Post-Bac for pre-Physician Assistants

[Rubia2029]

I'm 24, and after a few years in business, I've decided to pursue my love of medicine, health, and working with people by becoming a Physician Assistant. I was a Spanish major at Georgetown with a solid GPA and almost no science experience, so I'm definitely going to need a post-bac program (a formal and not a DIY program is better for someone like me), but I'm not sure what program would be the best fit for this path. I've spoken to many of the programs around the country, and about half seem able to customize my post-bac experience to get the many pre-reqs needed for PA school, but it still seems rare to be in my current situation. Do any of you recommend certain post-bac programs for pre-PA students? I'm definitely looking for as much of a formal program as possible - I don't think I could work and take evening classes part-time. I'm also concerned about the required "direct patient care" hours many PA schools stress. I've definitely never been paid to work as an EMT, nurse's aide, etc., but I do have over 900 hours of working with patients and shadowing at an orthodontist office, hundreds of hours working in animals shelters and clinics (including giving vaccines), and 6 months as a volunteer translator at a children's hospital. Any post-bac recommendations or advice you can provide would be much appreciated! Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[my coney]

I am in a very similar boat and would love any insight
Thanks

 

[stephster416]

Rubia, your volunteer experience sounds great - I don't think you'll have a problem in terms of clinical experience! I don't know of any formal post-bacc programs that are specifically for PA school, since the requirements are slightly different than the pre-med prereqs. I'm doing a pre-med post bacc at Harvard Extension, though, and a lot of my classmates are going into health careers other than straight medicine - PAs, physical therapy, vet school, dentistry, etc. It's not as formal a program as some of the well-known pre-med post baccs like Bryn Mawr, etc., but you can still get Harvard sponsorship with your application. Also, if you've never taken any of the pre-reqs before, you can be in a diploma program, which basically helps out for qualifying for financial aid. The classes are in the evening, but you could probably get all the requirements done in a year if you wanted to take more than 2 at once. I would email them and see if sponsorship, etc. works the same for a student applying to PA school. The people who run the program are very nice and approachable!