<p>I can't believe its been 4 years since I've been on this forum! My daughter was then considering PA school but decided to go to Northeastern for Speech Therapy instead. She seemed to be fine with her choice until her co-op at Children's Hospital last year where she worked with doctors as well as PA's and spent some time observing speech therapists. Now wants to try for PA school again!
This time around we are looking at the Masters programs & the prerequisites are as confusing as anything we have ever come across! She does not have many of the Science prerequisites so is trying to figure out how she can fit them in this year. AND she has to shadow a PA, luckily at least she has the healthcare hours.
She is looking for a program as close to Boston as possible, definitely in the Northeast. Her overall GPA is decent but that is not the case for her Science GPA in the courses she has taken so far. I guess that will depend on how she does in her courses in the summer & fall. She is planning to email her target schools to to see if they will accept the prerequisites if she does not have them until Dec. Anyone know which schools are more flexible than others? Just looking to see what other people have experienced. Thanks!</p>
<p>Tufts is soon going to be offering a PA program. My daughter , also a 4th yr student at Northeastern is going to be applying to PA schools. There are different requirements for different schools , but she is on track ( with one class she will take online this summer ) </p>
<p>[Tufts</a> to launch physician assistant program - Boston Medical News - White Coat Notes - Boston.com](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/Boston/whitecoatnotes/2012/03/tufts-launch-physician-assistant-program/5EN4ryNK650uL5GWCD0YXK/index.html?s_campaign=MobAppShare_EM]Tufts”>http://www.boston.com/Boston/whitecoatnotes/2012/03/tufts-launch-physician-assistant-program/5EN4ryNK650uL5GWCD0YXK/index.html?s_campaign=MobAppShare_EM)</p>
<p>I think we communicated about PA programs four years ago. My son started his program four years ago and will begin rotations in June. He still loves it, but it was a gamble, making the commitment as a freshman. My only advice now would be to go to [ARC-PA</a> / Home](<a href=“http://www.arc-pa.org%5DARC-PA”>http://www.arc-pa.org) to see all the programs available and then look at each web site for specifics. You may get some answers at [Physician</a> Assistant Jobs, Physician Associate Discussion Forum and Social Network. Resume, Blogs, Interviews, Jobs and Schools. | Physician Assistant Forum](<a href=“http://www.physicianassistantforum.com%5DPhysician”>http://www.physicianassistantforum.com), too.</p>
<p>Just a thought, if she is willing to move out of the east coast and into more rural areas, there are several programs for PA’s that forgive college loans and/or provide substantial assistance if you agree to work in a rural area for X number of years.</p>
<p>Heck, she doesn’t even have to move to a rural area. Or away from the East Coast. There are both federal and state loan forgiveness programs for PAs. But she would have to work in a federally designated underserved area. (Some of which are inner-city.) Length of service required depends upon whether she’d work half time or full time in the program.</p>
<p>[NHSC</a> Loan Repayment Application Cycle Now Open - NHSC](<a href=“http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/loanrepayment/]NHSC”>Loan Repayment | NHSC)</p>
<p>Doesnt NEU have a PA program?</p>
<p>Thanks all for your replies. NEU does have a PA program but it is geared towards people who have worked in the field for a couple of years or so. They prefer full time experience of over 2000 hours, which she does not have. She has about 1000 hours which is more than most schoolds require.
Hi Toledo, glad to hear your son is enjoying the program. I believe my daughter would have had a hard time in the PA program, given that her grades were not so great her first year though they have steadily and significantly improved since then. Now I feel she can handle the course load, if she can get in, that is!
lje62, is your daughter a Health Sciences major at NEU? Has she done any shadowing?Thanks you so much for letting me know about Tufts - that would be great! I just checked their website & while they do not require as many prereqs, they do require the GRE which most of the other schools do not. I guess she will have to take the GRE if necessary. She is planning to do Chem 1 in Summer I, & Chem II & Bio II in summer II, which will be a heavy load. After that she has to do Microbiology, Biochemistry & Genetics in the fall, based on the requirements of different schools. The challenge is finding a Biochemistry program that does not require Organic Chemistry as a prerequisite as she will not be able to complete both. Most schools will accept either but Mass College of Pharmacy needs Biochemistry.</p>
<p>along1 , yes she is a health science major at NEU . She has not done any shadowing but has all but the biochemistry for requirements so far. She is on her second co-op and has a lot of clinical time because she got EMT certified as well. She has done a lot of volunteering at Brighman and Women’s too in several departments. Once she is done with this co-op , she is going to take her GRE. She is looking at programs in several areas of the country , but I am sure if given the opportunity would LOVE to be at Tufts. We shall see how things go
Best of luck to your daughter :D</p>
<p>Massachusetts College of Pharmacy has a good program. Quinnipiac in Connecticut, also.</p>
<p>Wagner College has a very good PA program and their PAs get placed right from graduation. They have a strong connection to hospitals and also now looking at overseas.
Good luck to your dd (and you).</p>
<p>DD just finished a hectic year deciphering PA school requirements. GRE required/not required. Licensed healthcare hours required/not required. High GPA required/not required. Pledge to serve underprivileged area required/not required. And so on, and so on, and …</p>
<p>If there’s a sure path through this maze DD didn’t find it. Good luck to your D.</p>
<p>What kind of fulltime experience could a BA/BS get that would qualify them for PA school, besides, say… nursing? Or do they just want some fulltime work experience not necessarily in the medical field? My son is 5th year NEU (I only know that because many of his HS classmates have graduated from their 4yr colleges) behavioral neuroscience major. He had 2 great co-ops doing lab work, and right now for something different he is student teaching in Italy. He has not taken any education classes and I don’t think he ever considered a career as a teacher but this has been a great chance to try it out. I think I am more interested in PA school than he is. Not sure what he is going to do, but PA school would be a great option.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Athletic Training, nursing, Paramedic, Medical Assistant, Physical Therapy Assistant…</p>
<p>I know a few of them are associates rather than bachelors, but they would all qualify as great experience. There are plenty of athletic trainers who are pursuing PA school and make for excellent PAs…</p>
<p>^ There is no universal definition of what “direct patient care” means. Nursing, sure. But I’ve also seen phlebotomist, EMT and Nurses Aide specifically listed. I’m sure there are other health care jobs that would qualify. YMMV.</p>
<p>BTW, some schools accept volunteer hours for part of the requirement.</p>
<p>Since the OP’s daughter has experience with Northeastern University, here is Northeastern’s definition of “hands on experience” and their list of qualifying job titles:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.northeastern.edu/bouve/pa/prerequisites.html]Physician”>http://www.northeastern.edu/bouve/pa/prerequisites.html]Physician</a> Assistant Studies (MS) Prerequisites | Bouv</p>
<p>NewHope, thanks for that link. That is very clear. I think the key part is,
</p>
<p>my son’s lab work would not qualify.</p>
<p>Most of the people I’ve talked to recommend going the EMT route, as it requires less training that some of the other areas.</p>
<p>Someone upstream mentioned PA programs in more rural areas whereby there is forgiveness of loans. Does anyone have information about such programs?</p>
<p>DD is an EMT, but getting 2000 hours of PATIENT contact could take forever as there are some times when the ambulance doesn’t even get a call. 2000 hours is 40 hours of full time work for a year.</p>
<p>I think this may be the web site on medical shortages. It still doesn’t help with getting into a program. There have got to be some programs with less than 2000 required hours.</p>
<p>[Shortage</a> Designation: Health Professional Shortage Areas & Medically Underserved Areas/Populations](<a href=“http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/shortage/]Shortage”>http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/shortage/)</p>
<p>Here’s another good starting point … $60K loan forgiveness for two years of service. Not bad!</p>
<p>[Medical</a> Education Loan Repayment](<a href=“http://www.hpsa.us/benefits-of-designation/loan-repayment]Medical”>http://www.hpsa.us/benefits-of-designation/loan-repayment)</p>