Bachelor's Degree: Professional Major?
Started by DoctorS_
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To the best of my knowledge, the only one of those that is available as a bachelor's degree is a BS in nursing. EMT is not a college degree, PA is a master's program and I believe RT is also a master's, but I could be wrong there.
Unless you plan on working as a nurse for a few years before applying to school, the usual advice around here is to avoid a nursing degree. There is a nursing shortage, and it's not cool that you took up a spot in a nursing program when you had no plans of actually working as a nurse. And you will have to explain why you don't want to be a nurse since you got your degree in it, and you better have a solid answer.
Unless you plan on working as a nurse for a few years before applying to school, the usual advice around here is to avoid a nursing degree. There is a nursing shortage, and it's not cool that you took up a spot in a nursing program when you had no plans of actually working as a nurse. And you will have to explain why you don't want to be a nurse since you got your degree in it, and you better have a solid answer.
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Huh. Well, I've never looked into any of them so I wouldn't know. I thought typically EMT was a separate kind of program and the only PA programs I've ever heard of were masters. Regardless, I would say the same rule applies if you plan on going right into medical school, though I see EMT certification mentioned quite often on pre-allo (but I don't think I've seen anyone that majored in it).
You can get a bachelors degree in any of those fields. There are several different types of EMTs with paramedic being the highest. Initial licensure is usually through certificate programs, but BS and MS programs are available. Most RRT programs begin at the associate level and there are BS and MS programs to continue your education. RN is similar to RRT. However, while there are still some BS PA programs the field has moved to a MS as an entry requirement and many employers require a MS as well as a license as a PA. The one drawback of any of these programs is that they don't usually include medical prerequisite courses as part of their curriculum so you would have to complete those in addition to your other classes. If you are sure you would want to work in the health care field but maybe don't want to go to medical school, but still have the option I would get a BS in biology/chemistry. Then you could apply to med school or PA school. Don't bother with the other programs unless you want to pursue them as a career because you will end up wasting too much time on classes you really don't need; med school or a PA MS is long enough already!
Oh, I forgot to mention that in addition you should become a EMT-basic (110 hour class) in addition to the BS in bio or chem so you can have the required experience for PA programs and it looks nice on med school apps too.
I would recommend at least getting a degree in something you would enjoy doing (or think you would enjoy doing). I went for a bachelor's in biology not because it was an easy way to get the pre-req's in, but because I would have been happy to become a researcher if med school didn't work out. It's just good planning. Whether or not nursing is good choice is subjective, I think.
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