You have mentioned a couple of times what you see your son doing. The bigger question…what does he see himself doing. And also understand that many many students enter college with the idea of one major or career and change their minds…sometimes more than one time.
Both direct PA and DPT programs are highly competitive. Some direct PA programs require a certain amount of shadowing. Your son needs to at least speak to some PAs (not doctors) about their careers, what it took, and how to get shadowing experience. It’s possible…we know HS students who have done so in the last two years.
I wouldn’t want any student to commit to a PA program without knowing what the work actually looks like.
Also, there are tons of other health careers your son could explore if he hasn’t already.
There are graduate programs which specifically focus on Genetic Counseling. Their graduates get jobs in settings ranging from large hospital systems to smaller oncology practices. These are patient-facing roles, but there are opportunities to get involved in research if you are affiliated with an academic medical center.
Thank you all so much for all the inputs. We will have some research to do. The process is new to us as I done my undergraduate in other country where everything is based on test scores. He is lucky to have many choices here in US.