Madison PalmieroJunior BIOSC major and pre-PA student When I first heard that some physician assistant programs required up to 1,000-2,000 hours of patient care experience, I was immediately stressed out. Ahh! What could I even do that would count as patient care experience? How could I fit that many hours into my schedule as a college student? If this sounds like you, I’m here to tell you not to panic. It can be intimidating at times, but it is definitely doable. Patient care experience is a large component of the application to a physician assistant program. Programs vary in the number of required hours, but I have seen anywhere from 50 up to 2,000 hours. Most schools require these to be paid experiences, so hours spent volunteering do not always count. It is important to check the websites of the schools you plan to apply to, for some may have different requirements than others. (Check here for details on the Pitt Physician Assistant program: which requires "A minimum of 500 hours of direct “hands-on” patient care experience..."). There are many ways to go about finding patient care experience, but if you are looking for a place to start, here are my suggested steps. 1. Find out how many hours you need. Visit the websites of schools you plan to apply to, or schools you are interested in, to see their required number of hours. Typically, having more hours makes you a more competitive applicant, but this depends on the school. Most websites also include a list of examples of accepted experiences, such as the one shown below. However, different schools have different accepted experiences, so make sure to check. 2. Narrow down your options. As shown above, many of these jobs would take years of training, so these are not as applicable. I was looking to complete a certification within a summer, so I narrowed my search to Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) programs. I wanted to choose the role that would be the most applicable to my future career, but I think that any experience you have working with patients is going to give you a better understanding of healthcare. After my experience, along with what I have heard from others, I would suggest looking into CNA, EMT, Medical Scribe, Medical Assistant, and Patient Care Technician positions.
3. Research training programs offered in your area. Look for the durations of the programs as well as their price. Also check if there are medical facilities hiring for these positions near you. I contacted local nursing homes and found they were all looking to hire CNAs. I then found a program offering a month-long program to become certified. The price was around $1000, but the nursing home I worked for ended up reimbursing me for this. I am sure COVID has placed a hold on many programs offered, but it has also created a high demand for CNAs. If you are interested in the CNA route, some nursing homes are offering on-the-job training with no prior certification required. From my understanding, you would still become certified, but you are able to work during this process. This way, once you are hired, you can start earning hours right away. 4. Go for it! Once you have done your research, sign up/register/apply to a program. I became certified during the summer after my freshman year, and I now have close to 600 hours of patient care experience. Most of this took place during the summer, so don’t feel like you have to do it all during school. Also, if you are planning on taking a gap year between undergrad and PA school, this is a great time to accumulate hours. If you worked full time for six months, this would give you close to 1000 hours. Additional Advice
If you have any questions about patient care experience or anything else PA related, I would be happy to answer them! My email is [email protected].
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Pitt Bio BlogThe Pitt Bio Blog is maintained by the Department of Biological Sciences Advising Office. Posts are authored by our students Archives
January 2022
Categories |