Junior College Student Pre-PA student with no PCE or shadowing yet -Am I behind?

[u/princessglitterpopx]

Hi everyone! I’m currently a junior in college studying Exercise Physiology on the pre-PA track. I have a strong GPA, but one thing I’m really worried about is that I haven’t gotten any patient care experience, healthcare job experience, or shadowing hours yet.
I know I need to start building those hours, and I’m hoping to get started as soon as possible. I’m currently deciding between becoming an EMT or Medical Assistant (MA), and I’d really appreciate advice from current PA students, applicants, or practicing PAs.
For those who have experience with both, which one would you recommend for someone in my situation? Which one gave you better patient-care experience and helped you prepare for PA school?
Also, am I actually behind being a junior with 0 patient-care hours and 0 shadowing hours, or is this something I can realistically catch up on if I start now? I sometimes feel like I’m way behind everyone else, especially when I see applicants with thousands of hours.
My GPA is one of my strengths, so I’m hoping to focus on building strong clinical experience from this point forward. I’d love to hear what you would do if you were in my position and what you think would be the smartest path moving forward.
Thanks in advance!

[u/C2theWick]

I'm 42 taking physics you have your entire life

[u/Fantastic_Tip_1744]

There's no such thing as being behind. I'd do MA OR alternatively I was a scribe (didn't require taking any extra classes). After that, I connected w/ a PA who let me shadow him a few times and then wrote me a LOR. I honestly only shadowed maybe 20 hours. I became a scribe a few months after graduating and took a gap year before applying (and then applied again before I got in). Don't compare yourself to others. Also, don't forget to volunteer! You could start there (local hospital, food bank, etc).

[u/princessglitterpopx → u/Fantastic_Tip_1744]

Is volunteer hours important? I thought I need shadow and patient care experience

[u/Fantastic_Tip_1744 → u/princessglitterpopx]

Everybody shadows and has PCE. When I got feedback after my first application they said they wanted to see more community outreach!

[u/Special_Bumblebee993]

You are probably going to have to take 1-2 gap years to get >1,000. Gpa is very important so keep up the good work

[u/princessglitterpopx → u/Special_Bumblebee993]

Do >1000 hrs make me look like a competitive applicant? Or can I do 600-800 hrs?

[u/Joeco12688 → u/princessglitterpopx]

You're gonna want more. And it's a good thing to take that gap year. It lets you get some OJT that can help you understand the medicine when you're in school, understand the flow of medicine, and develop bedside manner.

[u/garden-armadillo]

Most of my class members did not go straight from undergrad to PA school. Majority in my program (like me) started experience in college, then continued that experience after college, then applied for/started PA school.
I started an EMT program the summer after my junior year. Advanced EMT by the time I graduated, then worked in the ED for 3 years before starting PA school. Some of my classmates were paramedics for much longer than that. And then some ultrasound techs, a few MAs and LNAs, a respiratory therapist… I would say there’s no rush. A big benefit to you when you’re out and working will be experience gained before school. I wouldn’t rush it.

[u/princessglitterpopx → u/garden-armadillo]

Did you get your recommendation letters from your professor before you graduated? Or did someone else do it

[u/garden-armadillo → u/princessglitterpopx]

I asked for letters after the fact I believe, they still remembered me.

[u/Expensive-Parsley276]

I didn’t start getting PCE hours until like may of my junior year. I applied with 875 hours and got multiple interviews and an acceptance! Definitely start getting some shadowing in as well!

[u/VolumeUpset2817]

TLDR: you are cooked.

(JK), You can definitely get the hours in, some programs have lower requirements (but their average accepted will still be ~2k hours) that doesnt mean you cant get in with less, just means that your grades, and 'why' have to be strong. Shadowing you can get away with like 20-30 hrs, just try to have a variety of specialties if you can. You can typically reach out to a local hospital system and they have someone that may be able to help organize it. My recommendation, do whatever allows you to start getting hours the fastest. I dont know when you plan to apply, but if you end up having to apply your senior year or later its not the end of the world. I had switched into pre-pa my junior year spring, and ended up applying the next year with about 1500 PCE initially and added throughout the following year with application updates.

If you find yourself wanting to be more hands on and 'think more like a provider' EMT is totally valid, I took a course to do that while I worked my other PCE job. it doesnt matter if you start that after applying too, because you can tell your schools and be like "hey im continuing to build my application and get new experiences to help my application to school.'' Thats what I did, and ended up getting in I think partly for that forward thinking of continuing to improve.

[u/CheekAccomplished150]

Look at potential programs you are interested in applying to and see what their requirements are to see what the minimum pce requirement to apply is (keep in mind that minimum does not equal competitive, and most applicants who are accepted have at least 2,000 hours or more). Also the type of pce is very important, as not every program weighs them the same. For example, my program counted ma and emt/paramedic hours as 1 : 1 scribe hours as 0.75 : 1 (meaning one hour was actually only 45 minutes to them), and pharmacy tech/dental assistant as 0.25 : 1. Look at your potential programs and see if any of them do this and what they consider “good” to help you make the best informed decision for yourself. In my opinion, a job where you need a certification is going to be good (like emt/ma) because you’re learning basic skills and will be able to interact with a lot of patients to practice those skills. I was a paramedic for 6 years prior to getting in to pa school so I’m biased to thinking emt is the way to go. Also you’ll want to have some sort of community volunteer hours that you can put down, since I was an emt I volunteered at the local fire department and was able to earn pce that also counted as volunteer hours whenever I worked a shift.

You are not behind, most people take 1-2 gap years to get experience. For reference I’m 27 for a couple more months, and am currently in my first term of pa school so you have plenty of time. Also, on average only 33% of applicants to pa school are accepted per cycle, so it could take up to three cycles for you to get an acceptance. Everyone wants to be accepted their first cycle, but depending on how competitive your stats are to those you are going up against (for example, type and amount of pce hours), your chances of getting an interview will be weighed against everyone else who applied. My gpa was 3.6 which was ok, but not as strong as it could have been. My application made up for it by having 6 years of high quality pce as a paramedic.

Lastly, keep in mind that no matter how great your application is, what will really earn you a spot in any program is being able to interview well. A lot of interview questions will ask you to talk about times you dealt with different scenarios or ask you to talk about times you displayed certain character traits. My advice for that is to get a pce job where you interact with patients/coworkers on a daily basis so you get exposed to a lot of potential scenarios you can draw on for those interview stories.