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HCE Questions for a Young One


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Hi everyone,

 

I'm in a bit of a unique situation and am looking for some advice on what to do in order to get my HCE. I'm currently 18 and am at the end of my Junior year of my B.S. in Biomedical Science and have about a 3.85 GPA overall with my science being about a 3.8. Since I will be 19 when I graduate with my B.S. I feel that I need to have an incredible resume in order to have schools take me seriously.

 

I'm currently trying to decide what to do after I graduate in order to get my HCE. I'm done a lot of shadowing and volunteering in hospitals and clinics. My top two programs (OHSU & Pacific) both require paid experience though. I figured that I would just do a CNA program (takes 6 weeks and $500 where I live) and then hopefully land a job at one of the local hospitals or clinics (anything but a nursing home/hospice). I've recently been thinking that I would like to get my MPH online while working as a CNA so that I can continue my education (AKA: if I never get into PA school I'm not stuck being a CNA) and so that schools will know that I can handle a graduate program although I am so young. I'm just wondering if that would be a good use of my time/money though. I think that it would be really cool and provide a unique perspective for a PA to also have a Public Health background and it would allow me to do more research, specifically in primary care which is what I want to work in. I'm also hoping to one day work at a university and teach future PA's so I think that would make me a more valuable instructor in that aspect.

 

Anyways, I'm just looking for some opinions. I know many of you will say that I should go to med school since I'm so young, but that just is not for me. I WANT to be a PA. Also, I don't really want to do a program longer than a few months in order to get certified to do my HCE.

 

Thanks!

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I know that. I have a lot of reasons for why I'm choosing PA. A lot of people think I'm dumb for it but I don't really care. I know that I can do a lot more than just be a PA but I believe that it is my perfect little niche in healthcare and at the end of the day, I'm positive that it is what will make me happy.

 

If anyone has any HCE advice that would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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you are young enough that if you really want to do pa you should get some real experience like lpn, medical asst, paramedic, resp. therapist, etc and do it for a year or 2.

it will be very hard to get taken seriously as a 19 yr old cna with 1000 hrs of hce when you are competing with 35 yr old nurses and medics with 10,000 + hrs of high quality hce.

there was a 21 yr old in my program but he had been a medic since age 18.

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I know that. I have a lot of reasons for why I'm choosing PA. A lot of people think I'm dumb for it but I don't really care. I know that I can do a lot more than just be a PA but I believe that it is my perfect little niche in healthcare and at the end of the day, I'm positive that it is what will make me happy.

 

If anyone has any HCE advice that would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

What qualities/functions of a PA are you attracted to more than MD/DO?

 

As a Doc you will have ALL and More capabilities in "helping people" than a PA.

 

Dont get me wrong I love being a PA, but if I were in your place, AND have the benefit of what I know now as a practicing PA, I would have gone to med school.

 

Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk

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Is it best to get EMT experience at a school or outside a school or does it make any difference?

 

You're not really going to get any experience by attending an EMT program or school, maybe 1 or 2 ER shifts, which is essentially nothing. If you do decide to get your EMT I would highly suggest you look into ER Tech positions. At most hospital ERs you'll get exposure to a lot of different conditions/situations and really learn a lot from working with and assisting the MD/DO/PA's. And yes, I think it does matter to some degree. If I had spent the last 15 months running inter facility transfers as a field EMT I don't think I would have learned nearly as much as I did within the ER.

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Is it best to get EMT experience at a school or outside a school or does it make any difference?

 

I think going to a college to get your EMT is good if you need to raise your GPA. Other than that going to a vocational program is just as good. I went to CIEMT which is a vocational program. They had one of the highest first time pass rates for the National Registry Exam, the EMTs I meet coming from there in my own opinion perform better than those who went through ROP or JC, also half the EMTs at the hospital I work at went their to get their certification.

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Holy crap man you sound just like me. I'm graduating this semester at 19. I considered med school last summer, was about to take the mcat - was studying for it, but decided not too and it was all hype. Now I'm going to apply to PA school to try my luck and get a clinical job - CNA. I also was contemplating a masters program - MPA with public management concentration. Good luck man. At first I thought someone was mocking me :P

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Holy crap man you sound just like me. I'm graduating this semester at 19. I considered med school last summer, was about to take the mcat - was studying for it, but decided not too and it was all hype. Now I'm going to apply to PA school to try my luck and get a clinical job - CNA. I also was contemplating a masters program - MPA with public management concentration. Good luck man. At first I thought someone was mocking me :P

 

I thought you reposted under a different name.

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Holy crap man you sound just like me. I'm graduating this semester at 19. I considered med school last summer, was about to take the mcat - was studying for it, but decided not too and it was all hype. Now I'm going to apply to PA school to try my luck and get a clinical job - CNA. I also was contemplating a masters program - MPA with public management concentration. Good luck man. At first I thought someone was mocking me :P

 

Yay, I'm not alone!

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll be sticking with PA. I do have a little experience as an ER tech but it wasn't a paid position. I think that I'll do a Med. Assistant program after my B.S. and work for 2-ish years before applying.

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Yay, I'm not alone!

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll be sticking with PA. I do have a little experience as an ER tech but it wasn't a paid position. I think that I'll do a Med. Assistant program after my B.S. and work for 2-ish years before applying.

 

 

Yup! I'd say one year is sufficient enough to get the hours and experience needed for PA programs. That extra year of working is one year lost practicing as a PA - that's how I see it, but then again medical assistant programs may be long and that's why you are opting for that decision. I was debating between various certification programs, but started to focus on 2 months or less programs so I can still get about 10 months of full-time clinical experience which would be enough. At the end of the day it's up to you. That's crazy how we are in the same exact position.

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Unique situation is no longer unique. How could this happen? This is against the laws of physics!

 

 

Haha :) Seriously though high school kids can take advantage of leaving HS after sophomore year regardless of there dismal grades etc and transition into a Dual Credit program at their local community college full-time or similar collegiate high schools. I opted to go this way, and had a great level of autonomy in regards to picking my prof, how many credits I could take - finished associates in one year, transferred and finishing in 2 years - total 3 years - age 19. More commonly, individuals who go this route taking their time graduate with a 4 year degree at the age of 20-21

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Haha :) Seriously though high school kids can take advantage of leaving HS after sophomore year regardless of there dismal grades etc and transition into a Dual Credit program at their local community college full-time or similar collegiate high schools. I opted to go this way, and had a great level of autonomy in regards to picking my prof, how many credits I could take - finished associates in one year, transferred and finishing in 2 years - total 3 years - age 19. More commonly, individuals who go this route taking their time graduate with a 4 year degree at the age of 20-21

 

Yeah, I started going to a four-year university at 15 (Junior year of high school) doing a dual credit program. My high school was super small (graduating class was 27) and didn't offer the advanced courses I needed so opted to start college early. I graduated high school last summer and I'll graduate with my B.S. in spring of 2014! Took two years off of my time taken to graduate and saved a ton of money!

 

The reason I'm thinking 2 years to work is so I can hopefully save up some more money and have more than enough experience so I can get in the first round. I really don't want to be wasting money on reapplying for multiple cycles. Although, I may try applying to my top two choices after year 1 just for the heck of it. We are young so we don't have to rush things as much, but I agree...the sooner we are PA's the better!

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I like your approach to get experience, but you might also want to take a class or two at the grad level while you work to keep your mind sharp and maybe further cement your already excellent reputation as a student. Also not fall into the trap that you have become a low-paying technician. In the process, you may learn more about what you are interested in life.

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