Different options for becoming a PA?

[Lex39]

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Hi, ill try and explain myself as best as possible.
Im a college (community college) student who just recently changed majors. I was a dental hygiene major and finished up all my pre reqs. Recently however i changed my mind and after researching a bit i decided i wanted to pursue a more challenging career, becoming a PA.
Ive googled what i need to do as far as becoming a PA and cant help but feeling a little lost. I know the basic outline for becoming a PA is getting a bachelors/masters first then applying to the PA program. But i know you also need clinical experience before hand as well.

Please keep in mind i am at college level right now and not in a university yet. And since i just changed majors i have to start all over with pre reqs required for me to transfer to a university under my new major which is biology.

Would It be best to just fallow through schooling and find the time to volunteer to get my clinical hours in?

Iv Also heard of people becoming EMTs First and then going on to be a PA and being an EMT Gave them the clinical hours.

Any insight would be great on what my options are for becoming a PA as far as my current status goes in a community college!

Thanks and hope everyones doing well.

 

[DogLovingPA]

First of all, you don't need a master's first to go to PA school- PA programs usually are master's level. Some programs are bachelor's level and you don't even need a bachelor's to get in, but I'm not sure which ones those are and I don't know the job prospects. I would think that a lot of your pre-reqs for dental hygiene might be applicable to PA. Research what schools you might be interested and take as many pre-reqs as possible at your college, then finish strong at a University for your bachelor's degree. You will most-likely need the GRE as well as healthcare experience. There are lots of ways to get healthcare experience- the best advice is just to do something where you are working directly with patients. I think there are CNA classes that are like 8 weeks and you could do that while in school.

 

[Lex39]

I saw a counsler recently at my school and he told me i needed a masters before getting into the PA progra....i knew that didnt sound right based on what i had already googled myself. But yes i thought my pre reqs for dental would count, anatomy physio micro chem and organic chem.
I know i need to transfer and have looked at what schools im interested in. But i will be looking into the CNA program here at my college.

Thanks for advice!

 

[Boatswain2PA]

Never, ever, ever trust a school/college "counselor". I have seen COUNTLESS people who have had their educational plans damaged by trusting what they say. I have seen people with written/email confirmation from their "college counselor" that they didn't need this class or that class get screwed over and not get into desired programs.

ALWAYS go straight to the program itself and see what the pre-requisites are.

 

[Lex39]

Thanks
Yes i have heard similar stories about college counslers. I went with one on quick notice to figure out more or less what i needed to do.

I will go straight to the programs im looking into it makes a lot more sense than just seeing the college counsler

 

[pamac]

Oh yeah... what was said about counselors is true. They won't give you the kind of input you need. You always go to the source, especially because PA programs have varied prereqs and a preferred candidate profile. Programs vary ever so slightly from each other, and you really won't be considered if you don't match their requirements. Dental and medical schools are more uniform in their requirements.

 

[Boatswain2PA]

Pamac - same thing with various nursing programs. I have personally known MANY people who got screwed by their "college counselor" and didn't get into a nursing program on time. I even called one nursing program director personally on behalf of a sailor in my command explaining the situation, and send her the e-mail evidence that the college counselor "officially" gave my sailor....didn't help.

Another personal example (although this was high school "college counselor") - My future daughter-in-law could have had her ENTIRE pre-med undergraduate education PAID FOR at a local very exclusive PRIVATE UNIVERSITY that has a 100% ACCEPTANCE RATE at the nearest state medical school....but the dumb-a$$ "college counselor" didn't even know about it and instead steered her toward another local university.

Like any other job where there is no accountability, educational counselors usually suck. You HAVE to do your own research and you HAVE to do your own double checking.

 

[pamac]

Nursing schools are even more schizophrenic than PA programs. No two RN schools have exactly the same entrance requirements, whether it's prereqs they evaluate you on, or what entry test they want... It can be difficult to tailor yourself to multiple programs with any degree of efficiency. When I applied to RN programs, I had so many credits across the spectrum that I had options, but the only way to have broad appeal to many programs would be to use overkill, which most people can't do, nor do I think they should have to do.

College counsellors barely have a grasp of what goes on at the schools they work for, let alone other programs. That's why they are counsellors and not PAs.