physician assistant question

PA schools will look at these factors: overall GPA, science GPA, letters of recommendation, and hours of direct health care experience. Masters degree programs will likely require the GRE as well. Your post leaves us little info for speculation, but you need to go to the site for the schools you plan to apply to and see what their average at matriculation was and you will know how competitive you are. Lifeguard will probably not qualify as HCE; you could look at things such as CNA, EMT, LPN, etc and see what best fits your schedule and what best fits the intent of the program you wish to apply to.

GL in your upcoming endevours.

 

Dustin,

Based on your numbers you are probably at the low minimum for most masters programs. The program I attended wanted at least a 3.2 prereq GPA and 3.0 overall or your app didn't qualify to be looked at. I know other programs such as the University of Texas Health Science Center Southwester that the average of the students that matriculate is a 3.7. Work hard on finishing strong with the classes you have left.

Retaking a C and doing better will boost your average, but only slightly. Lets say you got a C in genetics then got an A. Your average is a B. And the 3 additonal quality points out of say, 60 hours of science will only mean a slight increase. Some programs may replace a grade like a DO program does, but you need to check with each school you wish to apply to for guidance because it is different from school to school.

Science GPA is different from prereq GPA; prereqs are what is required for the program (ie., statistics, psychology, sociology, organic chem) and science is your biological and physical sciences (organic chem, physiology, geology).

 

why dont you get a job as an exercise physiologist at a cardiac rehab/stress lab? that would qualify for most programs and would pay better than a CNA

good luck

 

There has been a bit of a degree creep (MS) to become an ACSM RCEP unfortunately. Not sure how this affects your neck of the woods but in order to really do the "cool stuff" you may have to be fully credentialed for GXT. Cardiac conditioning is another story altogether though...look in to the job market in your area for details. I delayed taking the exam to start PA school myself after doing a concentration in Cardiac Rehab for my dual ExerSci-Biology degree.

Check this out: http://www.acsm.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Get_Certified#CLINICAL_CERTIFICATIONS

Good Luck in your journey.

CEP PA-S

 

I did not mean to discourage you. I was simply pointing what a "true" exercise physiologist is.You can still work in a position where you do cardiac stress testing as part of your job description.

I would look in to EMT...I started out as an NREMT-B waaay back...

 

There are typically lots of entry level CNA jobs available - varies by area... perhaps you are looking only at hospitals and such? Look into Long Term Care Facilities...they are typically ready to hire CNAs with no experience immediately

 

I opted to do RN over CNA. CNA training takes anywhere from 16 days - 10 weeks in my area depending on how much you want to go to class and you only earn around $11/hr. You can become an RN by earning your BSN and make $50,000+ a year in 11-15 months. The experience will be way more valuable and you'll have a lot more coursework to boost that GPA. Plus, at least the program I'm looking at includes some PA prerequisites in the coursework (microbiology, genetics, and advanced human physiology). Just another idea to think about! A lot of hospitals hire CNAs. The hospitals around here called it Patient Care Tech, and only require you to be CPR certified. Other's require EMT-B and others require STNA while still others prefer to train you on-site.

Keep in mind that courses you retake will not replace your previous grade - they two will be averaged together. If you earned a C in general biology and retook it and earned an A, you would factor in a B (3.0).

Another note - if you go the RN route you have a great career. If graduate school doesn't end up working out in the long run, being an RN is a great life-long career where you can't be a CNA forever. It also gives you the option of being a NP/CRNA/CNS (which I'd only consider if this stupid DNP thing dies off AND if PA school didnt work out), but that option is still there!

 

foreverl - I 100% agree.. great decision.. RN enables you to get some great experience as well as not be in a rush to become a PA... you can move laterally to explore fields, earn good money and apply/matriculate on your schedule as opposed to feeling an urgent need to progress as a CNA to PA...
v/r