EMT's, Medical Assistants, etc. If you are planning on applying to schools in the southeast, you will likely have to take the GRE as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GAPAC Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 GAPA has a list of PAs who are willing to take on students for shadowing. That being said it can be difficult during COVID times. You will need a job getting direct hands on hours. Georgia has plenty of programs to apply to and cast a wide net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PA-Candidate Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 (edited) Matt, I fully understand as I played baseball. What made it worse was summer leagues prevented me from the same thing you are looking at. So here are my suggestions: 1 - Find a PA to shadow next summer 2 - Get the Science GPA up! - Make your Bio electives the PA Pre Reqs. 3 - Try and find a job where you can get PCE hours (I did Phleb on the weekends, easy to get into and gain hours - although they are low quality) 4 - See if you can find another position you qualify for (Scribe, aide / trainer, University Health Care Center, that you can get hands on). Again lower quality however helps get you in front of others. I started out prepping tests in the university health care center, was taught how to draw blood and expanded on that with Phleb position. I will add the bad part - I had to make the tough choice, go to a highly competitive summer league (ie scouts) or go where I knew I had shadowing and a job set up to obtain PCE. I knew I had a better chance at PA in the long term than playing sports. Sometimes it's about priorities and what you want more. Getting into PA school is extremely tough, playing professional sports is even tougher. What is the path you want? What are you willing to do to make that happen? I will say I'm in my 2nd semester of my PA program right now... Good Luck! Edited October 1, 2020 by PA-Candidate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
healthcareprofessional Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 You might wanna work on your science GPA for starters. You should also get some shadowing hours to add to your profile, preferably with a Physician since you’re aiming at PA school. There are some websites where you can search for a healthcare professional to shadow based on your preferences, healthcareshadowing, and other sites like this will help you get in touch with a healthcare professional and unlock virtual as well as offline shadowing opportunities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DelaneyR44 Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 I did a master’s straight out of college (not PA school, this is my second career) and it honestly sucked. I was so sick of being in school and I felt like I really rushed into it. There is NOTHING wrong with taking a year off... you could even take some additional science classes to bring up your GPA, or retake a class, while you’re working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudowoodo Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 I played a college sport also, therefore I faced the same problem as you. During my summers I focused on gaining my volunteer and shadowing hours. I am currently taking my gap year and have a job as physical therapy aide. I really enjoy the job and it was very easy to adapt to considering I have done half the exercises during my own time as an athlete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMCunningham Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 Dude... I am in the same boat you were in. I am playing baseball at Trevecca (D2 in Nashville) and I meet most requirements everywhere except for the health care hours. I am apply to most schools in the south east as well. Did you ever get a better answer or figure this one out? I have the shadow hours, but none of the patient care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 1 hour ago, LMCunningham said: Dude... I am in the same boat you were in. I am playing baseball at Trevecca (D2 in Nashville) and I meet most requirements everywhere except for the health care hours. I am apply to most schools in the south east as well. Did you ever get a better answer or figure this one out? I have the shadow hours, but none of the patient care. You're probably going to need patient care time, if only to show that you know first-hand what you're getting in to. The amount required depends on the school but you really should do some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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