PA School: "Unfinished" HCE at time of application?

[hcewhatdo]

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Hi I'm new here. I am pre-PA and on track to graduate from undergrad in one year from now (in December 2016). My plan was to become CNA certified this summer (of 2016), and start working full time in Jan 2017 after graduation. I would then take a gap 1.5 year and spend over a year working as a CNA. I would then apply to PA school in the spring/summer of 2018, with over a year of HCE.

I just realized, though, that if I were to apply to PA school in the spring of 2018, I would not matriculate until the fall of 2019 because of the nature of the application cycle. My issue is that I would definitely prefer to only take one gap year rather than two gap years. If I want to matriculate in the fall of 2018, I would have to apply to PA school in the spring/summer of 2017. I am afraid, though, of applying to PA school in the spring of 2017, because at that point, I would only have had ~5 months of HCE in working full time as a CNA.

I guess my question is, could I indicate somewhere on my app that I would plan on working as a CNA throughout my gap year? I don't think that I have the time between now and the spring of 2017 to accumulate enough hours of health care experience. While I intend to work as a CNA for over a year, I would have to submit my application towards the beginning of working as a CNA.

Hopefully this post made sense! Thanks!

 

[jpshoe]

On the application, it allows you to say that it is in progress and you can put your projected hours. So it isn't the amount of hours at the time of the application but the amount of hours at the time you will begin PA school (roughly). Every program has a different start time so just project your hours to the majority of schools you're applying to. A few hours difference won't hurt your app.

As far as having enough HCE, it all depends on the rest of your app. A high GPA, GRE and a great PS and LOR's can go a long way in making up for a lack of HCE. Look at programs who emphasize more on your strong points, rather that those who prefer high HCE. If your other stuff is in line, I wouldn't wait the extra year. Yes it's expensive to apply when you risk not getting in your first cycle, but if you don't apply, you definitely won't get in. That's a year of lost wages and all of that. Stay focused.