Physician Assistant questions

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>Hello everyone,</p>

<p>I have a friend who just came from China who is looking to get her graduates for Physician Assistant. Since She resides in New York, her choices so far (but not limited to) seem to be Cornell, Stony Brook, and CUNY. She is a straight "A" student with a perfect GPA, capable of doing what needs to be done in order to succeed, but she doesn't know where to start (nor do I).</p>

<p>Since she is a international student, will it be harder for her to get accepted by the colleges I've mentioned?</p>

<p>What should she prepare? recommendation letters, her own unique letter as to why she should be accepted, etc etc?</p>

<p>Does she need to take MCAT if she wants to become a PA?</p>

<p>Do you have a college within NY that you might want to recommend?</p>

<p>I'm pretty sure that I've left a bunch of critical information out but if you need additional information, then just let me know and I will get them from her. In the mean time, I would like your help on what my friend needs to prepare and do in order to get to her destination smoothly.</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p>Louis</p>

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<p>Yes</p>

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<p>Yeah, she’ll need letters of recommendation from faculty (usually 3), a personal statement, etc. She’ll need healthcare experience (sometimes extensive experience depending on the PA school), the prereq courses, and a bachelors degree.</p>

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<p>Nope - no MCAT - thats only for med school admissions. Most PA programs that I know of don’t even require the GRE.</p>

<p>I dont’ know too much about PA admissions, but there are PA specific forums out there that are pretty easy to find if you Google “physician assistant forms” ;)</p>

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<p>Can she afford US schools or have access to loans.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your input Icarus.</p>

<p>@Redroses - Yep, She can afford US schools with her current budget, why do you ask?</p>

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<p>Another thing she should consider is her future plans for practicing. If she’s planning on going back to China, she needs to look into the status of PA’s there. They haven’t been widely accepted anywhere other than the US.</p>

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<p>@Icarus - She is planning to stay in the United States for a long time.</p>

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<p>Actually, a fair amount of programs DO require the GRE. I actually thought pretty much all of them did (all the programs I applied to did), but it looks like some of the NY schools do not. A few will accept MCAT in lieu of GRE, but honestly, I wouldn’t bother with that if I knew for sure that I wanted PA and not MD.</p>

<p>Also, does she have an undergrad degree from a Chinese college yet, or is she looking to get an undergrad degree in the US + a master’s in PA studies? There are a few programs that still offer a bachelor’s in PA studies, but most states are moving toward requiring a master’s degree to practice.</p>