Is this a good path to become a PA?

[mednoob]

right now im in undergrad and i want to apply to PA school hopefully. however i know PA schools place a lot of emphasis on healthcare experience, whether volunteered or paid.

this is my plan to get healthcare experience:

-complete my B.S. in Bio
-attend a surgical tech school for a year to get certified
-work as a surg tech for about a year to get in the hours
-then finally apply to PA school to become a PA in surgery

i want to finish up my bachelor's to keep options open. then i plan to do surgical technology just to get the healthcare experience in plus i think it would really shine on a PA school application because it's valuable experience.

do u think this is a good path? i know it would take 8 years...is it worth it?

i could do some volunteering during my undergrad now that could serve as "healthcare experience" but right now i have a part time job and i cannot afford to sacrifice anymore time and balance volunteer work extra.

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[FourMoreYears]

Finish your B.S.
Try and get some meaningful volunteer experience while in school.
Apply when you are done. The whole surgical tech. thing can be a back up while you apply. If you have good grades, there is no reason why you can't get in right away. There were a number of students in my class who went straight from college to PA school.

 

[deleted6669]

right now im in undergrad and i want to apply to PA school hopefully. however i know PA schools place a lot of emphasis on healthcare experience, whether volunteered or paid.

this is my plan to get healthcare experience:

-complete my B.S. in Bio
-attend a surgical tech school for a year to get certified
-work as a surg tech for about a year to get in the hours
-then finally apply to PA school to become a PA in surgery

i want to finish up my bachelor's to keep options open. then i plan to do surgical technology just to get the healthcare experience in plus i think it would really shine on a PA school application because it's valuable experience.

do u think this is a good path? i know it would take 8 years...is it worth it?

i could do some volunteering during my undergrad now that could serve as "healthcare experience" but right now i have a part time job and i cannot afford to sacrifice anymore time and balance volunteer work extra.

this is an excellent plan. as someone who has precepted pa students for yrs the better prepared ones are ALWAYS the ones with prior medical experience. they go on to become better pa's as well. take the time, get the experience, then apply. you are on the right track, don't take the easy way out by attending a lower tier school that will accept those without significant experience. don't turn to the dark side....

 

[devilpup]

-complete my B.S. in Bio
-attend a surgical tech school for a year to get certified
-work as a surg tech for about a year to get in the hours
-then finally apply to PA school to become a PA in surgery


do u think this is a good path? i know it would take 8 years...is it worth it?

.

Is it worth it?
If you are going to pursue all those major steps for the goal of being accepted to PA school, then it’s probably not…Think about it in term of means and goals. Your goal is to attend PA school by the required means (you can take the ‘easy’ way [like FourMoreYears suggested] or you can take the other way [emedpa]).

But if you are doing it to gain significant clinical experience that will help you become a better PA or any kind of health professional, then definitely yes- it’s worth it.

Wow…still sounds like a lot. Good luck.

 

[mednoob]

this is an excellent plan. as someone who has precepted pa students for yrs the better prepared ones are ALWAYS the ones with prior medical experience. they go on to become better pa's as well. take the time, get the experience, then apply. you are on the right track, don't take the easy way out by attending a lower tier school that will accept those without significant experience. don't turn to the dark side....

have no fear im staying on the light side lol

emedpa thanks for ur response, it's very informative as always and it's good to hear from an actual PA. thx u so much

 

[mednoob]

devilpup and fourmoreyears...thx for ur responses as well...much appreciated