Senior In HS.. Do I have a shot at being a PA?

[RYost234]

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Hello,

I am a senior in High School and being a Psychiatric PA has been a dream of mine for quite some time. I have a 3.3 GPA (I never tried in high school) and got a 23 on my act. Assuming I study long and hard in college, which I will, Do you think it's worth it for me to aim my goals towards this career? I will be majoring in Psych (Pre-Med). I hear about all of the tough science pre reqs and to be honest it frightens me. If I don't become a PA, the only career choices i'm semi-interested in is to be a Physical Therapist or Psychologist (not sure on the Psychologist). Should I give up on my PA dream, or set the bar high and aim for PA?

Thanks!

 

[deleted6669]

set the bar higher and go for MD. Do well in college and you should be fine. remember both MDs and DOs are physicians and can practice in psych. also consider psych NP if you really want to do psych as there are far more psych NPs out there than Psych PAs. if you really want to be a psych PA, do a postgrad program in psych. links can be found here www.appap.org

 

[RYost234]

set the bar higher and go for MD. Do well in college and you should be fine. remember both MDs and DOs are physicians and can practice in psych. also consider psych NP if you really want to do psych as there are far more psych NPs out there than Psych PAs. if you really want to be a psych PA, do a postgrad program in psych. links can be found here www.appap.org

Thanks for the reply. Since I'm not too familiar with nurses, I have a stereotype towards them that they only take blood for the majority of the day. Is this true? Would a Psych NP or Psych PA spend more time diagnosing and prescribing? Not to say I'm not willing to give shots, take blood, etc, but I'm more interested in the diagnosing and treating part of the profession.

 

[NYCGuy86]

I believe there are two psych NP students that post here. Psych NPs are advanced practice nurses (with a masters or doctorate degree) that are educated and trained to diagnose and treat psychiatric disorders, and yes, they also prescribe medications.

I would agree with emedpa and say that you should consider medical school, though I actually knew someone when I was doing prereqs that was straight out of high school and also wanted to do PA school. I encouraged him to consider med school, but he was set on PA, and now, 1.5 years later, he'll be applying to PA schools starting this summer.

And no, nurses do not take blood for the majority of the day. If RNs even do take blood (quite often there are assistive personnel to do this, like phlebotomists, techs, patient care associates, etc, and the last two function under the supervision of an RN), it is a very small part of the "tasks" that they do throughout the day. From the American Nurses Association, here is a short list of some of the responsibilities of RNs:

• Perform physical exams and health histories
• Provide health promotion, counseling and education
• Administer medications, wound care, and numerous other personalized interventions
• Interpret patient information and make critical decisions about needed actions
• Coordinate care, in collaboration with a wide array of healthcare professionals
• Direct and supervise care delivered by other healthcare personnel like LPNs and nurse aides
• Conduct research in support of improved practice and patient outcomes