Is it too late/non-sensical to become a PA? Odd situation...

[MHA2013osu]

I'm 25, and have two degrees - BS in science and an MHA, which I received in 2013. My whole life I thought I knew I wanted to be on the business side of health care, which is why I pursued a graduate degree with that focus. I've just started a job working for one of the main hospitals in Charleston, and I'm about 50/50 on it. It's a crazy time and will likely get worse before it gets better.

If I am 100% truthful, I have always had my doubts about my choice to pursue administration, from the moment I entered my bachelor's program (health management), all the way through grad school, and to now. I guess I always figured that along the way something would really fire within me and I'd be convinced I'd made the right choice.

Working alongside clinical staff in previous jobs and currently has made my wonder if my drive in healthcare is really on that side, providing care to patients. I've done my research, and the values and mission of a Physician Assistant really jives with me, and there are so many specializations available.
It seems like I'm doing things the opposite way, though. Most with dual PA and business degrees start with clinical and then get their non-clinical degree, whereas I am wondering how rare or impossible it is to start with a non-clinical masters and get accepted/complete a clinical degree like a Physician Assistant.

I also wonder what my family and friends would think if I suddenly jumped ship after spending so much time and effort, and MONEY, down this other road.

Someone please tell me if I am being stupid, or if there is hope, or something else. I am in Charleston and MUSC, where I work, has it's PA program, which I believe is the only PA school in South Carolina. I know there are no online PA school options, so I would have to do this full-time and figure out how to live/eat at the same time

Thanks
Confused and Unsure in Charleston

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[deleted6669]

25 is not too old to begin looking at pa school. the avg age in my class was 35. there are many folks in their 40s and 50s attending pa school. your MHA will make you a stronger applicant but you will need to go back for some prereq coursework and you will need some hands on HCE like EMT/CNA/ETC
you probably have a few years prep time ahead of you if you want to continue working full time while taking a course/term of prereqs and doing HCE at 5-10 hrs/week.
see www.physicianassistantforum.com for more on pas and the process. lots of folks over there in many subforums. good luck.

 

[MHA2013osu]

Thank you!

I had my transcripts analyzed and it looks like I would need:
4 credit hours microbiology with lab
3 credit hours organic or biochemistry

What would be a good route to get these done? I asked and they said any accredited online or 2/4 year college, but I have no idea where to start. Do colleges let you take individual courses if you just need to get small pre-reqs done?

Thank you!

 

[princekc]

You can do it!

 

[Makati2008]

Thank you!

I had my transcripts analyzed and it looks like I would need:
4 credit hours microbiology with lab
3 credit hours organic or biochemistry

What would be a good route to get these done? I asked and they said any accredited online or 2/4 year college, but I have no idea where to start. Do colleges let you take individual courses if you just need to get small pre-reqs done?

Thank you!

I took organic online with unecom. Easier than the class version and not a junior college

 

[pamac]

You can become a PA with what you have right now, provided you have a decent GPA. Get your prereqs out of the way and do well in them. You won't need much in the way of health care experience these days, although it can't hurt. Grades are the most important factor for getting in. HCE comes in a distant second, unless you are set on getting into the programs that have a focus on recruiting folks with health care experience, and in that case they would still want you to have great grades in addition to pretty decent health care experience that is rather in depth ie RN, RT, paramedic (which I don't think you want to pile on to yourself since you feel like you know what you want to do at this point). I would suggest dabbling in a hands on patient care role to gain a real understanding of what it's like to be a healthcare worker.... It can be a lot different than you think it will. Friendly sick people can be difficult, and difficult sick people can be much, much worse. I think the biggest shock for me entering the direct patient care role full time was adapting to the confluence of difficult personalities, time constraints, and heavy responsibility. To me, you can't fully appreciate that as just an observer... You have to get your feet wet and have your ability to support yourself tied to how well you perform. Otherwise, you are just watching a movie. Even working as a CNA can give you a glimpse of what healthcare involves, and to me that is where the value lay in hce for the applicant. But many schools are happy to take your money and teach you if you at least have demonstrated that you have a knack for serving your fellow man in some regard (not necessarily medically related), and have a high GPA. The high gpa will open the most doors for you overall.

 

[saintsfan711]

I'm in almost exactly the same boat, except a couple years earlier in the process-I'm going into my second year of an MHA program and have decided I want to go to PA school. I had the same thought process in my healthcare administration undergrad, thinking something would really pop out at me. I have more science prereqs to fulfill still, but I plan on working on a couple as I finish this program, then taking a year to finish those pre reqs and hopefully get some valuable work experience. Some people have questioned why I would take this reverse route, but I've actually had so much more support than opposition that I've really solidified my decision. Also, it's not going to hurt going into PA school with a solid understanding of the giant mess we know as the U.S. healthcare system. I've discovered there are actually a lot of people who took the MHA route and realized they wanted to be a nurse or PA or something else with hands-on patient care, but worried too much about the additional debt. I say it's worth it at this point to do something that I will love, especially since PA's and MHA's already make very respectable salaries. There are also a lot of loan repayment options out there, as well as debt forgiveness in some situations.

 

[hughesn2]

Dude, 25 is not old at all for a PA program. For some people they graduate college after 4.5yrs at age 22.5. They get at least 1.5yrs of experience for their clinical hours. So by the time many people even apply they are 24. My cousin's boyfriend just was 22yrs & 2 months old when he graduated from UofM, took the regular 8 semesters. The next 6 months he worked at the UofM Ann Arbor Hospital. Then he worked as an EMT for I think 10 months. He got all his clinical hours. Applied for the Summer/Fall 2012 cycle and at age 24 he was in his first year of PA school . By June 2012 he was starting PA school in Indiana. Now he is doing a residency for one of the top 5 hospitals in the entire USA instead taking a $100K a year job at a hospital here in Michigan.

You're only 25 and you have a Master's of Health Administration degree. It isn't like you are a 25yr old college dropout. You are really selling yourself short on what you already have.

One of my dad's family friends got his bachelor's degree in Kinesiology (back in 1980). Then after some time of figuring out what to do it wasn't until 1992 when he started PA school. And this was back in the early '90s when PA schools weren't even close to as well known as they are now. He didn't start PA school until he was 34 or 35. Now the guy is 60 and I think he could care less about his 23 to 32 year old days anymore. The way you should think about it is don't give up on something simply because some other friends your age have full time jobs and you are trying to get into a grad school. The difference is between you and many of those friends is that your ceiling is more likely to be higher than theirs, unless they are already in med or law school. But I look at some of my friends and they act big and tough because they are 23 year old kids working $35K a year jobs for a family business while I am still trying to get into a grad school. The difference is that the career path some of these kids are going down their ceiling by the age of 40 is that they would still be making $45K-$50K a year. I personally would gladly take the extra two years to get into a PA, DO, MD, or Podiatry school if it meant that I would have my loans paid off by age 40 and make 6 figures. Money isn't everything, but you still need it to help your family.

I have a group of three friends (two college dropouts and one general studies graduate and he still had below a 2.75 GPA) are working for one of their families pool companies. They are making $35K a year right now and act like they are the Mr. Big Shots of our group of friends. The funny part is that the family member will NEVER hand the company over to them. The only reason the boss gave them that money is because they work 70 hours a week and 6 days a week, so nobody wants that job. These friends of mine still think that they will make $60K a year in about 5yrs, but the dad of one of my friends has tried telling his son that his ceiling is maybe $45K at the age 35. They may think I am a joke right now because I am LOOKING for a job after graduating college. The difference is whatever path I go on I know that there is no way that at age 35 I will be working some crap job with low pay.

 

[ghoya42]

typing error, please delete this post!

 

[ghoya42]

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[Boatswain2PA]

Versed, 10mg IM stat for ghoya....