Thinking of becoming a PA or NP

[Rozzieray]

Hi everyone,
For the past year I have been thinking of switching career paths from the veterinary medicine route to human medicine. I am not in veterinary school so the switch would not be that drastic right? I double majored in Animal science and NREM (natural resources and ecological management) and I got a minor in entomology. So most of my pre-reqs are completed and I'm taking medical terminology in the spring semester. I have a 3.2 cum GPA, science GPA is a 3.0, and for pre reqs it ranges from a 3.3-3.6 depending on the school and if they do grade replacement. Would it be better to do an ABSN and go the nursing route for PA or NP? Or am I being unrealistic. All advice is greatly appreciated.

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[pamac]

Your GPA puts you right on the edge of folks that can expect their applications to PA school to be looked at, which in turn puts you on shaky ground for getting accepted. I understand vet school to be fairly competitive in its own right as well. CASPA, which is the central application service that folks use to apply to PA schools, does not calculate grades using grade replacement. I believe they average them if there are retakes, which makes your prereq grades lower by either a little or a lot. Most PA schools that look heavy at prereq grades specifically expect that the applicants pretty much ace them. Folks know that ahead of time and plan accordingly to do really well in them. I think the school next to me has 5 or 6 prereqs, and the average successful applicant gets near 4.0.

If your gpa were better, I’d suggest giving PA a try, but I worry you’d be spinning your wheels and not make much progress. Here’s the timeline... if you applied in April, you’d spend until next April waiting to find out that you probably didn’t get in. Even if you did get in, you’d then have two years of PA school. So that’s over 3 years as it is. You might fare well enough to get into an ABSN program, then you could go to Np school and be done about the same time as you would if you went the Pa route and got in. But I think if would still take you several cycles to get into PA school, if you were even able to. I honestly think vet school is a long shot as well.

 

[shibaowner]

Hi there. I'm an NP. Nursing schools are most interested in your prereq GPA and if that is in the 3.3 to 3.6 range, you are a competitive candidate. The NP route would give you the most flexibility for completion. You could do an ABSN, which would take 13 to 16 months depending on the program, then an MSN. If you choose this route, you can work as an RN for a while before starting the MSN program and could work part time as an RN while in the MSN program. There are also many direct-entry MSN NP programs in which you complete your BSN/RN the first year, then complete the MSN in approximately two years.

With regard to PA school, you must have 1,000 to 2,000 hours of hands on clinical experience, paid or volunteer prior to applying. UC Davis, a reputable PA program requires 2.7 GPA on prereq classes. You could also get your BSN and RN, then apply to PA school.

Your GPA is only one admissions factor. The reputable schools will require essays and maybe an interview. They will look at other factors like your life experience, personal mission statement, and diversity.

Try to find a PA and and NP you can shadow for a day or so to get a better feel for their work.

Finally, there is nothing stopping you from applying to both! Good luck.

 

[pamac]

Pa schools will let you apply with low GPAs because it means they get an extra $50-$150 dollars from everyone who checks the box for their school when applying. When you look at the stats of the folks that they accept, you won’t see folks with 2.7 GPAs, especially within the UC system. Among the reasons you won’t is because they know someone with a 2.7 gpa is much more likely to flunk out of their program than someone with a 3.7. Anyone who starts but doesn’t finish means the school is not only out several tens of thousands of dollars, but it means a wasted seat that a successful student would have been a better steward of. With 10 students applying for each seat at most schools, they can easily afford to hedge their bets on the good students without feeling guilty about possibly missing out on a diamond in the rough. They can have diamonds that are already polished, so they recruit those folks.

Health care experience is only required at a dwindling few PA programs.... at least meaningful healthcare experience. To say that 1000-2000 hours is required is only true if you are applying to the quarter or so of schools that place heavy emphasis on good quality healthcare experience.

I think a good route is one that was suggested... get the accelerated BSN, then do NP school from there.

 

[GIS_FNP]

Hi everyone,
For the past year I have been thinking of switching career paths from the veterinary medicine route to human medicine. I am not in veterinary school so the switch would not be that drastic right? I double majored in Animal science and NREM (natural resources and ecological management) and I got a minor in entomology. So most of my pre-reqs are completed and I'm taking medical terminology in the spring semester. I have a 3.2 cum GPA, science GPA is a 3.0, and for pre reqs it ranges from a 3.3-3.6 depending on the school and if they do grade replacement. Would it be better to do an ABSN and go the nursing route for PA or NP? Or am I being unrealistic. All advice is greatly appreciated.

Both PA and NP are great options. Apply to both. Have your plan A as well as plan B. NP was my plan A and PA plan B. NP worked out.

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