Buy the BEST personal statement writing book: a.co/d/6vHt4EK In the book, I show you how to write a powerful personal statement step by step. I also share my best tips for filling out the CASPA application!
Jovelin, I strongly encourage you to check with the school(s) you plan to apply to. Like I said in the video, some schools require that your PCE be paid, so volunteering would not count. It also depends on your duties as a volunteer.
Aha...the difference of health care experience from patient care experience. Thank you or clarifying this, I learned something new watching your video.
I live in a small state and the schools around me only offer medical assistant certifications that last one year!!! Idk what to do 😭im a college freshman and I need to start the certificate this summer if I was gonna get a certificate. I might not can get it
A whole year for an MA certificate?? That's nuts. Have you looked into CNA certification courses (should be 1-2 months max) or even working as a scribe? A lot of the people in my PA program got most of their hours scribing on nights/weekends/holiday breaks during their undergrad and went straight into PA school at 22 years old!
@@BorisThePA yea it’s crazy. I’m trying to find a job as a medical scribe, will working during just the summer before sophomore year and summer before junior year be enough hours? If I took a gap year before PA school would they be able to see my patient hours summer after my junior year right? Also if I took a gap year, do u still have to finish pre reqs by the end of sophomore year ? Thanks!!
So if your summer break is about 10 weeks and you work 40 hours a week for 2 full summer breaks then that's about 800 hours. That's enough to meet the minimum PCE hour requirement for some schools but it's definitely on the lower side and it would be better to apply with more hours than that. Most of the folks who got into school right after they graduated from college worked during the school year as well, not just summer breaks. That being said, your grades are extremely important and much harder to fix than a low PCE hour number, so if working during the school year will impact your grades then I'd suggest that you don't work and focus more on your GPA. I have to admit I don't understand what you're asking about the gap year 😳
Great video! I have a little more than 2,000 health care hours working as a patient advocate for a company of chiropractors who use a conservative approach to musculoskeletal issues and focus on preventing surgery, injections or any other type of invasive procedure. I screened patients on what they were coming in for, input all of their demographic information into our system, scheduled them for appts, and went over insurance information. I got promoted to a certified recovery specialist where I individually now work as a team with 1 chiropractor, and teach patients rehab exercises and stretches to facilitate their improvement one on one. Would you say that this job is a good use of my time? I am planning on applying to PA school next cycle. I currently have around 1300 hours doing this, and because this is not necessarily medical, I want to make sure that an admissions team will value the work that I’ve done.
Thanks Maddy! Your job's duties sound a lot like the duties of a medical assistant (take patient history, check the patient in, confirm demographic data, etc.) and what you're doing now sounds a lot like a physical therapy aid. I've seen both of these jobs on several schools' list of "acceptable patient care experience." As long as you're working directly with patients and it's a hands-on position where you are directly responsible for providing patient care, then you should be good. That being said, it is very important that you check the website of every single school you plan to apply to and look at their "acceptable experience" list, usually in "admission requirements" or something like that, and see which jobs they accept. If your job is not a direct fit with something on their list, you should contact their graduate admissions department and find out for sure if your hours will count!
Boris Temkin, PA-S1 thank you for the advice! My title is Certified Recovery Specialist (an actual certification i got after a month of on-site training from my company) and even though it IS very similar to physical therapy aide, I’m going to contact each program to make sure this is acceptable.
Of course! Any experience where you were hands-on with patients and had some level of personal responsibility for patient care is patient patient care experience. Usually it’s preferred that it’s paid.
Do you think that being an EKG technician counts as Patient care experience? I’m hands on putting her EKGs on the patients as well as interpreting them. I do all the EKGs in the ER and all the other floors on the hospital.
Of course. That’s fantastic experience! You’re hands-on and interacting with patients, responsible for an aspect of patient care, and best of all you’re getting experience with cardiology… which is the biggest section on the PANCE.
I think coding might be healthcare experience but it probably wouldn't be considered to be patient care experience since you're not spending any time hands-on with patients. You're right I should have talked about EMT since it's a great experience and I've noticed that my EMT classmates do very well, especially with cardio and EKGs! Maybe I'll make a part 2 to this video.
When you input your hours into CASPA, it will just ask you the dates for each experience and the average number of hours per week. That’s how they calculate the total number of hours. Then, once accepted into a program, they may ask for a verification of these hours. If you have time sheets or pay stubs that show how many hours you worked, that can work. You can also have your supervisor write a letter indicating how many hours you worked. It depends on what the school that accepts you wants you to do.
I am currently a patient care tech at a Hospital and I recently got the job in September after working as a CNA at a Nursing Home for about a year. I accumulated about 1,200 hours during my time at the Nursing Home. Will both of these experiences generally count as PCE? Also, I volunteered in a Hospital for about two years and was able to assist patients post surgery and in the triage in the ER (taking them to their rooms). Will this count as HCE or PCE? I’ve always thought that since it was volunteer, it would be counted as HCE, but I could be wrong? Thank you so much for your expertise!
Hi Travis, awesome job getting experience so far! Your CNA and patient care tech hours are high-quality PCE hours. The volunteer experience is a little trickier, since you're not being paid. I've heard PCE defined as "a role in which you are responsible for some aspect of a patient's care," so this is usually a paid role but not always. I would highly recommend that you reach out to the admissions offices of the schools you plan to apply to and ask them how you should classify your volunteer experience (PCE, HCE, or volunteer) when you fill out your CASPA. Thanks for supporting my channel, and good luck to you!
Absolutely! Phlebotomist has been on every school's list of "acceptable experience" that I have seen. As always, make sure you check with the schools you're applying to just to be sure!
An off topic subject, please tell me there's no Organic Chem class in the actual PA program. Because I'm taking it now in for my Bachelor and boy it's tough. I hope it won't be in my program again, I'm doing well in all my class but Orgo is making me sweat lol.
@@dayel8231 don't sweat it 🤣 there's no orgo in PA school. There might be a little bit in your pharmacology classes but it's mostly FYI. You mainly just need to memorize the names of the drugs, what they're used for, their side effects and interactions, and VERY basic mechanisms.
I think so, you're hands on with patients! Take a look at this thread: www.physicianassistantforum.com/topic/41906-ekg-technician-or-phlebotomy-or-something-else/
@@BorisThePA I am not certified nor did I go to HHA training, but I do the exact same things as HHA. I work with at home medical devices/equipments, bathe patients, do their daily exercises, help with medications etc.
@@gjermaynewilson40 that sounds like a CNA's job description, and there should be programs that will accept the experience as PCE. To be safe, you should check the websites of every PA school you plan to apply to and make sure they accept home health aid hours. If they don't, or if you are still concerned, you can always call or email their admissions offices to confirm that your experience will count as PCE.
Buy the BEST personal statement writing book:
a.co/d/6vHt4EK
In the book, I show you how to write a powerful personal statement step by step. I also share my best tips for filling out the CASPA application!
CRC! needs more recognition and all around awareness to be shared. :)
What’s a CRC?
@@BorisThePAclinical research coordinator. I work as a CRC at an oncology clinic and do believe it qualifies as PCE.
@@jesseruiz5680 ohh I see. depends on the school I guess. I had over 1000 hours of bench research and they counted it at 10% and as HCE not PCE
I was not aware that volunteering at nursing homes would count as patient care experience. Thank you!
Jovelin, I strongly encourage you to check with the school(s) you plan to apply to. Like I said in the video, some schools require that your PCE be paid, so volunteering would not count. It also depends on your duties as a volunteer.
Boris Temkin, PA-S1 yess i have been very cautious and doing research. So many programs want different things. Thank you!
@@Thesweets123 good luck!
You are absolutely right.I am working as a CNA and a gaining a good experience from it.
Great job, Ayam!
Boris! Thank you for your video
So grateful for your support!
Aha...the difference of health care experience from patient care experience. Thank you or clarifying this, I learned something new watching your video.
Glad to be of service, Tiona :)
Just the video I was looking for 👌🏾
:)
I live in a small state and the schools around me only offer medical assistant certifications that last one year!!! Idk what to do 😭im a college freshman and I need to start the certificate this summer if I was gonna get a certificate. I might not can get it
A whole year for an MA certificate?? That's nuts. Have you looked into CNA certification courses (should be 1-2 months max) or even working as a scribe? A lot of the people in my PA program got most of their hours scribing on nights/weekends/holiday breaks during their undergrad and went straight into PA school at 22 years old!
@@BorisThePA yea it’s crazy. I’m trying to find a job as a medical scribe, will working during just the summer before sophomore year and summer before junior year be enough hours? If I took a gap year before PA school would they be able to see my patient hours summer after my junior year right? Also if I took a gap year, do u still have to finish pre reqs by the end of sophomore year ? Thanks!!
So if your summer break is about 10 weeks and you work 40 hours a week for 2 full summer breaks then that's about 800 hours. That's enough to meet the minimum PCE hour requirement for some schools but it's definitely on the lower side and it would be better to apply with more hours than that. Most of the folks who got into school right after they graduated from college worked during the school year as well, not just summer breaks. That being said, your grades are extremely important and much harder to fix than a low PCE hour number, so if working during the school year will impact your grades then I'd suggest that you don't work and focus more on your GPA.
I have to admit I don't understand what you're asking about the gap year 😳
I'm in a similar situation.... I'm going to have to drive 1 hr away to get any form of certification...
Great video! I have a little more than 2,000 health care hours working as a patient advocate for a company of chiropractors who use a conservative approach to musculoskeletal issues and focus on preventing surgery, injections or any other type of invasive procedure. I screened patients on what they were coming in for, input all of their demographic information into our system, scheduled them for appts, and went over insurance information. I got promoted to a certified recovery specialist where I individually now work as a team with 1 chiropractor, and teach patients rehab exercises and stretches to facilitate their improvement one on one. Would you say that this job is a good use of my time? I am planning on applying to PA school next cycle. I currently have around 1300 hours doing this, and because this is not necessarily medical, I want to make sure that an admissions team will value the work that I’ve done.
Thanks Maddy! Your job's duties sound a lot like the duties of a medical assistant (take patient history, check the patient in, confirm demographic data, etc.) and what you're doing now sounds a lot like a physical therapy aid. I've seen both of these jobs on several schools' list of "acceptable patient care experience." As long as you're working directly with patients and it's a hands-on position where you are directly responsible for providing patient care, then you should be good. That being said, it is very important that you check the website of every single school you plan to apply to and look at their "acceptable experience" list, usually in "admission requirements" or something like that, and see which jobs they accept. If your job is not a direct fit with something on their list, you should contact their graduate admissions department and find out for sure if your hours will count!
Boris Temkin, PA-S1 thank you for the advice! My title is Certified Recovery Specialist (an actual certification i got after a month of on-site training from my company) and even though it IS very similar to physical therapy aide, I’m going to contact each program to make sure this is acceptable.
Better safe than sorry!
I worked as a dialysis patient care technician for 3 years. Does that count towards pce ?
Of course! Any experience where you were hands-on with patients and had some level of personal responsibility for patient care is patient patient care experience. Usually it’s preferred that it’s paid.
Do you think that being an EKG technician counts as Patient care experience? I’m hands on putting her EKGs on the patients as well as interpreting them. I do all the EKGs in the ER and all the other floors on the hospital.
Of course. That’s fantastic experience! You’re hands-on and interacting with patients, responsible for an aspect of patient care, and best of all you’re getting experience with cardiology… which is the biggest section on the PANCE.
Does medical coding help at all? Like reading the notes the dr’s write then coding it ? I have my CPC too. You didn’t mention EMT?
I think coding might be healthcare experience but it probably wouldn't be considered to be patient care experience since you're not spending any time hands-on with patients. You're right I should have talked about EMT since it's a great experience and I've noticed that my EMT classmates do very well, especially with cardio and EKGs! Maybe I'll make a part 2 to this video.
How do you track your PCE hours and show PA schools you have the hours?
When you input your hours into CASPA, it will just ask you the dates for each experience and the average number of hours per week. That’s how they calculate the total number of hours. Then, once accepted into a program, they may ask for a verification of these hours. If you have time sheets or pay stubs that show how many hours you worked, that can work. You can also have your supervisor write a letter indicating how many hours you worked. It depends on what the school that accepts you wants you to do.
I am currently a patient care tech at a Hospital and I recently got the job in September after working as a CNA at a Nursing Home for about a year. I accumulated about 1,200 hours during my time at the Nursing Home.
Will both of these experiences generally count as PCE?
Also, I volunteered in a Hospital for about two years and was able to assist patients post surgery and in the triage in the ER (taking them to their rooms). Will this count as HCE or PCE? I’ve always thought that since it was volunteer, it would be counted as HCE, but I could be wrong?
Thank you so much for your expertise!
Hi Travis, awesome job getting experience so far! Your CNA and patient care tech hours are high-quality PCE hours. The volunteer experience is a little trickier, since you're not being paid. I've heard PCE defined as "a role in which you are responsible for some aspect of a patient's care," so this is usually a paid role but not always. I would highly recommend that you reach out to the admissions offices of the schools you plan to apply to and ask them how you should classify your volunteer experience (PCE, HCE, or volunteer) when you fill out your CASPA.
Thanks for supporting my channel, and good luck to you!
@@BorisThePA
Thank you so much for your input!! I appreciate you!
@@traviscollins3249 appreciate you too Travis
What setting did you work in as a medical assistant?
A gastroenterology and hepatology office!
Does Phlebotomy counts as PCE?
Absolutely! Phlebotomist has been on every school's list of "acceptable experience" that I have seen. As always, make sure you check with the schools you're applying to just to be sure!
@@BorisThePA Thank you
@@dayel8231 Any time
An off topic subject, please tell me there's no Organic Chem class in the actual PA program. Because I'm taking it now in for my Bachelor and boy it's tough. I hope it won't be in my program again, I'm doing well in all my class but Orgo is making me sweat lol.
@@dayel8231 don't sweat it 🤣 there's no orgo in PA school. There might be a little bit in your pharmacology classes but it's mostly FYI. You mainly just need to memorize the names of the drugs, what they're used for, their side effects and interactions, and VERY basic mechanisms.
Does EKG technician count as PCE usually?
I think so, you're hands on with patients! Take a look at this thread: www.physicianassistantforum.com/topic/41906-ekg-technician-or-phlebotomy-or-something-else/
@@BorisThePA thanks!
@@niviachilds-english3784np, good luck!
Hi! Is being a caregiver considered PCE?
Hi Gjermayne! Do you mean a home health aid (HHA)?
@@BorisThePA I am not certified nor did I go to HHA training, but I do the exact same things as HHA. I work with at home medical devices/equipments, bathe patients, do their daily exercises, help with medications etc.
@@gjermaynewilson40 that sounds like a CNA's job description, and there should be programs that will accept the experience as PCE. To be safe, you should check the websites of every PA school you plan to apply to and make sure they accept home health aid hours. If they don't, or if you are still concerned, you can always call or email their admissions offices to confirm that your experience will count as PCE.
@@BorisThePA Yes I pretty much do everything a CNA does I just didn't go through classes or anything, but Thank you I definitely will!
@@gjermaynewilson40 good luck!