thanks so much both of you, @WayOutWestMom @thumper1 for now since i will be transferring a junior my goal is to nail those 2 years see where my gpa stands i have 52 science credits and if correct i can take more science credits around 50 more (including post bacc) hopefully that will put me up there to be able to get into PA school since seemes like MD or even DO is out of reach now unless i do smp i just don’t know how much total science courses can i take more conisdering i have already finished ochem, physics 1 and 2 and gen chem also calc 1 and 2 anyways thank you guys.
Did you get an A when you retook Ochem?
@thumper1 yes A in retake
That’s a good thing.
Yes i am not gonna let my sophmore year decide my fate ill back in this chat once after my admission to MD 
As WayOutWestMom noted here, PA programs require at minimum] anywhere from 500 to 2,000 hours of hands-on direct patient care experience. At many programs, the average is actually higher than the requirement - for example, at Emory the requirement is a minimum of 2,000 hours of direct patient care experience, but the most recent admitted class had an average of over 6,000 hours of patient care experience (and ranged from just over 2,000 to nearly 30,000 hours). 2,000 hours is about one year of full-time work, or two years of half-time (20 hrs/week) work.
Simply volunteering at a hospital, ‘shadowing’, or observing is not enough - it has to be trained direct patient care experience. For that reason most PAs are former nurses, EMTs/paramedics, physical or occupational therapy assistants, respiratory therapists, or technicians (like surgical tech, radiology tech, ultrasound tech, etc.) These are roles that typically require some kind of educational program and licensure to practice. The shortest/easiest route would probably be to get certified as an EMT or a certified nurse’s assistant, which usually takes about a semester’s worth of work…but then you would have to get the hours, either through working full-time or volunteering intensively for a number of years. (For example, if you volunteered as an EMT for 10 hours a week, it would take you about four years to get to the bare minimum of 2,000 hours, and 12 years to get to the Emory average of 6,000 hours).
I’ll also note that PA programs, too, have high GPA standards. At Emory, the average cGPA is a 3.6 and the average science GPA is a 3.53. Not every school is going to have such high expectations, but if your science GPA is below a 3.0 you may struggle to get admitted.
So, while becoming a PA is a good alternative healthcare career for someone considering medicine, a PA program is not a good “fall-back” option if you don’t get into medical school - the requirements and expectations for practice hours are different and the GPA requirements are not that much lower than med school.
1° You asked what science courses you could still take? More advanced courses in biochemistry, biostatistics, neuroscience, plus chemistry and molecular biology. You could see if there’s something in epidemiology, biological anthropology… Think of it as a marathon.
2° Become an EMT or CNA (as suggest above!) and start working.
3°See if your major could be bioinformatics or biostatistics: if you can’t make it into med school, these majors lead to jobs.
Thank you finally! My question is that is it possible to take 90 credits of science courses during my junior and senior year also including post bacc? It’s a simple question people are telling me all sort of different things please if you have any info on that enlighten me. Also people are saying if you’re science majors there is no post bacc for you then what are grade enhancers post bacc? I want 90 credits so I can have my sgpa upto 3.2 and then I can think of taking masters program? Anyways thank you
I would also definitely keep @WayOutWestMom advice in mind and act upon it she has given me a lot of helpful tips but I want to take this as a marathon I’ll take gap years and master program as long as I achieve my end goal I’m still young and I wouldn’t mind spending next 5 years making up for the gpa that I messed in first two years I just want to if there is a way to take 90 credits during post bacc junior and senior year
Are you asking if you can complete your bachelors in the next two years AND a post Bacc at the same time? If so…the answer is…no. A post bacc is done AFTER a bachelors is completed, not concurrent with it.
You won’t be able to take 90 credits of BCPM sciences during your final 2 years of college. College + post-bacc—possibly, though you will eventually run out of undergraduate bio & chem classes that you haven’t already taken, and that will probably happen well before you hit the 90 credit mark.
The real question is this–how long are you willing to postpone your life? How much debt are you willing to incur?
I’m not saying you shouldn’t strive, but there comes a point where you need to realistic and practical. You need to do a cost-benefit analysis to see if your path makes financial sense, or sense in terms of your personal values/life choices.
But all of this is hypothetical. You haven’t started at university yet. You don’t know if you’ll be competitive there. Come back in 2 years and tell how you did and what your final GPA is.
@MYOS1634 just found out post bacc that will offer me 36 credits of bcpm even after my pre reqs and upper division im sure i can find rest of 54 science credits in junior/ senior year and thanks for your concern @WayOutWestMom but ill update once i’m finished.
@WayOutWestMom no debt during undergrad only debt would be post bacc if i dont do a diy post bacc