PA School

[WannabeaMD]

Does anybody know what are the requirements for PA School?
Thanks.

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[avatarftw]

a

 

[TriagePreMed]

LOL @ above poster.

If I remember correctly, you need:

1 year bio + lab
1 year chem + lab
1 A&P class
1 Microbiology class
1 Statistics class

There may be more requirements. Go check!

 

[deleted6669]

there are 150 different programs. each has it's own set of requirements.
start here:
www.aapa.org
there is a link on the home page to every program.

 

[aza]

actually this is a very good place to start http://www.physicianassistantforum.com -- sort of the PA version of SDN.
Some good people there have made a sticky with the requirements for all the different schools. You'll find it in the pre-PA forum

 

[familyaerospace]

From what I understand they also include a huge amount of shadowing.

 

[phospho]

just looked at some of the requirements for some of the ohio schools... i had no idea it was that tough to get into...

 

[FiremedicMike]

just looked at some of the requirements for some of the ohio schools... i had no idea it was that tough to get into...

While the GPA requirements aren't AS tough (still gotta be high), and there's no MCAT, the overall requirements for PA school are tougher than medical school. PA schools really focus on previous medical experience, and it's my understanding that they really want relevant direct patient care experience. The pre-requisite courses are the same, but in addition to those you must take an A&P class.

I started this journey with the plan of going to PA school. Another firefighter/medic from my department did that about 5 years ago. When I looked at it, I realized it might as well just spend the extra 5 years (2 more years of school 3 years of residency) for medical school. I also work in a state that's not extremely PA friendly, both in terms of pay and job roles, and moving out of state is not really an option for us.

YMMV of course, and I'm not speaking down on the PA profession, I just found it to be not the direction for me at this point. Who knows, undergraduate isn't done for another 3 years (2 years bacc then pre-reqs) so I might change my mind in that amount of time..