Why Physician Assistant School May be Right for You

It's one of the fastest growing careers in the country. Learn about how to get into a top program.

August 6, 2010 RSS Feed Print

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3. Show compassion: Your GPA is stellar and you've amassed an impressive amount of medical work experience in the little spare time you have while keeping your grades pristine, but you still get that dreaded rejection letter. Why? You didn't do enough volunteer work. Volunteering exemplifies your desire to help your fellow man—the attribute identified by schools as one of the most integral to becoming a successful PA. "Students who have had experience in working with underserved populations, rural or diverse populations, performing volunteer service or disaster relief, or other experiences that illustrate a drive and compassion for others often stand out to the admissions committee," says Wiemiller.

Tags:: Yale University,; University of Iowa,; graduate schools,; medical school,; academics

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@ Christy. Hello my name is Ryan. Usually PA schools will accept applicants with hands on paid pt experience, where treatment, assessments, vital monitoring, med admin, is involved. I started out as a Emergency Medical Technician-Basic, worked on the ambulance assisting the Paramedic in a very busy EMS system. I continued my education and became a Paramedic where I am trained in Advanced Life Support treatment/skills (i.e. ET intubation, TTJI, IV/IM/IN/ET/IO med administration, chest decompression, etc.) I've worked codes, revived babies (tooting my own horn lol) and treated your ordinary, basic medical/trauma complaints. This is the type of experience PA schools look for.
EMT-Basic school is one semester long. You will learn Basic Life Support (BLS) medical/trauma care and assessment including treatments within your scope of practice. Add another 18-20 months for Paramedic education that included didactic, clinical rotaions in ER,OB/L&D,Respiratory,Burn, Trauma, Cardiac,and OR. They compare medic school to a condensed version of Emergency Physician Residency, it's intense but worth it. You will learn ALOT of medical/trauma knowledge and it will definitely help you with assessments, recognizing acute conditions, and will help with delegating with your subordinates. So I recommend EMT-Basic to get your paid patient contacts, then medic school if you want more education/responsibility. For EMT-B and Paramedic you must receive an 80% or better at course completion and then receive at least 80% or better for national/state/and local certification and licensing.
Other pt care jobs that are easy to get into, perhaps a CNA course, which minimal medical education is emphasized, Clinical Medical Assistant, and/or LVN school which is about 12 months longs. Also, earning your EMT-Basic cert, you are employable in emergency rooms, they are usually called ER Techs.
I hope this info helps you out a bit. I too want to go to PA school once I complete my bachelors. Take care!

Ryan Essepian of CA 4:08PM April 06, 2012

I have a BS and am hoping to get into a physician assistant program within the next couple of years and am trying to get a little more information about what PA schools admission boards are looking for. I fall into the unfortunate category of students who didn't realize they wanted to pursue PA school until after graduating from the university, so I didn't take any of the required classes while in school and I do not have a lot of experience in the medical field. The classes I can handle, but I am having trouble understanding exactly what kind of experience/work experience will fill the required medical experience that PA schools are looking for. Do I have to work directly with doctors and patients? Or is working in the reception area of a medical clinic sufficient? Are admission boards looking for specific experience or are many medical related positions applicable.
If there is anyone out there that could shed some light on this question, I would greatly appreciate it. I am willing to do what it takes to get the experience I need, but as I look for jobs, I realize that without prior medical experience or certifications, I am unlikely to be considered for most jobs that I think will apply to the requirements.
Thank you for any time you take to answer my questions.

Christy Hanamaikai of AZ 12:22AM April 03, 2012

Nicole,
Both physicians and physician assistants are trained to be generalists. It is only after school that each professional chooses a specialty. With regard to physicians, this takes place in the form of a residency; however, this is not the case with regard to PA's. Although residencies do exist for PA's, there are few of them, and the majority are not accredited. Therefore, most PA's that specialize learn as they go and gain responsibilities with time (sounds like a residency, although it does not bare the title). In terms of advanced practice nursing, the education is specific to a particular type of medical practice (although family practice NP's are trained as generalists as well). Furthermore, no residency options are available for nurses. I think you may be confusing a residency with clinical rotations; however, these are very different. In the 3rd and part of the 4th year of medical school, and the 2nd year of PA school, students rotate through several different medical specialties as well as general practice clinical experiences. Because nurse practitioners specialize within their curriculum, they do not rotate through specialty practice clinicals, but rather spend 3-4 months in one particular area of practice.

Jason of UT 12:46PM June 11, 2011