FYI-some of the better jobs out there will waive an experience requirement for a new grad with relevant experience and start them at a higher pay grade.
for instance I applied for an em position right out of school along with many others both with and without experience. I was the only new grad interviewed and when I was hired they started me at step 5 on a 10 step pay scale due to prior experience when any new grad without experience would have started at step 1. this meant an extra $12k/yr to start so I started at 75k instead of the going rate at the time of 63k. I don't work there anymore but that job now pays around 130k.
a few new grads with experience over at the pa forum(
www.physicianassistantforum.com) have landed jobs right out of school that I would love to have right now in small rural departments with high acuity and high levels of autonomy.
an er nurse I work with just graduated from medex/uwa and got a highly sought after trauma/critical care job right out of school and was the only new grad interviewed for this position.
if someone is looking at a "long view" to becoming a pa as opposed to learning about the profession as a junior in college it really makes sense to get some relevant experience at a high level, including other certifications(rn, medic, rt, etc) so that you know you like health care and have a skill for it before you sink 60k into your education and also to familiarize yourself with the concepts, language, and traditions of medical practice. when I learned about the pa profession over 20 yrs ago they only took those with significant experience. I was working as an emt/er tech starting at age 18 through college and during the summers. I was told to become a medic or rn in order to be able to apply to pa school so I went right into a medic program after graduating from college and worked all over the country as a medic for a few yrs. that was sound advice then and now.
yes, you can do the very minimum and get into pa school and probably pass the boards but you will be a better practitioner in the long run if you go the slow and steady approach.
no offense to mwpa who I'm sure will be a fine provider, but if starting from scratch consider the experience route.