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Is this PA plan okay?


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I will be a senior in undergrad this upcoming year, and will graduate in the spring of 2014. I am currently taking CNA classes, and plan on getting certified by the end of summer. During my senior year, I will try to find a job as a CNA on weekends since I will still have school. I have not taken my GRE's yet. All this being said, I think it is best not to apply this summer for admission right after my senior year because I do not have any experience yet (even if I did take my GREs in time to apply). I always saw myself going to graduate school right after undergrad, and so I am hesitant to do this. Is there anyone else in the same situation? I just need reassurance I'm doing the right thing. I also realized that even if I do get into PA school without applying with experience, it may be harder for me to get a job as a PA in the future without having had paid healthcare experience.

 

Also, if I don't find a job during my senior year, I will still be applying the summer after my senior year and will work during the year off that I will have while waiting for my application to be processed. Is there a way that I can show on my application that even if I don't have the required number of paid clinical hours yet, I will still be getting them through a job that I will be beginning (assuming I just found a job at that time but didn't have that many hours yet) during that year off and that I will have the hours completed by the time that PA school starts?

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I would say the majority of applicants take the year off. Some schools even require your degree to be completed before applying, essentially barring anyone who wants to go straight to grad school from applying. I didn't take a year off solely because I took some time off between HS and undergrad. Had I not, I would probably wanted the time off (there's more to life than school/work).

 

As far as your second question, you can include your CNA certification on CASPA and put your plans for the future (eg work x amount of hours or work such and such position) in your personal statement. Good luck and don't lose focus.

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I applied as a senior in undergrad with only hospital volunteer experience, and got one interview, but didnt get in. I took the next year to get certified as a home health aide and shadow multiple PAs and got accepted my 2nd try. It definitely was worth it because I didnt really have a good understanding of the profession until I shadowed and got experience actually taking care of people. When I applied I didnt have that much experience yet, but I emailed the programs I applied to and updated them with more hours as i acquired them. Hope that helps. Good luck!

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I think a lot of students at the end of undergrad feel pressured into entering graduate school right away, as if by not doing so they are being left behind by their peers.

 

You should apply to PA school when you are ready. You need experience with patients.

 

There is a place on CASPA to tally your expected hours by matriculation... but you don't even have a job yet, so you can't calculate something like that. I would wait.

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I just finished undergrad, and am taking year (maybe 2) to get HCE before applying. The HCE is really important to applying, and I don't think it is bad to have some time off before going back to school. PA school will be a very intense 2 years. The time away from school will make me hungry for it, and give me more appreciation for the opportunity to be there (all pending I can get accepted haha).

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I agree with Howezer. Enjoy life, you don't get a prize for finishing first.

 

Also, I can't begin to tell you how much I've learned from my HCE. Really, it just showed me how much I don't know, but it did help me refine the soft skills that one can't learn from a book and you don't and really can't learn in your clinicals. Find a job and give it your all.

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While I agree that it depends on the person, I would not have done it any other way. I had HCE from undergrad, but decided to take the year off. I think it really helped to focus on the applications and interviews and after getting in on getting prepared for the rigorous schedule. I also really enjoyed the increased responsibilities from working full time.

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I cannot stress enough that you should take the year off. There are a thousand benefits including: learning the health care system from the bottom of the barrel (I took a year off to be a CNA), refining patient care skills, a rest, a rest, a rest, and a rest from school. The people before me are right. You don't get a prize for finishing first. Take a year off and enjoy your youth before you have a "big person job." I graduated college in 2012 and applied to 7 schools, all of which I got accepted to, and I start in August of this year.

 

TAKE A YEAR OFF!! Do all the things you want to do! Watch marathons of tv shows on Neflix for 48 hours straight on your weekends! Go out drinking and don't care about being hungover and studying! Live! :)

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