What should I major in if I want to become a Physician's Assistant one day?

College Majors
1

I’m currently a freshman in college and trying to decide a major. I know I want to work in the medical field one day, because I would love to make people feel better (and I love working with kids, specifically). I definitely won’t have the money to go to Medical School to become a pediatrician, so I thought why not become a Physician’s Assistant specialized in pediatrics?

I spoke to my advisor yesterday and we talked about what possible majors I could take. I had always thought that I should major in something more science-y like genetics or biology or chemistry. But, she told me that I could also specialize in something like Human Development & Family Studies, because I am very passionate about helping children.

But, it wouldn’t matter if I majored in genetics or human development/family studies, because she said I would need to get work experience before I could apply to PA school. She said that it would be best if I went to a community college (for the summer) after I graduated from my University with my bachelor’s to become a certified nurse (i’m not sure what she was saying exactly). BUT, I don’t want to go to community college right after I graduate from my Top 10 University. Is there a different path I could take that would get me the experience I need to apply to PA school without going to community college for nursing courses? And what do you think is a good major if I want to become a Physician’s Assistant one day?

2

So first of all, most people borrow the money to go to medical school. You can borrow the full cost of attendance from the U.S. government through Graduate PLUS loans. Your salary as an MD usually is enough to repay those loans.

But a PA is a great career choice too.

Your advisor is right in that PAs need to have direct patient care experience to get into a PA program. Most PA programs require a minimum of 1,000 to 2,000 hours of direct patient care work, which is about the equivalent of of 6-12 months of full-time work experience as a health care professional. However, most competitive applicants have at least 2-4 years of work experience as a health care professional, usually as a nurse or EMT (although there are a range of health care fields that qualify). This experience needs to be direct patient care experience. Shadowing doctors doesn’t count.

But you don’t have to go to a community college; you can get an accelerated BSN at a four-year university after finishing your bachelor’s at your current university and then work as a nurse for a couple years before going into a PA program. (In fact, that is a far better option than going to a community college, so I’m confused why she would tell you to do that.)

You could also get trained as an EMT while you are in college and work or volunteer as an EMT. Some colleges have special ambulance corps programs (like Columbia has a special program where they train you to be an EMT and then you volunteer on the ambulance corps; the Columbia ambulance service is completely student-operated). Even if they don’t, you might be able to take evening classes for 15 weeks to become an EMT - or maybe over the summer - and then volunteer with a fire department or even work part-time as an EMT depending on your local area.

Other than that, it probably doesn’t matter what you major in as long as you get the prerequisites. Most of those you can take at your regular college - most PA programs will require 1-3 semesters of chemistry, 1-3 semesters of biology, a semester of statistics, and often a semester of psychology. Many programs also require or recommend that you take some upper-level science classes in biology or chemistry. It’ll be easier to complete these if you are a science major, but you can also complete those as a minor or as electives.

The exception is anatomy and physiology. EVERY PA program will require 2 semesters of this (either 2 semesters of A&P, or 1 semester of anatomy and 1 semester of physiology) but few top universities offer this. So you will likely have to take these classes over the summer at a local community college or a four-year university with some health professional programs.

3

I’d like to strongly suggest that you not do a nursing program in order to become a PA. Nurses follow the nursing model of care, while PAs follow the medical model. It’s completely different and a huge waste of time and money to complete an associates degree in a field that you’re not going into in when you actually need a masters. (I’m a pre-nursing student and a non-traditional student.)

It will matter what you major in as an undergrad because you want to get all the courses you need as pre-reqs before you apply to PA school. Have you looked at what’s required by the PA school you’d like to go to? At a minimum, you will need at least one bio + a more advanced bio, chem + organic chem, anatomy and physiology (a full, two-semester course), microbiology, and most likely psychology, nutrition, and statistics. There will also be pre-reqs for some of these courses, so you’ll need general bio before you can take A&P or micro, for example. Making in biology is often a safe bet, but make sure you get all your required courses in.

Then you’ll need your patient care hours. One ready way to get these is to do a six-week Certified Nurse’s Aide (CNA) training class. Do your training class over the summer; they usually pay you to do the training. Each summer after that, work at least 32 hours a week all summer. Double-check to see how many patient care hours your intended program requires. A local program requires 750, for example. Save all your money and live at home, if it’s okay with your parents. You’ll need it to cover grad school!

Here are some links that may be helpful:

https://www.lemoyne.edu/Admission/Graduate-and-Professional-Admission/Physician-Assistant-Studies

http://www.mypatraining.com/the-pre-physician-assistant-major-choose-wisely/

Good luck! Top grades are key - these programs are competitive.

4

Many PAs are former nurses, specifically because you need direct patient care experience before you can go to PA school, so it absolutely makes sense - and is not a waste of time or money - to become a nurse first. I have had two PAs as my primary care providers in the past and both of them were nurses (RNs) before they became PAs. I’d wager that a very large proportion of PAs were nurses before they became PAs.

Yes, they are different training models…but people change careers all the time.

Of course, there are other ways to get the patient care experience, like to be an EMT or paramedic, a CNA, or one of a variety of other careers. But there’s also the fact that RNs make more money, so if you needed to get your patient care hours after college but before entering PA school you may be better able to support yourself.

Yes, but you can complete those prerequisites in any major, although it may be slightly easier in biology or chemistry.

UPenn helpfully posts very limited profiles of each of their PA students (http://med.psu.edu/physician-assistant/meet-our-students). Perusing the list, biology and neuroscience majors are definitely overrepresented. But the students majored in all kinds of things - communications, religion, psychology (lots of these), exercise science, rehabilitation science, Spanish, kinesiology, environmental management, etc.

5

Well, to each his (or her!) own, juillet, but I would still advise against pursuing nursing when the OP knows he or she is planning to be a PA. It’s at least two more years of school after graduating from the four-year school + two years in the PA program.

I agree that there are plenty of RNs who change careers and become PAs, but that’s a different situation. With thoughtful planning, a pre-PA student can move pretty seamlessly into a PA program.

Aimlesswriter, there are some 3+2 programs for PAs, too, so you might explore then as a possibility if you’re willing to transfer, although at this point, it may make more sense to stay where you are and work on getting all your pre-reqs.

6

I’m curious about this - what do you mean by “two more years of school after graduating from the four-year school?” Accelerated BSN programs are about a year to a year and a half.

I’m also curious about the reason that you think this is a bad idea, particularly since you are a pre-nursing student. I know you mentioned the different models of care - nursing vs. medical model - and I’m interested in why that might be a significant barrier to a student?

3+2 programs are an excellent suggestion! I had forgotten about those - there are only a handful.

7

I said two years because the OP’s advisor has recommended getting an ADN, but you’re right - an ABSN is a possibility, too. One thing to keep in mind about that, though, is that no federal aid will be available because it’s a second bachelor’s degree, so now we’re back to the original issue if how to pay for this degree…in a field the OP isn’t planning to go into. Also, ABSN programs will require all of the pre-reqs that an ADN or PA program will require - courses the OP could be taking at his or her current school.

I think the advisor have lousy advice, frankly. Look at the schools you’d like to attend for your PA masters and see what the pre-reqs are; make sure you do them as an undergrad and get your patient care hours in through a job that doesn’t require much training, pays you to get trained, and is in demand.

Also, the pre-reqs for most PA programs are much more extensive than what you get in a nursing program. For example, I needed A&P 1 and 2, micro, one psych class, sociology, and an English class. None of these are actually even pre-reqs; they’re liberal arts courses that you need for the program, but you can do them at the same time. It’s just a lot of work to do them while also taking nursing courses. For actually getting into the program, I only needed to have passed high school chem and bio - which I had taken almost 20 years ago - so I took 100 level chem and bio to refresh my memory…

One of our local PA schools, though, requires 50 credits in a variety of advanced science courses that nurses almost never need to take. An ADN only has 60 credits and I’d still need to take 22 more credits before I could apply to that program even if I had an ADN (and I already have a bachelor’s in another field, too). It’s totally doable, though, to

As for the differences between the medical model and the nursing model, training as a nurse when you know you want to go into medicine will be frustrating as you are forced to write extensive care plans and put off the more scientific didactic and clinical experiences you will get in PA school. As a PA, you will learn enough therapeutic communication to do your job; there no need to immerse yourself in that aspect of nursing training - although nursing school has gotten much more scientific over the years. It’s definitely not detrimental to have a nursing background as a PA, but nurses are more likely to become NPs or other APRNs than PAs because most like working within the nursing model.

Phew - this got long. I hope the OP comes back and tells us what he or she thinks of all the plans we’re making; I think we’d be excellent advisors!

8

I said two years because the OP’s advisor has recommended getting an ADN, but you’re right - an ABSN is a possibility, too. One thing to keep in mind about that, though, is that no federal aid will be available because it’s a second bachelor’s degree, so now we’re back to the original issue if how to pay for this degree…in a field the OP isn’t planning to go into.

I think the adviser gave lousy advice, frankly. Look at the schools you’d like to attend for your PA masters and see what the pre-reqs are; make sure you do them as an undergrad and get your patient care hours in through a job that doesn’t require much training, pays you to get trained, and is in demand.

Also, the pre-reqs for most PA programs are much more extensive than what you get in a nursing program. For example, I needed A&P 1 and 2, micro, one psych class, sociology, and an English class.

One of our local PA schools, though, requires 50 credits in a variety of advanced science courses that nurses almost never need to take. An ADN only has 60 credits and I’d still need to take 22 more credits before I could apply to that program even if I had an ADN (and I already have a bachelor’s in another field, too). It’s totally doable, though, to major in pre-health sciences and get all the credits you need to do a PA program.

As for the differences between the medical model and the nursing model, training as a nurse when you know you want to go into medicine will be frustrating as you are forced to write extensive care plans and put off the more scientific didactic and clinical experiences you will get in PA school. As a PA, you will learn enough therapeutic communication to do your job; there no need to immerse yourself in that aspect of nursing training - although nursing school has gotten much more scientific over the years. It’s definitely not detrimental to have a nursing background as a PA, but nurses are more likely to become NPs or other APRNs than PAs because most like working within the nursing model.

I hope the OP comes back to read all of our great advice - I think we’d make excellent advisers! :slight_smile:

9

Whoops - double post because I thought my original post had disappeared but then it was saved as a draft.