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Recently I have decided to persue a career as a PA. I am currently in the USCG and seeking advice on my path to becoming a PA. Before the military I worked in a sleep lab, DME company where I setup patients with oxygen equipment and just about every prescribed piece of medical equipment there is, and Radiology as an assistant. All of my experiences gave me a great deal of direct patient contact. I am also attending EMT training in the near future and plan volunteering at local hospitals. I am currently attending a community college to finish the few prereqs I have left to apply for the miltaries program. If I do not get accepted I plan on continuing my education so that I am eligible to apply for numerous PA programs before I separate. My program of study is pre-med biology but it is becoming more difficult to attend classes with my work schedule. Also with the tuition assistance I recieve it is cheaper to attend online classes. I have been looking into changing my degree plan to something I can obtain online such as psychology. As stated before I will have all of the required prereqs to apply a PA program, but before I decide to take online classes I would greatly appreciate any input on how this would effect my chances of getting accepted into a civilian PA program in the future. I want to make the right decisions and will do whatever is needed to obtain my goal.

 

V/R

Chase

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Sounds like you're on the right track. As long as you choose an accredited program from a recognized institution, it really doesn't matter what you major in or where it's from. I'd recommend you take any and all PA school requirements from a brick & mortar institution, but otherwise you shouldn't have any issue with the plan you have laid out. Best of luck.

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beattie228,

Thank you very much for your reply. I am only attending the community college to obtain the few credits I need to apply to the miltaries PA program. After application I will attend a four year institution, just looking for a way to mininmize the cost and maximize my chances for acceptance.

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I'm kind of in the same predicament. I earned my Associate's in Business then joined the military and continued studying Business. I have always wanted to study Medicine/Health, but online classes especially for Business are that much more available so I continued with it. I attended the commissioning breifing and heard about the IPAP the Air Force offers and decided to pursue it. I have two more pre-requisites before I can apply. I don't know what I should do though if I am not excepted. Stay in and keep applying or get out and try my chances as a civilian, I just feel like my business degrees and online medical classes are going to "hurt" me in the long run.

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  • 2 months later...

I agree with the above, take brick/mortar classes as much as possible, especially for labs. Check out the new solicitation message and corresponding requirements: http://www.uscg.mil/health/cg1122/docs/pdf/PA_Application_memo.pdf

 

some of the requirements have changed since last year. Push hard for IPAP, it is 2 grueling years that are hard to beat on the civilian side. Good luck

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I agree with the above, take brick/mortar classes as much as possible, especially for labs. Check out the new solicitation message and corresponding requirements: http://www.uscg.mil/health/cg1122/docs/pdf/PA_Application_memo.pdf

 

some of the requirements have changed since last year. Push hard for IPAP, it is 2 grueling years that are hard to beat on the civilian side. Good luck

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