I am looking into the PA profession and wanted to see if I have a chance

[CogNeuroGuy]

Here is my background:

First year of college at New England Conservatory of Music: GPA = 1.978
A.A. in Liberal Arts (Collin College): GPA = 3.12
B.A. in Sociology/Psychology (University of North Texas): Overall GPA = 3.22, last 2 years GPA = 3.77
M.S. in Applied Cognition and Neuroscience (The University of Texas at Dallas): GPA = 3.77

I have one publication as second author in the Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology (journal of the National Academy of Neuropsycology).

I have 4 posters as second author at National Academy of Neuropsychology and International Neuropsychological Society with one of them having the Best Student Poster Award.

I studied at UT Southwestern as a Graduate Research Assistant working in departments of neurology as well as neuropsychology.

I have 15 years of training as a classical musician, playing with Boston Ballet, Lyric Opera orchestra and many many others.

I have been looking at PA programs that will waive the GRE with my prior master's degree, I am also in the process of either working as a scribe or shadowing in the near future. I will still need to go back to complete the pre-req classes for the PA program. I was considering doing this at a community college since A. I will probably need to find a job, B. I simply don't have the money to pay for university-level courses out of pocket. I have paid for all of my education via loans, and I currently stand at $92K worth of loans between all of my degrees.

Given this information, do you see me having a strong chance of getting into a PA program? Are there issues you might see that are severely limiting?

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[BnjoGrl]

Hi there,

It looks like you could potentially be a really strong candidate...but you are really lacking in patient care hours. Your research background and music really makes you a unique and interesting candidate in that you will stand out from everyone else applying. So that is good! If you could find a patient care position that is paid (MA/scribe/CNA/PT aide/etc) then you can work on collecting your hours. Shadowing will not count as patient care hours...but it is important to have some shadowing experiences as well so you have a good idea of what being a PA is like. You could also try to look into programs that require very little to no patient care hours. That limits you a bit, but they are definitely out there.

Also, I think taking the rest of your prereqs at a community college is fine...especially since you have already had so much of your education at a university. Your upward trend in GPA is good...it shows that you can really improve yourself as you move forward. Just make sure you upkeep that high GPA in all of your prereq classes.

Probably you will be asked why you did not go into research...since it looks like you have an educational background that is strongly pointing that way. Just make sure you have a good reason as to why you are choosing to become a PA.

Hope that helps!

 

[PositivePA]

I agree with BnjoGrl, you have a lot of interesting characteristics. I definitely agree that you need patient hours...guaranteed that is what got me in above anything else. Some places do not consider working as a scribe as patient hours...you don't work as one on one with patients as with other jobs. As far as not being able to afford a university for pre-reqs, keep in mind that PA schools tend to be pricey.

 

[sporsher bahire]

can a doctor after completing residency and getting medical license work as a PA directly?or would need to go to PA school again and clear Pance? are there any legal issues? like malpractice? would a doctor need to resign his medical license to practice as a PA?

 

[deleted6669]

can a doctor after completing residency and getting medical license work as a PA directly?or would need to go to PA school again and clear Pance? are there any legal issues? like malpractice? would a doctor need to resign his medical license to practice as a PA?

currently to practice as a PA one must graduate from a PA program and pass pance, regardless of other professional background.