RN to PA?

[nickfilio]

Hi everyone. I am a high school senior who is stressing about where I want to go to school, as well as figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. The idea that the decisions I make these next few months could be life altering one's scare me. Crazy right? I am currently an intern at a local hospital. When people ask me what I do, I like to say, "I'm a CNA......under supervision." So yes, I clean up poop. My internship is great being that I get to rotate through various departments of the hospital. All throughout high school, my career goals have constantly changed. It's been a roller coaster. When I got into my internship, I knew the medical field was for me, but now what? As bad as this sounds, I wanted to be a doctor for the title and sadly, the money. So, I applied to all of my universities as a Biology/Pre-med student with the hopes I do well in my prerequisites and get past the 4%-8% admission rates to medical school. But, the doctors at my hospital, granted this only a few, are not very social. The nurses on the other hand are friendly and more people oriented in my opinion. So, after being accepted as a pre-med student, I changed my major to pre-nursing to ultimately get my BSN. I respect nurses but I hope to further my education and go to PA school. So, what do I do? If I understand this correctly, would this be the correct route? First, get my BSN and work as an RN gaining clinical experience. Second, apply to a post-baccalaureate program and fulfill the prerequisites for PA school. Lastly, apply/get accepted to an accredited PA program. Is this correct? I am so sorry if this topic has already come up. Words cannot describe how passionate I am about the healthcare field I don't want to mess it up! Hope you all have a good day!

[EMEDPA]

SERIOUSLY consider the medschool route.

if you decide on pa, rn/resp. therapist/paramedic are all good routes to get there.

[JoelleK]

THere are also 5 year PA programs that you can start right out of high school if being a PA is truly what you want to do. Not sure where you live but examples in Pennsylvania are Gannon (near Erie), Duquesne (Pittsburgh), and Kings (Wilkes Barre).

Good luck!