RN experience favorable?

[kwise5]

Hi all,

 

I am currently an RN (graduated last year with my BSN), but I am planning on applying to PA school this summer. I have chosen the PA route over NP for various reasons (prefer medical model over nursing model, over-saturation of NP's, etc), but do you think they will view my nursing experience as favorable, or look down on it and feel I should stay in the nursing realm? I think that my experience as a nurse will broaden my knowledge base as a PA, but that's just my view. I am hoping it will set me apart, but for all I know they could be inundated with current nurses wanting to become PAs..

[OpSite]

There are many nurses who've chosen to be a PA over NP. Nursing is not at all looked down on. From what I've been told, it is one of the preferred healthcare experiences. Go for it. But be prepared to have a really great explanation for why you did choose PA over NP. It's not just the interview where that question will be asked. I get that question on every rotation and from every preceptor and sometimes even from patients.

[IndianaU-PA]

Agree with OpSite, from an admission director's point of view.

 

What Indiana University looks for is quality of patient interaction. You'll have quite a lot of that as a BSN student, and in RN practice. There is a "way of seeing" difference and the medical model is different from a nursing model. But the patient interaction, care for patients, and understanding the history, culture, and peculiarities of health care in various areas (for us, underserved areas), will be very useful.

 

I do think you'll need to clearly articulate this for PA admission committees. But I highly doubt it is a "red flag" or something to be overly concerned about.

 

Good luck!

 

Josh Morrison

Indiana University Physician Assistant Program

paadmit@iupui.edu