How to become a physician assistant?

[aoend]

I am currently a high school student and i am interested in becoming a physician assistant. I've done some researching on how, and what i understand is you need 4 years at college, 2 years getting a master's and another 2-3 years at a pa program? or does the pa program actually give you a master's degree?

Also, how would gaining healthcare experience go into that 6 year plan? All i know is that nurses, medical assistants, etc are appropriate for healthcare experience, but these positions require certifications and additional schooling in order to practice....would there be a way to gain healthcare experience while i'm still in college?

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[samac]

Pa program is a masters.
Many pa students I knew got their CNA or EMT certification over summer and worked through undergrad to get their required healthcare experience.

Also this forum is mostly people who are going to be doctors, so there might not be much help here as most of us haven't gone through the PA training.

 

[Grace184]

Google is your friend...sorry, a lot of up probably can't help you out.

 

[Grace184]

Also, a lot of undergrad programs have a 5 yr masters track straight out of HS. My undergrad did, don't know if they did away with those type of programs. If you're sure that's what you want to do, try googling 5 yr PA masters or something

Also, make sure you've shadowed or followed around a PA to make sure you want to do it if that's the track you choose

And the PA program gives you a masters, you don't need that masters in between you mentioned in you did 4 undergrad then applied to PA (but I think PA school is 3 yrs- 2 book learning and 1 year with patients)

 

[LizzyM]

You don't need a master's degree before starting PA school but you might consider taking those two years to work full time in direct patient care. Community colleges offer training and you may be able to do that over a summer anytime after HS.

 

[Mad Jack]

I would highly recommend you visit the physician assistant forum. It's a great site, like the SDN of the PA world.

There are direct entry PA programs, as well as programs you can apply to with 60 credits (City College of New York comes to mind). Most people apply to PA master's programs after they have a bachelor's degree, however.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Moving to hSDN but agree that the OP will find more information here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/clinicians-rn-np-pa.113/