What were your academic stats...GPA, GRE scores, major etc...


I hear its becoming very competitive but any feedback as to how your application process went would be helpful

8/28/2007 7:52:17 PM

Some places I've looked at require upwards of 1000 hours experience involving direct patient contact.


How the hell can I get "direct" patient contact without being a nurse or trained technician?

8/28/2007 9:29:39 PM

Army. I know guys with 0 medical experience who have been accepted into the Army's PA program. Hell, I have a friend with a BA degree (granted, from UCLA) and a mediocre record in the Army who got accepted.

8/28/2007 10:08:55 PM

^^I think it would be a good idea to do one of those things.

My paramedic friend had mediocre grades cause she had to work all the time as a paramedic to pay for school...she's at Emory now, which is supposedly the third best PA school in the nation.

8/29/2007 12:18:43 AM

my wife just graduated from George Washington Univ. w/ her PA degree

she graduated from UNC with a biology degree, minor in chemistry, had like a 3.6 or 3.7 GPA, she did a lot of volunteering, was an EMT for a couple semesters, worked at an assisted living place for 9 months or so, then worked at American Red Cross doing patient histories and got trained as a phlibotomist (sp?) and worked there for 1 yr or so to get experience, then applied.

so she applied 1.5 years after graduating (Nov. '04), started August '05 and it was a 2 year program (straight through, no breaks)

she looked at:
GWU (nothing but awesome, just go to the interview and you'll find that out)
Northwestern (didn't end up going)
The University of New England (didn't end up going)
Quinnipiac University (nice school, but even smaller than Shenandoah)
Shenandoah (small, not much help finding rotations for 2nd year)
ECU is the ghetto, she actually got her application turned down letter 1 YEAR after applying (which we had already declined the interview for, talk about bad file management) also ECU wasn't interviewing until February and GWU was interviewing in Nov. w/ early decision made by December, meaning you had to tell GWU if you wanted to go before the interviews even started at ECU

also didn't look at Duke for obvious reasons, but they are one of the top PA schools since they help start it and all.

pretty much once she found out she got in to GWU we made our decision. it's one of the top schools for the program. but she was only looking at programs with the masters degree

[Edited on August 29, 2007 at 12:37 AM. Reason : .]

8/29/2007 12:33:55 AM

Quote :

"she's at Emory now, which is supposedly the third best PA school in the nation."

i'd say emory is really great, but dunno if it's #3. could be though.

i know a few grads and they knew their shit.

8/29/2007 12:52:03 AM

emory, duke, george washington, iowa are some of the top schools

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/hea/brief/pas_brief.php


[Edited on August 29, 2007 at 12:59 AM. Reason : .]

8/29/2007 12:57:28 AM

Is this what one studies when they know they can't make it in medical school?

(not trying to be a dick... i myself know i couldn't make it or wouldn't want to put in the effort to make it in med school)

8/29/2007 10:39:39 AM

^ nah not for me at least


I just decided that med school is 4 years of hell and hard to get into


PA is only 2 years and I might have a fighting chance to get in

8/29/2007 11:11:25 AM

better hours, less paperwork, some jobs it means no call, less liability, basically it's a doctor w/ a life

pay ain't too shabby either, they avg. start is $70k unless you go into surgery, then it's can be $100k+, with just 2 years of schooling. a heckuva lot better than medical school

similar responsibilities as a doc too, they can do everything a doctor can do except surgery (they assist) and they just have to have the supervising doctor sign off on the charts.

[Edited on August 29, 2007 at 11:36 AM. Reason : .]

8/29/2007 11:35:03 AM

I got my CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) at Wake Tech over the summer so I can get direct patient contact hours. PM me if you want to know more about the program

8/29/2007 9:52:08 PM

you should look into Nurse Practitioner (NP) ... you may still find Masters Programs (MSN) ... although most programs are moving to doctorate (ND)

its the same level of responsibility/patient contact/salary as PA, but you have more autonomy being that your not continually under the thumb of the AMA. PA's are basically physician's helpers. NP's have a lot more latitude to define their practice.

8/29/2007 10:07:16 PM

^not true

PA's came out of the need for more physician's in rural areas, in fact PA's can operate their own practice w/out a physician present. while they still need a physician to supervise, a NP has no more responsibility nor autonomy than a PA does.

trust me i know, my dad's a family physician, my wife's a PA, and my brother-in-law is an NP, and he only chose NP b/c he had previous nursing experience.

also a PA is trained alongside a physician in some classes and taught with more the why something happens (more biology based), an NP comes from the nursing train of thought... completely different training.

[Edited on August 29, 2007 at 11:58 PM. Reason : .]

8/29/2007 11:57:48 PM

Quote :

"better hours, less paperwork, some jobs it means no call, less liability, basically it's a doctor w/ a life pay ain't too shabby either, they avg. start is $70k unless you go into surgery, then it's can be $100k+, with just 2 years of schooling. a heckuva lot better than medical school"

yep, thats about what i hear. you guys have the right idea.

9/11/2007 3:31:42 PM

NP and PA basically function in the same job role, but PA education is based around the medical model (MD) where as NP is based on nursing theory. I'd say PAs and NPs have a somewhat different skill set and are better suited in different job roles (in a few cases). For instance a NP w/ a focus in women's health may be better than a PA in OBGYN, however a PA who takes less of a "holistic" approach might be better off covering in the ER.

I am a PA student but appreciate the NPs. NC is a very PA and NP friendly state and for the most part the general population is educated about their role in the healthcare system... however not all.

9/12/2007 11:44:38 PM