Career changer looking for advice

[Lena123]

Hi everyone! I’m trained as a high school science teacher and have a M.Sc. I’m looking for a career change while being at an all-time low point in my life. I have completed some sciences as part of my bachelors program. These include anatomy and physiology, organismal biology, human biology, full year of physics, a full year of chemistry, and intro to statistics. I don’t have any field experience in medical settings. Since I’m a career changer and aged 31, I would greatly appreciate advice from you all about programs I could easily pursue with my given situation or even if you help out if there is any person or agency I can consult.  Thanks so much!

[ohiovolffemtp]

Some thoughts from someone who's undergrad degree is in computer science who's now an EM PA (was a FF/medic along with doing corporate IT) and started PA school at 53:

• Most important: shadow a number of PA's in different areas of medicine to see if what they do is really what you want to do.  Make sure that this path is for you before you go very far down it.  You may be able to get leads on PA's to shadow from your PCP.  You may also get leads from posting in the pre-PA shadowing portion of this site and from your state PA association.
• If you are a teacher, take advantage of your summers to work in some sort of healthcare setting.  Become a CNA or an EMT, then work in an ED (preferred) or nursing home.
• If this all looks attractive, then start completing pre-reqs, perhaps at a local community college.  Most program's web sites will list their pre-reqs, along with how recent they need to be.  Hopefully the fact that you did well enough in science courses to be come a HS science teacher will give you confidence to do well in the advanced science courses you'll need to take.
• Your age is a plus, as is your experience dealing with people teaching.

[UGoLong]

On 8/12/2021 at 2:45 PM, Lena123 said:

Hi everyone! I’m trained as a high school science teacher and have a M.Sc. I’m looking for a career change while being at an all-time low point in my life. I have completed some sciences as part of my bachelors program. These include anatomy and physiology, organismal biology, human biology, full year of physics, a full year of chemistry, and intro to statistics. I don’t have any field experience in medical settings. Since I’m a career changer and aged 31, I would greatly appreciate advice from you all about programs I could easily pursue with my given situation or even if you help out if there is any person or agency I can consult.  Thanks so much!

You sound like a guy in my PA class. He too was a science teacher who went on to become a PA. He was an excellent student and I believe he is now in primary care in Iowa.

Making career changes at a low point is not uncommon. Try not to feel rushed but maybe a bit encouraged by setting out on a new path. As the last poster noted, spend some time shadowing PAs; there are a great many different practice environments and probably no two shadowing experiences will be exactly the same.

You will need some patient care experience and you'll need to fit in time to do that. Another reason not to feel rushed. Not only do the schools want the experience but you, especially at a low point, needs to find out if caring for people on something other than their best day is for you.

Another step might be to go speak to the academic coordinator at a local PA program. Not to see if they'll let you in, but to learn what it would be like. Don't worry about your age; I was almost twice your age when I started!

Good luck! I hope you too will find that actively -- but not rushing -- a new direction will help your mood. Look for small ways to try new experiences. It can teach you a lot.

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by UGoLong