Richard, it all depends on the program. What most programs are interested in is direct, patient contact experience. Volunteering can mean a lot of things, from a person who stays in the back filing charts to someone much more involved with patients, participating in aspects of care. When I evaluate candidates for PA School, I’m looking for two things relative to experience:

1. I want to know that the candidate is comfortable being around and touching patients. It would be a major mistake to dive head first into becoming a Physician Assistant, only to find out during your clinical year that you are very uncomfortable working closely with patients.
2. I want to know that the candidate knows how PAs work within the system. They need to have enough experience to really understand the role PAs play in the health care setting, including the psychosocial dynamics involved with patients, other practitioners, nursing staff etc.

Finally, I’ll mention this. Remember that landing a seat in PA school is highly competitive. Therefore, the higher quality of patient contact experience you can obtain, and the more experience you have, the greater the chance you’ll be able to get into a program. Candidates who are seriously interested in becoming a PA, who do not have a lot of patient contact experience, should strongly consider becoming a certified nursing assistant (CNA) or emergency medical technician (EMT) so they can obtain this experience.

I hope this helps… good luck!

Depends on what kind of experience you’re getting with volunteering… are you getting a chance to get hands-on experience with patients? Some programs will not value being a Pharmacy technician as much as other positions because it is not considered a “hands-on” position, even though you get to interact with patients.

I volunteer at a hospital, but it is very hard to find to find places that will allow you to have direct patient care . Also , when you are applying how do you specify that even though you volunteered it was direct patient care?

There’s becoming a CNA, medical assisting, EMT, emergency room tech, and phlebotomy. Longer routes would include nursing, surgical tech, radiologic tech, and athletic training. When applying, there will be a section where you describe what you did with the particular health care experience that you list. So you’d basically say something along the lines of “with this position I had the opportunity to directly engage with patients. I was able to take vitals, clean wounds, etc., etc.”

By the way, I noticed how you included the words “in a jiffy!” Good job. The only thing left now is to update your avatar with an image of yourself and you’ll qualify to win that free kindle

as a volunteer i am in charge of making the patient feel comfortable. for example pushing their wheelchair, getting them a warm blanket, placing the admission bracelet on their wrist, having them sign in. I asked university of florida and they said -We count Pharmacy Tech hours as ½ related patient care experience and ½ direct patient care experience. In other words if you have earned 3000 hours of Pharmacy Tech experience we will credit you with 1500 hours related and 1500 direct patient care. I have about 12000 hrs of pharmacy tech exp.. I am just worried I will not be as competitive as others =/

Would volunteering at Lenox Hill Hospital count as experience? They have direct patient care volunteer opportunities for people who are majoring in PA (http://www.lenoxhillhospital.org/how.aspx?id=88). I’m submitting my application next week after I get my health forms filled out.

Kwaniie, every program is different in how they view experience. The fact that you would have a chance to work directly with patients in the volunteer experience you mentioned is definitely a plus. However, it will not be seen as strong as a certified position or even a paid non-certified position with more responsibility. That doesn’t mean you can’t land a seat however

Katierose777, even though you are not working as a CNA you have gone through the training of becoming a CNA, which accounts for something in and of itself. Having a paid position, although not necessarily requiring certification, will be valued patient care experience more than working in the capacity as a volunteer, as I mentioned above.