No problem; most people aren't really familiar with the quirks of that profession. So in 1969, the AA/PA anes. profession was started in GA with Emory offering the first program, and from what I've learned, the licensing requirement that recognizes AAs as PA anesthetists in GA was established back then. As far as I know, GA is the only state that licenses them as "PA anesthetists." What is ironic is that the AAPA (lobby group that represents PAs) has taken the official stance in the past that they don't consider AAs to be part of "their" PA profession, so GA is something of an exception. But the practices that hire AAs typically hire them interchangeably with CRNAs, so they still tend to call them "anesthetists," even if they don't also refer to them as "PAs." It's kind of confusing, but it's like this -- an anesthesia group might say that their anesthetist team is comprised of a staff of 40 CRNAs and AAs. AA programs are "standalone" masters-level programs that anyone can apply to as long as they will have earned a bachelor's degree and completed the pre-med prereqs by the time they'd be starting the program. Emory used to have a PA-C to AA track, but I think they did away with it a few years ago due to lack of interest. Ironically enough, the website for the lobby group that represents AAs is
www.anesthetist.org.
At times, I still feel regretful about failing out and wonder if I just didn't put in enough effort. However, I just heard from some of my former classmates, and they lost at least one additional student at the end of the spring semester (which just wrapped up), and I recall that the student who was dismissed was pretty sharp in lab/class. So I think moving forward with going to pharmacy school might be the most realistic plan for me right now.