PA Program that offers PA-C without BA or Masters

[optimus]

i noticed that there are schools like riverside that offer a PA certification without a bachelors or masters degree. i was wondering if anyone knows any other specific schools that offer just the pa certification without a BA or masters?

[Just Steve]

It is still an option at UW/ MEDEX but they highly stress that you get the degree completed. I learned of MEDEX in fall of 09 at the age of 37 with less than 10 college credits to my name. I was working 48-60 hour work weeks which required 60 mile drive just to get to work every day. Two pre school kids and a kindergarten kid at home.

 

My butt was in that Medex classroom seat for the 2013 graduating class with the required course work for the degree completed. I cranked out the pre reqs for applying then continued to attend community college doing my degree course work while my application was processed. It required 7 day a week commitment for several months.

 

My point is to enforce the message that you don't need to limit yourself to just cert programs. The job market is getting tighter...don't shoot yourself in the foot by limiting yourself.

[optimus]

aside from taking pre reqs what did you do to get those patient care hours completed because thats the part im worried about most. and how many hours did you have in total?

[cinntsp]

Non-masters programs typically accept applicants with thousands of hours of HCE. This may not be a good route for you if you don't have the HCE to be competitive. You can begin working on earning HCE while pursuing an undergrad degree.

[fyrelight74]

I'm at RCC. I had worked about 3 or 4 years as an MA/scribe at the time of application. I had my bachelor's, so I'm doing my master's concurrently via the Saint Francis University agreement.

 

I believe Stanford also works through Foothills community college and does not require a degree prior to application. UCDavis offered cert as well, I think.

 

Here's the website where you can look it up: http://www.paeaonline.org/index.php?ht=d/ContentDir/pid/255/searching/1/state_id/5 That's the link for California, but you can pick other states and view what degrees are offered there as well.

[Just Steve]

aside from taking pre reqs what did you do to get those patient care hours completed because thats the part im worried about most. and how many hours did you have in total?

 

I joined the Navy directly out of high school as a Navy Corpsman, did that for 10 years with a variety of assignments and duty stations. I knew I wasn't going to go another 10 years so I attended paramedic school at night during my last year in the Navy, got out of the service, rolled into a paramedic job. Did that for another 12 years. Hours wise I think I listed something around the 50,000 mark. It was a rough count. Few of those years I worked part time as a civilian surgical tech, phlebotomist, volunteered as an EMT while I was at shore based duty stations...then while deployed I was on the clock 24/7 for months at a time...The school wasn't really caring about my hours.

[EMEDPA]

aside from taking pre reqs what did you do to get those patient care hours completed because thats the part im worried about most. and how many hours did you have in total?

I was an emt/er tech in college 26 hrs/week for 4 years and full time summers those years at 60 hrs/week. I took the emt course as a senior in high school.

after college I went right into paramedic school. while in the classroom phase of medic school I continued the 26 hrs/week as an er tech and also picked up a job as a phlebotomist around 8 hrs/week( two 4 hr shifts). I worked as a medic for 5 years in los angeles and philadelphia before becoming a pa. medic shifts were 24 hr shifts 10/mo with many months with an overtime shift or 2 thrown in.

I attended a part time pa program and worked 24-30 hrs/week as a medic for the first 2 yrs of the program and then only did event standbys the last yr when I could fit them around rotations. the part time programs( I think there are 7 or so) split the first yr into 2 yrs. and the regular 2nd yr becomes a full time 3 rd yr along with the regular 2nd yr pa students.