I am currently a High School Biology teacher and I would like to go to P. A. school, what steps should I take?

Question

I know you have to be enrolled full time, but I am a working adult, and I have responsibiities. What are some of my options?

Answer 1

It depends on what kind of Physician Asst. program you want to enter. I'm assuming you want to do a graduate-level program. There's a certificate program, too, in case time is a pressing matter for you.

You will need to have fulfilled the pre-requisites. Many community colleges offer these classes at night for working adults like yourself who are looking to change careers (e.g., people who want to go into nursing). The following is abridged from USC's PA program website. Their requirements are in line with most other grad-level PA programs.

1. One-year sequential coursework for science majors in:

General Biology with lab
General chemistry with lab
Human anatomy with lab
Physiology with lab
Microbiology with lab

2. Two (2) courses each of the following:

Introduction to Psychology required and one (1) other social sciences (e.g., sociology, anthropology, etc.)
Humanities (e.g., art, music, philosophy, religion, etc.)

And in case you were wondering, you will need to take the GRE or MCAT (I'd go with GRE, it's much easier). And you may need to have a set number of clinical hours under your belt.

But the grad level programs are almost impossible to do with your kind of full time job. There will be classes during the day. You may have to switch to substitute teaching for a while so your schedule can be more flexible.

Another option is a certificate program. These are often offered at community colleges or smaller schools. Their requirements are different (same as nursing pre-reqs):

1 yr Anatomy/Physiology
1 yr Intro. Chem
1 yr English
1 yr College Algebra
1 yr Microbio
1 yr Intro Physics w/ Lab
1 semester Psych
1 semester Sociology
1 semester Anthropology

Clinical Experience Requirements

A minimum of 2,000 hours of paid "hands-on" patient care experience in the disciplines of medicine, nursing or allied health is required.You might have to switch to a clinical gig in lieu of teaching for a while.

Answer 2

well talk to a college counselor and see what you can do most colleges will have night classes for you to do. My mom did that and she is doing better in life cause of night school. Plus since you already have a degree it should be a problem at a big college or University. Most times a Community college will have the night classes and you should check if you can transfer credits to a major college if the community college wont give all the classes needed. So first talk with the college and go from there it will help you out a bunch.

Answer 3

P.A. Physician Assistant??
I believe you need some for of experience in patient care, i.e. CNA, LVN, RN license, and about a year and a half of actual experience. You've probably taken the course pre requisites to get into the program already you just need the experience. contact the school you're looking to get into and speak to an admissions counselor. Stanford has a joint program for P.A. I think its abiut 18 mo. to 2 yrs.