academic infraction - what to do

[student00]

I have a question regarding my chances of getting into PA school after having an academic infraction incident in undergrad. A friend and I worked on a few open-notes/open-resource (indicated by the professor and the syllabus) assignments together during Covid (2020) when the course was being re-organized to fit remote learning, and was charged for "academic dishonesty for not working independently on assignments". I take full responsibility for not clarifying with the professor that open notes did not mean working with others. I received an F as a punishment with no other indicator of having an academic infraction on my record. I took an academic-integrity course at my university afterwards to make sure I fully learned how to produce authentic work done independently. I wanted to work on the academic panel as well to show that I have learned from my mistake, but my university does not allow students who have been charged to work on the panel. 

As of now, I have no hours since I was originally on the pre-dental track and only focused on acquiring dental experience. However, the academic infraction made me wary of applying to dental school especially after reading all of the SDN posts about academic infractions and trying to get into dental school. However, I still want to work in healthcare and enter the medical field and so I thought about PA school. 

I'm unsure whether I should do a master's program, to put some distance between the F and my applying, while also working to get hours and shadowing for PA school or if I should just focus on getting hours instead of doing a master's program. I've been accepted to a few master's programs (where I indicated the academic infraction and explained on the application) however, the financial debt of going into a master's program is making me question whether it's necessary to have that as a buffer if I was able to get in while having the academic infraction box checked off. 

I'm extremely unsure as to what I should do. I don't want to start a master's program in hopes of having it help me get into PA school, only for it to do nothing besides putting me in debt. But I also do not want to waste time and work, only for that to not help me either when maybe doing a master's would've helped as a buffer. I'm not sure if gaining experience will outweigh the single F on my transcript, especially since academic infraction incidents are taken very seriously. I guess my question is: should I do a master's to place some distance between the incident or should I not do a master's and only focus on gaining hours and experience? 

I don't know if that made sense, I'm just extremely worried and feel lost as I have no idea what to do with my future, especially since it seems non-existent at this point, especially based on a poor choice and a stupid mistake I made. Any information would be incredibly helpful. 

 

[ohiovolffemtp]

You'd get your best data and most reassuring information if you talked to several PA programs, preferrably their admission coordinators.  They could tell you how your academic performance compares with other applications, whether this academic infraction is a big deal or not, and what sort of shadowing and patient care experience you would need to be attractive.