Engineer to PA - Possible? Where do I even start?

[YesAndEverything]

Hi everyone, I'm a process engineer who has been working in the medical device industry for 3 years, and I'm looking to make a huge career shift to become a PA.

A Little Background (trying to keep this part short):
Truthfully, this passion to make this big change came from a medical diagnosis that really shook me up. I realized I really dislike my job, and don't want to waste anymore of my life doing something I don't have any passion about. I was never excited about going into engineering and pretty much only did it because it "seemed like the right choice" at the time. I just have a bachelors in Mechanical Engineering (GPA: 3.2), no other degrees.

I feel like I do best in jobs that require interaction with people, and I feel most fulfilled when I get to help others in a direct way (rather than the indirect way I help others in my current job). I'm also looking for a career with more flexible options, without taking too much of a hit on my current salary.

Where I'm Lost:

• Is this a stupid decision? Has anyone been through Engineer > Medical?
• Do I have a decent chance of getting into a program with my background? I live in AZ, so there are a few options for me locally.
• How long of a path am I looking at here? (I don't have a lot of credits that overlap with requirements for pre-PA.)
• What steps should I take to start? I'm trying to find an opportunity to shadow, and then going to start working on pre-reqs.
• I have great health insurance right now that is really important to me (autoimmune disease). What options for health insurance are typical for PAs to take?

Thank you so much, and please let me know if I need to post this in a different forum. I really appreciate the help.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Siromas]

Not even sure if I'm qualified to give advice, but just wanted to chime in and share my 2 cents.

Is this a stupid decision? Has anyone been through Engineer > Medical?

I have a bachelors in Chemical Engineering (with a low GPA to boot) and will have worked as a process engineer for 4 years before matriculating into med school this Fall. I know you're asking about PA, but just wanted to share that it's definitely possible for us engineers to career change into the medical field.

How long of a path am I looking at here?

Don't really know a lot about the specific pre-reqs or standardized exams for the PA route, but I have heard that it's pretty common for PA programs to expect applicants to have ~1000 hours of shadowing/patient interaction/clinical experience. Accumulating this number of hours while working full time or taking classes could take a considerable amount of time.

 

[Forever Geebs]

Is there a pre-PA forum? I’m not sure what pre-reqs or ECs are necessary, nor am I familiar with the application process in general.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Siromas]

Is there a pre-PA forum?

Clinicians [ RN / NP / PA ]

 

[stayathomemom]

You need 2000+ hours of clinical experience to apply to (most if not all) PA schools. That translates into about a year of full-time work, and the higher-up-the-food-chain, the better (e.g., RN experience is better than CNA experience). For people who aren't already qualified to work in healthcare, PA is difficult to attain because you have to train for a position, and then work in that position for a year before even applying.

In your case, it might be better to look into getting a BSN in an accelerated program (ABSN), since you already have a bachelors degree. Some schools also offer ABSN>NP programs. The scope of an NP's work is similar to that of a PA.

 

[YesAndEverything]

Clinicians [ RN / NP / PA ]

Thank you for this! I wasn't sure which forum was appropriate for this post.