Healthcare Experience Required for PA School: The Ultimate Guide

Today we are going to tackle step 2 of my 5 steps to PA school series by taking a very detailed look at healthcare experience requirements for PA school. PA is different from most other health professions in that to be competitive as an applicant it often requires a very large number of hours of paid healthcare experience. "GPA and performance in the prerequisites are undeniably very important but a meaningful HCE is a near second!" - Duke Physician Assistant Program.

Healthcare Experience vs. Patient Care Experience

In the CASPA experience section, you will be asked to enter both patient care and healthcare experience hours. It's important that you understand the difference as you can only enter each experience once and schools may prefer one over the other.

Patient Care Experience (PCE): Experiences in which you are directly responsible for a patient's care. For example, prescribing medication, performing procedures, directing a course of treatment, designing a treatment regimen, actively working on patients as a nurse, paramedic, EMT, CNA, phlebotomist, physical therapist, dental hygienist, etc.

Healthcare Experience (HCE): Both paid and unpaid work in a health or health-related field where you are not directly responsible for a patient's care, but may still have patient interaction; for example, filling prescriptions, performing clerical work, delivering patient food, cleaning patients and/or their rooms, administering food or medication, taking vitals or other related duties.

"We strongly believe that HCE is a predictor of success because it readies the student for the clinical environment, introduces them to pathophysiology, and prepares them for the rigor of our program and the demands and high standard of our didactic and clinical years." - Case Western Reserve University.

Accepted Fields for PA School Requirements

Below is a table comparing the types of healthcare experience typically requested by the majority of Physician Assistant Programs in the United States.

Here are some additional fields that are typically accepted by most programs:

• Medical Assistant (MA)
• Emergency room technician
• International healthcare based mission trips
• Dental Hygienist
• Mental Health Care Counselor
• Aide in Dialysis Unit
• Optometry Assistant
• Chiropractic Assistant

"We have had many military medics as students in our program. This experience is a great foundation for the profession." - Elissa Love, BCM PA Program in Houston.

Activities Not Accepted or Highly Variable

Here are some activities that are typically not accepted by most programs:

• Taking care of a family member is not really clinical experience.
• Observation of any kind (i.e., shadowing a physician or PA).
• Conducting research.
• Helping in the health center at a summer camp.
• Medical records personnel or clerical worker in a medical office or hospital.
• Pharmacy technician/clerk.
• Training without employment (such as EMT/MICT, etc.).
• Healthcare experience which is part of a healthcare training program (i.e., clinical rotations, fieldwork, or internships).
• Providing first aid as a coach, scout leader, etc.

Highly Variable Areas

Medical Scribe is one of those very gray areas in that it provides exposure but is not always hands-on. Many schools accept it and many don't. Other activities that are highly variable include:

• Working as a medical interpreter
• Volunteering
• Athletic trainer