Pre-PA, switching back to pre-med?

[Blitz1817]

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[niko327]

PA is a very good profession. It has become very competitive in the last 5-10 years for admission. If I were you, I would ask the PA schools for some direction on what they didn't like and what held them back from giving you an acceptance. Yes, you can call them and nicely ask what could have been better. Even though you want to go to med school now, I still think this is a good idea. Here's why: The way I see it, you did really well in your post bacc upper division stuff with a fair amount of credits. Even though your overall GPA is a tad low, your most recent work appears to be stellar. So despite your small previous mistakes, you should more than have made up for it. I wonder if something was wrong in the interview or in your personal statement. This might save you the same trouble when and if you apply to med school. As far as med school is concerned, your GPA is a tad low for MD school and probably OK for DO school. If you absolutely demolish the MCAT, you'll have a chance at either. Try to get a few medical EC's under your belt, ask your office if you can shadow in your off time. The clerical stuff probably won't help much. Medical EC's are good for your med school application and a definite requirement for PA school if you re-explore that route. You can also do some research which is looked upon very favorably by med schools. BTW, Never lie if asked about your PA school rejection. That being said I doubt med school will ask you about PA school. So why not focus on the positives of your application like your desire to be a physician and your growth as a student? Good Luck to you.

 

[Blitz1817]

I appreciate the feedback, niko. I am going on almost 3 years of working full time in this position (tuition reimbursement rules!!), but I am on very good terms with the office managers and I think they would be very receptive of a request by me to move to a Medical Assistant position as they are familiar with my career goals and know that I have some experience in the role. Considering I am working full time and taking a class, my time is limited so I think I would learn towards doing some more shadowing as I have very little interest in research and I don't think that it would come across as any more than checking a box on my application. I am not knocking the PA profession at all, most of the PA's I've spoken to enjoy their career, but the few that don't all tell me that they feel limited and if they could go back and do it over again they would apply to medical school. I've been told that if I am on the fence about it now that I will likely have regrets down the line, so here I am.

One reason I ask if I should mention my attempt at PA school is that a few of the "Goro's list" schools have PA programs that I applied to (denied by some, withdrew from others). A big problem I think I had with my application was I submitted very late, one of the above schools said that the class was pretty much filled by the time they reviewed my application.

 

[niko327]

I appreciate the feedback, niko. I am going on almost 3 years of working full time in this position (tuition reimbursement rules!!), but I am on very good terms with the office managers and I think they would be very receptive of a request by me to move to a Medical Assistant position as they are familiar with my career goals and know that I have some experience in the role. Considering I am working full time and taking a class, my time is limited so I think I would learn towards doing some more shadowing as I have very little interest in research and I don't think that it would come across as any more than checking a box on my application. I am not knocking the PA profession at all, most of the PA's I've spoken to enjoy their career, but the few that don't all tell me that they feel limited and if they could go back and do it over again they would apply to medical school. I've been told that if I am on the fence about it now that I will likely have regrets down the line, so here I am.

One reason I ask if I should mention my attempt at PA school is that a few of the "Goro's list" schools have PA programs that I applied to (denied by some, withdrew from others). A big problem I think I had with my application was I submitted very late, one of the above schools said that the class was pretty much filled by the time they reviewed my application.

Ah, I see. Well don't lie if they ask you about it, but I am not sure I would bring it up unless they wanted to talk about it. That being said, take a long hard look at why you are making the switch and make sure you know why you are doing this. Then practice re-directing the conversation to where you want it to go. You should practice doing so with another person until you are satisfied with your explanation. Your interview day should not be the moment you are trying to articulate your feelings for the first time. Also, Medical Research is your friend. Of course you are just checking off a box, you know it and so do the adcoms, but you know what, they still like it. Being an MA is nice, but they'll hardly take notice. Let me put it this way, I was a NYC Paramedic and practicing PA (EMS since '96 and PA since '05). Most of my Medical School interviews mentioned it, but barely seemed to give a shyt. You know what they liked most? My MCAT score and the modest amount of Vascular surgery research I did. So you know, get interested.

 

[Calad]

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