I want to be a physician associate but I don't know if I my plan is sensible?

SongBird2020

So I have just recently graduated with a first-class honours degree in Biomedical Science and I really want to study a masters in Physician Associate. However I am definitely not applying for this academic year because studying a masters is expensive and I'm still burnt out after my degree. Also I have no relevant healthcare experience which would really help boost my application. Therefore, I am planning on getting work in a care home for about a year or two and then hopefully applying in a few years time so I could have a stronger application. I also need to work on my people and communication skills since this is something I am really lacking and I want to improve them massively. However, I am worried if maybe this would cause a huge gap after graduation, since most people would apply straight after their undergraduate degree. Also, since the PA course is becoming more and more popular, I feel like it's going to become a lot more competitive in the next 5 years or so similar to medicine and dentistry. For example, The University of Manchester is now going to gradually incorporate the UCAT into their admissions process and other universities would probably follow suite due to the competitiveness as it slowly becomes a more established profession. I've heard that the UCAT is the hardest exam that medical students have ever taken and I honestly don't think I stand a chance if they incorporate a cut-off point. So is it worth me applying this year with a weak application or should I wait a year or two? If I was to wait, would I be better off choosing a different career pathway since I really don't want to experience the same level of competition as medicine and dentistry! Thanks.

Reply 1

zahra2400

Super late but I'd love to know if you ended up applying, everything is always worth a shot

Reply 2

SongBird2020

Original post by zahra2400

Super late but I'd love to know if you ended up applying, everything is always worth a shot

Hi, I did end up applying and I got interviews but unfortunately I didn't get any offers. This is mainly due to the fact that I didn't really have any healthcare experience which I could talk about in my interviews which resulted in very poor performances. In the end I think I realised that this career pathway was not really for me.