Your Path to becoming a PA/NP

[MexicanDr]

What was your path like before becoming a PA/NP?

Many people went straight from college to a PA program or from a ASN -->BSN to NP, while some did ASN to PA etc..

How old were you when you got into PA/NP program?

What kind of job did you have prior to entering the program?

How much does being an RN or Paramedic help while in a PA or NP program? I know RNs know a great deal of medicine stuff, so I was wondering..

How much do you like/dislike your current job and why? What specialty are you in?

Thanks in advance,

Eduardo

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[deleted6669]

EMT senior yr in high school
EMT-DEFIB @19
EMT-IV @ 19. also did medical asst. training on the job and got certed for venipuncture, nebs, ekg's, IM/subq injections, etc. basically practiced as an LPN after that.
ER TECH 26 hrs/week while in college( 60 hrs/week during the summers)
EMT-Paramedic program right after college
5 yrs as a paramedic in los angeles and philadelphia before becoming a pa.
all the top students in my pa program were medics, nurses, and resp. therapists. it makes a huge difference
I work in emergency medicine at several jobs including solo night coverage of a small dept, rural dept coverage, as well as coverage of level 1 and 2 trauma ctrs and a 24 hr ed obs unit.
90% of the time I love my job.
5% of the time I wish I was a doc.
5% of the time I wish I was a scuba instructor in mexico...

 

[bradt9881]

I enlisted as an Air Force medic until I retired after 20 years in 2003. Went back to school full time to get the premed credits done, which was two years full time. Entered PA school at age 48 in 2006. Experience definitely helps in the beginning but I suspect after three to five years comparing the PA with twenty years of CNA/EMT training against the one with 6 months of volunteer time you will see no difference.

I am in general internal medicine. I like the fact that I have a chance to prevent problems through early detection and intervention. The part that aggravates me the most is the time I have to spend doing admin taking me away from patient care in order to do my job.

 

[Narnian]

I was a Combat Medic for 8 years and a Pulmonary Critical Care Tech for 4 years while I did my undergrad in Biology! I was 29 years old when accepted with a 3.8 Science GPA and 3.6 cumulitive GPA. The knowledge I have gained in my work experience has proved invaluable to me in PA school.

 

[ARAI]

Strong business background. Worked 80 hour weeks. Burned out. Wanted to make a difference as a PA. I started going back to school and knocking out all the prerequisites. Then came the challenge of finding medical experience...

The economy was pretty bad and I couldn't find a job in health care with the exception of working as a CNA in a retirement home. I did it for about 2 weeks and hated it! So, I found a little hospital in Costa Rica that would give me all the experience I wanted if I also took Spanish classes at a school nearby. On arrival, I didn't speak a word of Spanish and I'd never so much as taken someone's blood pressure.

By the end of the year, I was working in the minor surgery ward of their ER. Saw a lot of trauma: blunt force and penetration. I was suturing wounds, jamming tubes in every hole possible, doing what ever I could, procedurally, to keep people stable long enough to make it to surgery. This was a very poor hospital and some of the tools were both archaic and of limited supply. Having to do things to people without even a drop of lidocaine certainly gives one an appreciation for anesthetic agents. My stories won't be as amazing as those who served, but it was an eye opener for me nevertheless. Oddly, I loved every minute of the experience.

 

[Coastie]

Strong business background. Worked 80 hour weeks. Burned out. Wanted to make a difference as a PA. I started going back to school and knocking out all the prerequisites. Then came the challenge of finding medical experience...

The economy was pretty bad and I couldn't find a job in health care with the exception of working as a CNA in a retirement home. I did it for about 2 weeks and hated it! So, I found a little hospital in Costa Rica that would give me all the experience I wanted if I also took Spanish classes at a school nearby. On arrival, I didn't speak a word of Spanish and I'd never so much as taken someone's blood pressure.

By the end of the year, I was working in the minor surgery ward of their ER. Saw a lot of trauma: blunt force and penetration. I was suturing wounds, jamming tubes in every hole possible, doing what ever I could, procedurally, to keep people stable long enough to make it to surgery. This was a very poor hospital and some of the tools were both archaic and of limited supply. Having to do things to people without even a drop of lidocaine certainly gives one an appreciation for anesthetic agents. My stories won't be as amazing as those who served, but it was an eye opener for me nevertheless. Oddly, I loved every minute of the experience.

Given your "experience" coming in off the street "without having taken a blood pressure" to your year long experience of being unleashed on a poor costa rican populace, I understand why you thought in the other thread (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=10303952#post10303952) that a 1 year PA ~> MD bridge was possible.

Those poor folks. The worst part is that you honestly believe you were providing an excellent service to them, and that you "loved" it. If I read that in a med school essay, I'd reject you on the spot, and consider reporting you for assault to the authorities.

 

[Narnian]

ARAI! Did you get paid, or was this more of a volunteer program? Just curious!

 

[ARAI]

Given your "experience" coming in off the street "without having taken a blood pressure" to your year long experience...
Those poor folks. The worst part is that you honestly believe you were providing an excellent service to them...

Hi Coastie, learning proper aseptic technique and various basic minor surgical procedures does not take but a couple of months of training. I wasn't making diagnoses; I was just providing treatment as directed by the surgery and internal med residents and . And yes, I was providing top-quality service to all of my patients.

ARAI! Did you get paid, or was this more of a volunteer program? Just curious!

Narnian, it was completely volunteer. The hospital gave me free lunch and transportation to and from my home. I did have to pay the local medical school for the course in minor surgical procedures.

 

[zenman]

And yes, I was providing top-quality service to all of my patients.

And they were probably glad you were there

My path: CNA, EMT, Army medic, LPN, RN, Level I trauma, helicopter flight nurse, ICU, PM&R, psych and CD, med/surg, cardiopulmonary perfusion student, home health director, nursing supervisor, director psych home health, nursing assistant professor, studied Asian medicine and Zen Shiatsu, studied shamanism with Alberto Villoldo, (medical anthropologist/ psychologist), and 40 yrs later, after I had some experience under my belt, psych nurse practitioner.