requirements for PA school?

[laugh]

I will graduate with a biology degree this December. I dont have a lot of 'medical' work experience so I was wondering which PA schools dont require much experience? Also, do most PA schools require you to take the GRE? Which schools dont?

 

[core0]

I will graduate with a biology degree this December. I dont have a lot of 'medical' work experience so I was wondering which PA schools dont require much experience? Also, do most PA schools require you to take the GRE? Which schools dont?

You have to look at each individuals schools requirement. You can subscribe to the program guide here:
http://www.paeaonline.org/applicantdirectory.html
There is a free guide here which lists the schools by the state.
http://www.paeaonline.org/ProgListing.asp
If you are looking at applying the program guide has direct links and also has CASPA status and program size etc.

Generally the Masters programs require the GRE and non-masters programs usually don't. There is a thread on experience in the PA forum here:
http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13564
If you have no experience it does limit your options, however there are still quite a few programs that don't require medical experience.

David Carpenter, PA-C

 

[Febrifuge]

There is a trend in PA programs in general accepting people with less and less experience. There's also controversy about whether that's a good thing. As a student with previous experience, I would just really caution people to consider that you'll be a PA student for two or three years; you'll be a PA for the rest of your career. Just be sure that you really want to be the latter, before you even start getting into the details of how to become the former. The best way to do that is by doing something that gains you in-person, hands-on, patient-care experience. Conveniently, this also helps your application.