Ageism

[berlfe03]

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My plan is to get a BSN and work as a nurse for about three years, and then go on to become a PA. If all goes as planned, I will be about 44 when I graduate a PA program. Will my age be a negative when seeking employment?

 

[184013]

berlfe03,
I recommend looking at the http://www.aapa.org/ website.
I would specifically recommend looking at their great collections of data on graduating PAs.

For example at http://www.aapa.org/research/07census-intro.html
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[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Age: The mean age of census respondents is 41 years (median = 39), the mean age at time of graduation from PA school was 31 years (median = 28), and the mean number of years since graduation from PA school for census respondents is 11 (median = 7). ...
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[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] In my opinion your age will NOT be an issue in any sense.... I feel 44 will just bring a bit more experience but I would not transmit the fact that you think you are old or that it will be a problem - seems negative mindset. I saw a PA college program showing their previous year stats on matriculation and they had a 74 year old!

Also another information refuge of 100s of great previously asked asked questions/polls/comments/faqs: http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/forums/

I think the BSN followed by several years of working experience followed by the PA program is a great plan. The AAPA website gives some good data on the years of health care experience, type of health care exp etc which will also probably make you feel more enthusiastic about your pathway to PA.

Good Luck!
...

 

[berlfe03]

Thank you for the feedback!🙂