anakaren garcia thank you for watching! And yeah it’s definitely good to start early if you are able to! But I would ultimately put GPA over PCE though
Dont know if you guys gives a shit but if you guys are bored like me atm you can stream pretty much all of the new series on InstaFlixxer. I've been streaming with my gf for the last few weeks =)
I am hoping to apply to PA school this cycle, I also started off as a pre-PT major. I realized after 2,600 hours working as a PT/OT aide that I did not want to go to PT school. I now work as an Exercise Physiologist fulltime in assisted living facilities, I am about to start scribing for an ED near me. I also have about 100+ hours of various volunteer experiences. I get worried that all my experience in PT will overshadow my love and knowledge of the PA career. Any advice? Side note: My degree is in Exercise Science and I graduated with a 3.83 overall.
Hi Jordan! So as you know I had a bit of experience as a pre-PT with PT aide and whatnot and I was actually asked about it in my interview! I just explained why I did not go in that direction and why PA was right for me and it fostered a great conversation in which I was able to really explain why I chose PA! I feel like if you describe that in your personal statement or in your interview that you will be just fine. There are many PA students out there that are career changers so this is nothing new!
I appreciate this so much! I am a first year CMDbio major omn the Pre-PA track and some of these are helpful. However, I am a single mom who got her RMA way before I decided PA (I'm 27 with a 7 year old and no family around and I got my RMA almost 4 years ago. I also hold a phleb tech cert and a CNA license I still upkeep) so already I feel like I am ahead of the game yet also so far behind the game. It is such a strange feeling. I have to work to provide for my kiddo, but I also have been saving up my tax returns over the last couple of years in hopes that it would help me get through the slow times during school. But, I am thankful that my school has a bio track that gives me the essential PA prereqs for the school I am at and many others across the state should I need to move.
@@AubrieJones thank you so much!!! is there anything sdsu does to help pre-pa students besides the pre-pa association? how do i even get involved with pasa? and are there any san diego charities/organizations that i can volunteer at? i’m from ny so i don’t know too much about california
@@angiesof there is the Health Professions Advising Office which is incredibly helpful! I advise going there ASAP and even applying to be a mentor there later on. There are quite a few organizations in the area! Boys and Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity, and oftentimes you'll find organizations through clubs you join at SDSU!
Where did you work when you were working as a CNA? Did you work in long-term care or acute care? I’m currently getting my CNA and I’m struggling to find hospitals that will hire newly certified CNA’s with no experience. Do PA schools value patient care hours in assisted living/nursing homes?
I worked in a nursing home and my hours were counted for! 😊 I would definitely recommend a hospital job if one pops up but nursing home is a good place to work until you find one of those jobs.
@@AubrieJones Okay great! I’m currently working as a resident aid in assisted living and as soon as I get my CNA, I’m getting my med tech license to start passing meds there as well. I’m only going into my sophomore year, so hopefully a hospital job will pop up sometime in the near future! I’m definitely keeping my eye out👀
Is it fine to take a year off after undergrad to get more patient care hours or would you recommend to try to get as many as possible DURING undergrad and then immediately apply to PA school? Would PA schools care about that year off/would that make me a less competitive applicant?
Hello! So it is honestly more common than not to take a gap year(s) so if you want to focus on building that GPA in undergrad and don’t want to add the stress of getting PCE, you can 100% take a gap year and that would NOT make you less competitive. If anything, it will make you more competitive because you’ll have at least a year of being able to work full-time which is great. If possible, I would try to at least volunteer (clinical and/or non-clinical) and shadow while in undergrad! And thank you so much, I’m so happy I could help ☺️💛
I am a medical assistant who is also in her sophomore year of college. Today I realized I wanted to change my major to Kinesiology to pursue the PA route. Am I too late to get the ball rolling. I feel like this major change may be a mistake.
Not at ALL! I know people who started their pre-PA journey YEARS into having a whole other career in a field other than medicine and they’re doing great!!
So typically there is no pre-PA “program” so essentially you have choose a major and keep track of the classes you need on your own. So yes, you can major in nursing. You just have to make sure you complete the correct prerequisite courses!
hey so right now I am a health science major and planning on applying to PA school. I work at a pediatrics office as a medical assistant. Do you recommend working in different fields like hospital settings or its fine to stay in my medical office. also do you think a BS in health science is good enough or should I switch to biology? Your videos are so helpful btw!
Hello! So that is definitely up to you! I personally diversified my experiences so I knew what it was like in other settings, but I also know people who have gotten in with experience in only one setting. If you feel like it’s time for a change, I would consider switching it up! Also, that sounds like a great major! Your actual major does not matter at all so whichever you’re more happy with is the one you should pick. And thank you so much!
H A J I M A hi! So I did a certification program at the medical office I worked but not until a year later. So I didn’t need to be certified to work. But it does help you get other jobs. I recently switched out of the pediatrics and got a job at an urgent care/family care and I think the certification and experience really helped.
I'm getting my Medical Assisting certification as a Senior in highschool. Will the clinic hours during my externship count as hours when I apply for PA school?
It depends on the school but oftentimes, no, hours that you received academic credit for usually do not count. But I would check with the schools you want to apply to!
In hindsight, I am sure that would have made chem a lot easier for me but it would have pushed my whole timeline back and in the end, I still got in with my C so I’m glad I didn’t!
It really depends on where you apply, but if you have a 4.0 but not great experience or extracurriculars, you most likely wouldn’t get in at a lot of schools. Experience builds character and shows that you’ve done the work to get exposure beforehand, which is what the profession is built on, so it’s extremely important. There are many other factors though!
Honestly, I would say minor in whichever you are most interested in! If you get asked why you minored in that, you don't want your answer to be that you just did it because it "looks good". So I would say yes, I recommend getting a minor if you are comfortable with the work load, but do it in something you're most interested in!
Yes! You can choose any major and get into PA school as long as you complete the schools’ required prerequisites and get the patient care experience needed. I would check the classes in each track and pick whichever you’d enjoy most and would meet more of the PA school prereqs. If it helps, I was a kinesiology pre-physical therapy major but I was able to complete all of the PA prereqs with that!
Thank you so much for responding !!! I was so worried because I really want to go to specific college and they only have Pre Med and not Pre PA, so that’s definitely a relief!!!
Do you know if hospitals hire CNAs that can only work summers? I'm wanting to get back into getting PCE while I finish undergrad but I can't see myself doing 12 hour shifts while in school , so I want to give hospitals a try during summer breaks. I have a feeling they won't hire me since I'll only be working temporarily. Do you have any info on this?
To be honest, I’ve rarely seen that. I’m sure it happens but typically hospitals want people with a year of experience minimum and a bit of commitment. I’m sure there are positions out there that are fine with this but you’d have to do some searching! Not impossible though.
You could go PRN just work one shift every two weeks I’m PRN right now so I am able to juggle the work load also there’s cna jobs that don’t require much work you just gotta be luck i was cna in radiology and I just watched patients in holding perfect place for homework
@@darthpanda5142 yes I lucked out and got a per diem job where I only have to work one shift per 2 weeks as you mentioned. It's real nice with school! I did not know CNAs could work in radiology, that sounds interesting
@@ferdlc7757 it was super cool I also would help CT in the ER I love it I work as an ER tech now not much room for study but on overnights sometimes it’s slow I’ll definitely have to quit once I get into PA School
I'm not her obviously, but as a fellow pre-PA I would say as long as you do the prerequisite classes for PA school, you can major in pretty much anything.
