Hi
My child will complete under graduation with microbiology major/chemistry minor in 2023. What are good Physician Assistant schools to apply ?
Are you allowed to take MCAT and apply for medical schools while in PA school ?
If your child wants to go to medical school, becoming a PA first is a very inefficient way of doing that. (and uses up SO MUCH money) What’s the goal here?
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Many PA grad programs look for applicants to have some medical related work experience. Look closely at the requirements of any school she applies to.
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Because he will be completing undergrad at the age of 20 , we were wondering if Masters or PA program would be a better option before applying for medical school.
I a not the expert but as I noted earlier many PA programs require hands on medical work prior to applying and the programs are (I believe) around 3 years. Become a PA: Getting Your Prerequisites and Certification - AAPA My gut feeling is that a masters would be a more direct path to med school. Or perhaps even some time spent working as an EMT/medical scribe etc. would be a good thing.
Your S will have Pre-Health advisors in college who should be able to guide him towards what options might work best.
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So people take many different routes to med school. If your child has the academic parts down pat, which are great GPA, all prereqs done and MCAT taken care of, then going to a PA program or even a Master’s program will do him no good. It is much better to gain work experience through working in a healthcare setting. Many people get phlebotomy, scribe, CNA, clinical research type positions for a few years to show engagement. It is becoming more and more common EVEN for students with great grades & MCAT.
Typically, students that do not have good credentials pay to get a MS degree. Back in the day, one could try to do grade repair work at a community college or at another 4 year college. But now, it seems more and more medical schools are pushing SMPs and 1/2 year MS programs as they see these as real money makers. These are not cheap and do not guarantee anything.
PA school is a completely different track. I see many BSN/RNs and students opting to go that route as a profession. I have never seen a PA go to med school but I am sure it happens. It is not an easy or particularly cheap route either.
I would not apply to med schools while in PA school. I would do my research, decide which profession I wanted, and then take the proper path to get there. Despite any similarities, there are differences between the professions.
PA school is very costly and there are many, many volunteer hours required. Med school comes with its own list of requirements, etc.
The student could do some research on both professions and decide. He doesn’t have to go straight from college- it is very common to take time off to complete shadowing, volunteering, etc.
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@WayOutWestMom, can you advise this poster about this as well as the issue of graduating at 20?
There are couple of hundred accredited PA programs in the US.
You can find a list here: http://www.arc-pa.org/accreditation/accredited-programs/
All are accredited and reputable and graduation from one makes a student eligible to sit for the PA national licensing exam(s).
Programs are 30 months long and each program has different entry requirements. Programs have 2 parts: a didactic (classroom) portion where students get the foundational knowledge they need to work as a PA; and a internship portion where they learn the actual hands skills of PA work. Additionally, a PA may complete a fellowship in particular area of medicine if they want to specialize. (There PA fellowships in dermatology, emergency medicine, psychiatry,pediatrics, women’s health, even neurosurgery!) Fellowships are typically an additional 1-2 years of training.
While a microbiology degree will cover many of the require academic pre-reqs, it probably won’t cover all of them. Please consult the admission requirements for any programs your child may want to apply to.
Besides academic requirements, ALL PA program require hands-on experience. Students need to have anywhere from 500 - 3000+ hours (varies by program) of PAID direct patient care experience. Jobs that fulfill the patient care experience are things like CNA, PCT, phlebotomist, ER or surgical tech, paramedic, nurse, etc. Most PA hopefuls work full time for 1-3 years after college graduation to get their patient care hours done.
Physician Assistant and Physician are two completely different career pathways.
While they overlap some in college undergrad preparation, each has its own distinct postgraduate training pathway that do not overlap. Becoming a PA is not a stepping stone to medical school. In fact, medical schools will not even consider accepting a PA unless they have worked for a number of years in their own field first. And no medical school will consider seriously a PA student who has not yet finished their training. (The thinking is if they’re willing to bail on this program, why should we believe they’ll stick around to finish out our program?)
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Your son should apply to PA school ONLY if he wants to be a PA. It’s not a stepping stone to med school.
Medical schools do NOT consider graduate degrees when making admission decisions. Admission and interview decisions are made based upon a student’s undergrad academic performance, MCAT score, plus expected ECs and other soft factors.
The only Master’s degree that useful for med school admissions is a SMP. (Special Master’s Program). These are highly specialized programs for students who do not have a med school worthy GPA. They are high risk - high reward and only should be considered when all other options have been closed off.
The best use of your son’s extra year would be to work full time in a direct patient care job. Or at least in full time clinical research position.
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Your 20 year old would be better served getting something like a CNA after undergrad and getting direct patient work experience…if he wants to apply to medical school.
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Thank you.
Do you recommend any particular CNA progams / colleges ?
You can take a CNA course at many community colleges. Check on your area. They might be able to do it this summer…will he be 18 years old by that time?
@WayOutWestMom do you know the age restriction for CNA certification?
Many many high-schoolers in my area are CNAs so I think he’s already old enough. Agree that PA school is not the right route to med school. I’ve seen more crossovers from other health professions. One that sticks out in my head is laboratory med tech - I personally know at least 3 that I can think of who became MDs after being med techs or studying to be med techs. Some end up in lab again (pathology) and some do not.
He can also check courses for medical assistants at the CC. But I really think you get more hands on patient contact as a CNA. And there is a need for male CNAs.
Here is some info about CNA:
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Most states require CNAs to be at least 18 years old and a high school graduate. (A few states allow 16 and older.)
CNA candidates must graduate from a state approved program if they want to be eligible for a state license. Licensing is state-specific and is generally not transferrable to another state so it’s best for your son to do his coursework in the state where he intends to work.
The length of CNA training varies by state and program and can take anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months.
Many community colleges offer CNA certification courses. They also offer EMT and MA certification courses.
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Is there a reason your son is not utilizing his university’s health careers advising center?
This is what my daughter and her friends did to follow the paths for their entry to their med programs. The “pre med advising” center gave them a pathway to “follow” using a checklist type of flowchart.
They constantly went to the advisors seeking new information and joining the premed health clubs on campus.
*This is where they were advised about regional volunteer opportunities, with low-income clinics, serving medically indigent populations.
Your son won’t get into med school without those thousands of hours at those placements. The competition to get into those positions was fierce for our daughter.
*This is where they were also advised of their LOR from university professors.
*This is where they were advised about getting into MCAT study groups.
*This is where they were advised about on-campus lab jobs.
This is where they were advised about everything dealing with their futures.
Which is why I asked if your son was utilizing his university services.
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FWIW, not all health care advising is great at various colleges. Some put a lot of experience into it and some seem to use previous graduates who didn’t find a job. They don’t always have any pre-med experience themselves.
It’s best to be in touch with pre-health services at a college, but also good to double check info they tell you. It’s similar to this forum (cc) in many ways - can be good advice, or not. When it comes to getting into med school, it helps to check a lot of sources rather than assume any particular one is correct.
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The colleges have stepped up their games to accommodate those students who need those services. More and more students seem to want to get into those health fields.
No, some college advisors don’t have personal experiences as physicians, but they have a lot of students who HAVE been successful such as my daughter and her friends.
This student is 20 and, I’m assuming, has not had a lot of exposure to blood, bile and urine on a daily basis, in the form of a patient. The med schools want to see if someone can handle the pressures of dealing with patients, insurance forms, traumas, knowledge and changes in diseases and anything else via volunteering and shadowing in clinics, hospitals, without pay.
I agree with you on this. Med schools definitely want hours of shadowing and volunteering in various settings.
I still disagree that all college pre-health advising is great. It depends upon the college and who they have staffing that office.