Current Biology major, stuck between PA and nursing. Please help.

[TNorman23]

Hello all,
This is my first post so pardon me if I am asking the wrong people the wrong questions, just in need of some enlightenment. I am currently a biology major at UTA, I transferred in with a lot of credits from a community college to save money on school, about 60 credits in total. I've reached the point where I'm stuck between switching majors or keeping the one i have now. The more I read on this site the more i see how to become a PA a lot of schools require you to have clinical hours. I think it'd make sense to switch my major to nursing now while I'm still just starting my UTA career (only 18 credits completed here). I would complete my nursing degree and work in a hospital as a nurse for a few years to gain experience but eventually I would want to further my career as a PA. I'm just trying to find the best way to go about becoming a Physician Assistant without accumulating a lot of debt in the long run since I pay for school and living expenses for college myself.

My questions are:
Is this a good plan?
How should I go about this?
Is there a better way to do this?
Any info or advice on this matter?

Thank you for the help and for taking the time to read my post. Any input on this is greatly appreciated.

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[lao27746]

I'm not pursuing a career in nursing, but I was on the ore PA track before deciding on OT. Here is my advice:
Nursing school is tough. If you wanted to become a NP, then you would need to get your BSN. I think you should get your bachelor's degree in Biology, and focus on gettig the highest grades possible. I understand for PA schools you need to have paid clinical hours. I would probably become a CNA or EMT to meet that requirement. Hopefully somebody more experienced with this process can give you a better answer. Good luck!

 

[Apollo1]

You're going to accumulate debt going to PA school, regardless. Nursing classes won't challenge you to the same degree as pre-med courses. Get a CNA/EMT/Resp Tech cert to start accumulating HCE hours.

If you want to be a nurse, go to nursing school. If you want to be a PA, keep the major you have and go to PA school.

 

[762513]

You're going to accumulate debt going to PA school, regardless. Nursing classes won't challenge you to the same degree as pre-med courses. Get a CNA/EMT/Resp Tech cert to start accumulating HCE hours.

If you want to be a nurse, go to nursing school. If you want to be a PA, keep the major you have and go to PA school.

Agreed. If, however, you do have any interest in nursing, get the BSN. If you have no interest in nursing, stick to biology and get your PA done.