Archive for 1. Preparation
Preparation for the PA Profession
Posted by: | CommentsIf you are someone who has decided to become a Physician Assistant what can you do to enhance your path into PA School and make you a better student?
First, make sure you have completed all the necessary prerequisites. I have seen some careers delayed a year while the student finished up some courses they did not realize they needed. Check the syllabus of your preferred schools carefully and regularly. Entrance requirements change and you want to know it when they do.
Second, get some top quality experience. This can be a challenge. Once you have secured the opportunity, learn and remember. Don’t depend on just your memory. Buy yourself a sturdy notebook and write down new words, clinical pearls and references to be remembered later.
Want more information about preparation, decision making, interview skills and general information that will make your Path to the PA profession easier and smoother?
Purchase a copy of Elizabeth Murray’s booklet 60 Tips for the PA Path and a copy of Laura Phelan’s Interview Tips for the PA Path. The link to buy it is in the far upper right corner. You can not go wrong for $11.95. Get your copy now.
Pros and Cons of being a Physician Assistant
Posted by: | CommentsI received an email from someone considering the PA profession. The person was wondering about PAs and NPs and the pros and cons of being a PA. I sent him a reply and I am adding it here.
I have enjoyed being a PA and find these items to be the PROs:
- the pay has progressed from so-so to excellent
- acceptance and understanding of the profession is very good and has made being a PA very pleasant
- the working conditions are great and you get to work with the best and the brightest most of the time
- the work is challenging everyday, although some of it is routine, the responsibility never is
- I get thanked for what I do much more than 10% of the time
- I am delegated as much responsibility as I can accept. I have worked in clinical medicine my entire career
- there is great flexibility in what a PA can do. It is generally no hard to find a place to work if you choose to relocate. American PAs are sought after in Great Britain
The CONs
- I have to get at least 50 hours of CME a year. You can get junk but high quality is expensive and time-consuming
- You will never be “independent”. Even if you own the practice – you have to hire a doctor to be the supervisor and medical administrator
- Your skills should be as good as an M.D. but you will always be paid less.
- You have to take and pass a National Certifying Exam every 6 years.
Duke University PA Program
Posted by: | CommentsTo apply to the Duke PA Program you must use CASPA or Centralized Application Service. After you have finished that application and submitted it, Duke will send you an e-mail that gives you authorization to access the Duke PA Program supplemental application. In addition you must have 1000 hours of direct patient care experience. Duke is very specific about what activities are accepted as “direct patient care” so be sure to consult their website to know for certain that your experience will qualify. You will need three recommendations, one of which must come form someone who has seen you provide patient care.
Usually, you must complete CASPA application after May 1 and before mid-October the year before you would enter as a student. You have until mid-November to complete your supplemental application.
The class that entered Duke in 2007 were chosen from 570 applications and had the following group qualifications:
- Over-all GPA 3.1-3.5
- Natural Science GPA 3.0-3.5
- Total Natural Science Credits 42-68
- GRE General test scores – Verbal 460-570, Quantitative 550-670, Analytical Writing 4.0-5.0
- Months of full-time patient care experience 10-34
Check back regularly as we will have all the other programs here eventually and we hope to distribute podcasts of interviews with administrators from as many programs as possible. Seven States – Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wyoming do not have PA training programs.
