If you’re planning on becoming a physician assistant (PA), you may have questions about how to fulfill prerequisites for PA school. For instance, clinical experience is one of the most vital components of your PA school application, but where can you get direct patient care experience? Do you get paid for clinical hours? Where can you find medical facilities that will provide you with opportunities for hands-on experience?
Keep reading to find the answers to these questions (and more) so you can get the patient care hours you need to become a competitive PA school applicant.
Patient Care Experience vs. Healthcare Experience
The Importance of Patient Care Experience
8 Ways to Earn Patient Care Experience Hours
Patient Care Experience Requirements By Program
What Doesn’t Count as Patient Care Experience for PA School?
Advanced eClinical Training: Connecting You With Clinical Experience Opportunities
Patient Care Experience vs. Healthcare Experience
To get into PA school, you’ll need to complete a certain number of clinical and/or healthcare hours. The exact requirements will vary by program, so it’s essential to check the specific criteria for the schools you apply to. As you begin to make a plan for earning those hours, understanding the difference between patient care experience and healthcare experience will help ensure that you correctly fulfill your requirements.
Patient Care Experience
Patient care experience (PCE) involves working in roles that have direct contact with patients, such as being an EMT, medical assistant, or phlebotomist. In these positions, you will be actively involved in providing care, often making hands-on contributions that directly impact a patient’s health. Examples of tasks that build PCE include administering medications, taking vitals, assisting with physical therapy, or responding to emergencies.
Healthcare Experience
On the other hand, healthcare experience (HCE) encompasses roles that support healthcare providers without administering direct patient care. While these positions are valuable, they focus more on administrative or clerical tasks such as scheduling appointments, managing medical records, or acting as a medical scribe.
The Importance of Patient Care Experience
PCE plays a central role in preparing prospective PA students for the demands of their future careers. Because of the direct patient contact it provides, many PA programs prefer to see PCE hours (vs. HCE) on applicants’ resumes. In addition to carrying weight with admissions committees, PCE comes with other benefits, including:
- Honing your ability to handle the hands-on responsibilities of the PA role
- Providing an opportunity to develop essential interpersonal skills
- Helping you get a feel for the role and determine if a career as a PA is truly right for you
While PCE is often prioritized by PA programs, HCE also holds value. Indirect roles, such as medical scribing or healthcare administration, provide exposure to the inner workings of medical facilities and systems. Working in this capacity can deepen your understanding of how the healthcare field operates, supplementing your patient care hours and making you a more well-rounded applicant.
8 Ways to Earn Patient Care Experience Hours
Now that you understand the importance of building direct patient care experience, the next step is finding ways to begin accruing the hours you need. This list will help you get started:
- Enroll in Certification Programs Through Your Local Community College
Many community colleges offer affordable certification programs for roles like medical assistant, EKG technician, healthcare technician, and certified nursing aid. These programs also include clinical practicums that provide opportunities to rotate between different types of medical facilities. Having experience in a variety of medical settings is great for your PA school application as it shows you have a diverse medical background. Furthermore, working in different facilities can help you discover the specializations or environments that most appeal to you, making it easier to plan for your future career as a PA. - Enroll in an Online Clinical Training Program
For optimal convenience, consider an online medical certification. Depending on where you’re located, your local community college might not be so local, and getting to classes can be challenging. Online programs not only make your education more accessible, they also tend to be self-paced, which provides flexibility for your existing schedule. Additionally, the certifications offered are generally for the same roles as in-person courses, and oftentimes they only take a fraction of the time to earn. - Look for Opportunities to Study Abroad
Organizations like Physician Assistants for Global Health (PAGH) always need medical volunteers to help out in underserved areas of the world. This organization was created specifically for physician assistants and future PAs to connect with one another and share ways to help populations across the globe get the medical attention they desperately need. PAGH partners with various global organizations to connect PAs with overseas opportunities:- Third Wave Volunteers — This organization sets up relief missions to populations in need.
- International Medical Relief — This organization provides volunteer opportunities for PAs to assist at medical and dental clinics around the world.
- Mayanza — Future PAs can volunteer to provide health screenings and education to school children during twice-yearly trips to Guatemala.
- Seek Volunteer Opportunities
Applicants are expected to have significant clinical experience before applying to PA school. If you don’t have any professional work experience in the medical field, you can still gain clinical experience through volunteer work. By volunteering your services, you can gain the patient care experience you need for your PA school application while also providing a service to organizations in need. Check with local nursing homes and assisted living facilities, hospitals, or community health clinics for volunteering opportunities. - Work as a Patient Care Technician
Patient care technicians (PCTs) assist physicians with tasks like taking patients’ vital signs, drawing blood, and helping admitted patients with daily activities, such as bathing and dressing. Becoming a PCT often requires earning certification, which can take as little as 8 weeks when you enroll in an online training course. - Become a Medical Assistant
Medical assistants work directly with patients, performing tasks such as updating patient records during appointments, preparing patients for exams, administering injections, and assisting with simple procedures. Working in this role is a great way to gain substantial patient care experience. - Find a Job as a Clinical Research Assistant
Some clinical research assistant roles involve direct patient interaction, such as collecting medical histories or assisting with study procedures. These positions offer a unique opportunity to gain PCE and exposure to medical research practices. - Work as a Phlebotomist
Phlebotomy involves drawing blood and preparing samples for laboratory testing. This role is highly hands-on and facilitates direct patient interaction, making it ideal for anyone looking to earn PCE hours.
Patient Care Experience Requirements By Program
The number of patient care hours you’ll need to earn depends on the programs you choose to apply to. For a sense of what to expect, the chart below includes requirements for some of the country’s top PA programs. Keep in mind that these totals are the bare minimum needed to be considered for admittance; to position yourself as a competitive candidate, exceeding these minimums is a must.
| School | Minimum PCE Requirement |
| Baylor | PCE hours not required, but strongly encouraged |
| Duke | 1,000 hours |
| Emory | 2,000 hours |
| George Washington University | 1,000 hours |
| Northwestern | 1,000 hours completed by August 1 of application year (minimum of 500 hours at the time of application) |
| Oregon Health and Sciences University | 2,000 hours |
| Rosalind Frank University | 800 hours |
| Rutgers | PCE hours not required, but strongly encouraged |
| Stanford | 500 hours |
| University of Iowa | 1,000 hours |
What Doesn’t Count as Patient Care Experience for PA School?
When it comes to what counts as patient care hours for PA school, not all roles are created equal. That’s why it’s important to have a complete understanding of what does and doesn’t count toward your total before you begin to accrue hours. Here are some examples of roles that typically don’t fall under PCE.
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- Administrative positions: Roles such as receptionist, scheduler, or medical billing specialist involve important behind-the-scenes work but lack the direct patient interaction required to qualify as PCE.
- Non-clinical research: Research positions that don’t involve exposure to patients, such as laboratory-based roles or data analysis, are not considered PCE.
- Retail pharmacy work: While working in this capacity provides exposure to medications and healthcare systems, the role does not present opportunities to provide hands-on care.
- IT work in healthcare facilities: IT job functions, including managing electronic health records and maintaining systems, are valuable for operational efficiency but don’t involve working with patients.
- Fitness training: While personal trainers or fitness instructors may contribute to clients’ overall health and wellness, they aren’t considered to be medical professionals.
- Hospice counseling: Hospice counselors provide emotional support for terminally ill patients and their families, but not the clinical care that defines patient care experience.
- Non-clinical hospital roles: Positions such as hospital greeters, transporters, or housekeeping staff are essential to a functioning healthcare facility, but don’t involve patient care.
FAQs
Q: What counts as patient care experience for PA school?
A: To count as PCE, there needs to be direct, hands-on patient interaction. Roles that count toward PCE requirements typically include medical assistant, EKG technician, patient care technician, EMT, and phlebotomist.
Q: What doesn’t count as patient care experience?
A: Roles that don’t qualify toward PCE requirements for PA school are ones that don’t include clinical exposure to patients. Some examples include administrative healthcare positions, non-clinical research roles, retail pharmacy work, fitness training, and hospice counseling.
Q: What’s the difference between patient care experience and healthcare experience?
A: Patient care experience involves working in roles that have direct contact with patients while healthcare experience encompasses roles that support healthcare providers without administering direct patient care.
Q: How many patient care hours do I need to get into a PA program?
A: PCE hours requirements vary between individual PA programs, which is why it’s crucial to research the hour minimums for each school you apply to. To position yourself as a competitive candidate, exceeding these minimums is a must.
Q: Where can I earn patient care experience hours?
A: PCE hours are earned by working in clinical environments, including nursing homes and assisted living facilities, hospitals, physicians’ offices, and community health clinics.
Advanced eClinical Training: Connecting You With Clinical Experience Opportunities
Advanced eClinical Training can help you gain clinical hours for PA school and progress along your path to becoming a physician assistant. By starting with one of our convenient online certification courses, you’ll qualify to begin working as a medical assistant — and gain valuable hands-on clinical experience for your PA school application — in as little as 8 weeks.
Contact us today to speak to a program director and learn more about our convenient, affordable clinical education courses.
