PA school wasn't created for people who are considering getting into a healthcare field. It was designed for people who had already gotten medical training as a nurse or paramedic (or originally a military medic) as a way to expand their knowledge/scope of practice. When it was originally created, the only way to advance would have been to go to college, get all of the pre-reqs for medical school and go through medical school and residency, and someone who was 40-year-old wouldn't want to go through 10 years of training, especially when they didn't actually want to be a doctor.
Can you use your EMT Work hours towards PA school
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PA school wasn't created for people who are considering getting into a healthcare field. It was designed for people who had already gotten medical training as a nurse or paramedic (or originally a military medic) as a way to expand their knowledge/scope of practice. When it was originally created, the only way to advance would have been to go to college, get all of the pre-reqs for medical school and go through medical school and residency, and someone who was 40-year-old wouldn't want to go through 10 years of training, especially when they didn't actually want to be a doctor.
firecoins
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The original design was for military medics who were too old to go to medical school and had no civilian certification to do anything.
EMT-B is used as a way to get clinical time for P.A. school because ot shows you can be responisble with a patient in your care. One must still take all the pre req classes. The monkey skills paramedics learn are taught in PA school.
ScoopandSwoop
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REMT-P and PA-C here.
PA programs look upon previous clinical experience favorably. I have a friend who serves on an Admissions Committee for a PA/MS program, and he told me that they take an applicant's direct patient care contact into consideration (not necessarily low call volume EMS systems or infrequent engagement (e.g. occasional volunteer work)). I wouldn't count on EMT certification alone to do much for you, as EMT programs are not universally based in recognized academic institutions, and their faculty are not universally credentialed as Bachelor's or Master's prepared educators (e.g. tenured college or university faculty), hence EMT training may be viewed as training (by trainers) and not education (by educators).
With regard to going the RN or PA route, each has their own unique characteristics and career path. If your Primary Care Physician has an NP or PA who works with him/her, ask your PCP is he/she will ask them to take a few minutes to talk with you. From my primary care days, it was gratifying to see the child/patient turned young man or young woman enter our profession. I know of several patients who we cared for through their youth who became PA's or NP's; several of them viewed us as their role models, and liked the care that we provided them (outside of our heart to heart conversations about alcohol, recreational drugs, and unprotected sex). In fact, my PCP worked with a PA, and it was that PA who served as my role model. If you decide to pursue the NP route and you have completed an undergraduate degree by the time you decide to pursue the NP pathway, take a look at NP programs that take non-nurses with undergraduate degrees that are strong in sciences, and allow them to pursue NP degrees without first being Registered Nurses.
see: http://www.mghihp.edu/academics/nursing/degree-options/master-of-science-direct-entry/default.aspx.
My pulmonologist’s NP became a NP via that route, and I have the highest level of confidence in her clinical acumen (and I often chose to see her over the MD).
Good luck.
PA programs look upon previous clinical experience favorably. I have a friend who serves on an Admissions Committee for a PA/MS program, and he told me that they take an applicant's direct patient care contact into consideration (not necessarily low call volume EMS systems or infrequent engagement (e.g. occasional volunteer work)). I wouldn't count on EMT certification alone to do much for you, as EMT programs are not universally based in recognized academic institutions, and their faculty are not universally credentialed as Bachelor's or Master's prepared educators (e.g. tenured college or university faculty), hence EMT training may be viewed as training (by trainers) and not education (by educators).
With regard to going the RN or PA route, each has their own unique characteristics and career path. If your Primary Care Physician has an NP or PA who works with him/her, ask your PCP is he/she will ask them to take a few minutes to talk with you. From my primary care days, it was gratifying to see the child/patient turned young man or young woman enter our profession. I know of several patients who we cared for through their youth who became PA's or NP's; several of them viewed us as their role models, and liked the care that we provided them (outside of our heart to heart conversations about alcohol, recreational drugs, and unprotected sex). In fact, my PCP worked with a PA, and it was that PA who served as my role model. If you decide to pursue the NP route and you have completed an undergraduate degree by the time you decide to pursue the NP pathway, take a look at NP programs that take non-nurses with undergraduate degrees that are strong in sciences, and allow them to pursue NP degrees without first being Registered Nurses.
see: http://www.mghihp.edu/academics/nursing/degree-options/master-of-science-direct-entry/default.aspx.
My pulmonologist’s NP became a NP via that route, and I have the highest level of confidence in her clinical acumen (and I often chose to see her over the MD).
Good luck.
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medic417
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Another plus to the PA is you do much of the course work online.
Sandog
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I have completed all of my prerequisites to apply for a BSN at San Diego State University. I sat down and had a meeting with the SDSU nursing school adviser, even with a 3.6 GPA It was suggested to me by the adviser that I perform some EMT work before applying to the BSN program. SDSU uses a points based system and direct medical experience is an additional 15 points out of 90.