Thanks for the suggestion. I came across the Drexel program, but unfortunately my current job doesn't offer a part-time option. I'm drawn to the PA program and might just have to make the leap.
I worked full time while going to nursing school. To do that required a great amount of cooperation and coordination with my work. Since I work/worked in a hospital lab and the hospital was paying for my degree, that gave them a little incentive to help with my schedule, but other factors that help considerably are the shifts I was able to work (evenings and weekends), as well as my willingness to go the extra mile to help out my bosses when I had free time. The way it would work was when I figured out what my schedule was going to be for school, I'd get with my manager and full in my schedule for work. This often meant goin to school early in the AM, then straight to work for the rest of the day Til midnight or later, then doing it again the next 3 days. You basically have to have an employer and peers that are cool with you being late and moving thier shifts around.... You will be a begger, not a chooser. But my lab is full of great folks who had my back (because I also had theirs), and that aspect of my plan worked excellently (apart from being a busy guy).
Now the part that was unyielding.... Nursing school isn't hard but you will find that THEY will not be flexible at all. You can't miss clinical or lab or they kick you out. They rarely reschedule anything to help you out (even if someone can trade). They find ways to thwart anyone who misses class (think test questions that start out "when we discussed EKGs in class, what are the 3 most important things I said were a priority.... Pick all that apply.".....
So while the material isn't hard at all to someone like me with excellent health care experience and 2 biological science degrees, the path can be rough to schedule. If you aren't careful, the baby can go with the bath water based on who won't be willing to accommodate you. I had everything worked out to take a tropical trip with my wife and not miss a day of lab, and the instructor told me I should scrap it because going to nursing school should be important enough to not make plans around (scrapping a largely nonrefundable vacation was the last thing i wanted)I ended up going, but it cost me $800 bucks to reschedule so I didn't have to trade someone lab times (which I had already arranged with another student). There was no reason for that nonsense besides her being a nut. So even if you have a boss that will bend over backwards, and the intellect to ace your classes, that's often just the start of what crap you have to deal with. So my point is that part time doesn't always pan out like you want it to, just because nursin instructors expect to take complete priority. PA school is a kick in the pants by comparison I hear, just by sheer volume of info you've got to master.
Right now I'm in a great paying job with no debt where I decide which shifts I want to work, and working on an RN to BSN completion bridge, then on to an NP program in a state that is good for NPs. My NP will be cheap by comparison to what PA would have cost, and I get to work the entire time. PA school might be more your speed with your science background. However, I am enjoying life along the way, which was one of the reasons I didn't want to go the route of MD, DDS, POD, or even the 2 years of PA training. There isn't anything where im at that a PA can do that I won't be able to as an NP except be forced to obtain a physician to supervise me if I want to work. RN work is enjoyable to me, and I'm having a great time right now as I'm working and doing school.
There are great things about PA, but when I was going to interviews for PA programs and got word that I got into nursing school, I too stock of what I could to going the nursing route. For me, it was pretty clear that the nursin route to become a provider had some serious benefits, so I dropped the remaining interviews in favor of getting my RN. PA school is faster, but to me the debt and lost income would have been close to 200k or more for something that will take a bit longer, but cost me nothing. I guesse I could have done that and tried to get reimbursement from working in an underserved location, but I wanted some options on where I was going to work. It will take me 4 years total to practice as an NP from when I started, but I've been making good money all along the way.
