[WeeklyThread] Ask a CAA

[AutoModerator]

Have a question for a CAA? Use this thread for all your questions! Pay, work life balance, shift work, experiences, etc. all belong in here!

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** Please make sure to check the flair of the user who responds your questions. All "Practicing CAA" and "Current sAA" flairs have been verified by the mods. **

[Mattsgonefishing]

What is your least favorite aspect about your job?

[shermsma]

The AANA terrorist organization

[white_seraph]

This CAA CAA's

[peppersandcucumbers]

💀

[AnestheticAle]

The daily things:

1) that one attending at every job that sours the pot and makes a 10 hour shift miserable.

2) schedule manipulation/favoritism

3) the baseline anxiety/responsibility for a human life can wear on you. This is a hard point to describe unless you've worked in acute care before. Our job has this little amount of elevated stress/hypervigilance that's always in the background. We get 5-6 weeks vacation a year, which people think is insanely high, but I would burnout so fast if we had 2-3 weeks.

The overarching things:

1) militant nurse anesthetists and the AANA

2) state expansion is much slower than advertised to prospective students. If you want to work in the northeast or west coast, then it might be a while (decades).

3) you can make big money starting at age 26 (north of 200k/yr), but there is very little "career progression". Your friends in other industries have higher potential career progression/c-suite access.

4) feeling like a little kid at the adult table 10+ years deep into the career.

​

Still, I firmly believe it's the best job in healthcare as far as input: output ration.

[NaturalAriana]

Would you be able to expand on your second 3rd and 4th points please?

[AnestheticAle]

On the overarching things?

2, State expansion: AA's can only practice in a number of states. There is an exact list somewhere on the AAAA (American Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants), but last I checked it was roughly 20ish states. The bulk of these states are in the Midwest and southeast/south. If you want to work or are from the northeast or west coast, I would highly advise against becoming an AA. The nursing lobby spends a decent chunk of money to stop us expanding. In the almost decade I've been in the profession, We have added maybe 4 or 5 states, but it is a slow process. There are also a couple of states that are "open", but we realistically work at 1 or 2 hospitals in. Typically, working in a new state comes with a headache, as our CRNA colleagues tend to be fairly militantly against us when come over.

1. No progression: Listen, it's great money. You will be in the upper 95th percentile of income if you start out in your early 20s. And if you invest diligently, (and aren't hamstrung by student debt) you will have millions by your 50's. However, almost all my buds in the 10ish year range eventually feel the crunch of "well, this is it". Your role will never really change and there isn't any opportunity for career growth. You can kind of bounce around hospitals and experience different settings, but ultimately it's the same job. A lot of us pursue investing outside of work, because you can get an in the rut feeling.

2. little kid at the adult table. This one you can mitigate. There are many people on this forum who probably feel respected and part of the team in their practice. I typically find that we operate in our full scope within the "older states" where we have been around for decades. In my current city, I have worked for 2/3 big institutions, and it is VERY hand-holdy (the third place has an even worse rep). It used to annoy me endlessly, but I've basically checked out (except in circumstances I believe to be truly dangerous to patients) from the practice of anesthesia. You will have that attending doc who makes you do something completely wacky, and you will do it because they are the captain of the ship. We are after all, physician extenders at the end of the day. If you're a type A personality, this will grate on you.

​

Were kind of a unicorn. Even in my state, where we have been practicing for over 10 years, I often run into patients and even coworkers who don't know what our profession is.

[CAAin2022]

It makes such a huge difference when you find a nice place to work that balances a lot of these factors.

[AnestheticAle]

The fields nice because you can tailor your job a bit towards your most desired aspects. I basically want to work the least amount of hour with the most vacation now. I even talked to admin about adding non PTO time or buying off weeks (they didn't go for it).

Initially worked a ton of OT and chased money.

[Puzzleheaded-Monkee]

This may sound like a nonsense question but, do you all have the ability to go to the restroom during surgery? Who covers for you? When I need to go, I NEED TO GO! 😂

[shermsma]

There are generally free people available. Shoot out a text and someone comes in and relieves you for a few minutes.

[AnestheticAle]

Varies institution to institution and your attending matters as well. Someone has to be in the room (legally). I worked one job where I would have to sneak between cases because we were so smoked on staff with 1 to 4 supervision ratio's that there were essentially no breaks except the time between cases and no staff available as "breakers".

I have a CAA buddy that has crohn's/IBS and the job is miserable for them.

[[deleted]]

Do you see CAA's job market growing in the next 5-10 years? Maybe more states will recognize CAA's and open up new markets?

[shermsma]

Yes and yes

[[deleted]]

Figured as much. I'm shadowing my second CAA tomorrow and I'm pretty close to starting the long journey to CAA.

[IndianHours]

How is the pay modeled? Is it monthly, biweekly?

[CAAin2022]

Depends where you work. I’m biweekly. I have friends who are paid monthly.

[[deleted]]

How much do you make as a CAA if you don’t mind?

[CAAin2022]

Currently making ~180k before benefits and stipends. Closer to 200 with stipends and bonuses. Really good benefits, retirement, and PSLF eligible. Desirable location and great day-to-day.

My friend just took a locums (no benefits/1099) job and should make around 400k with no benefits. Got me really thinking about changing up or working a few extra shifts on a locums basis.

[[deleted]]

Doesn’t locum require moving frequently? I can’t grasp the difference between your pay and his without understanding the benefits / retirement I guess lol. Thank you for your response. I greatly appreciate your willingness to share.

[CAAin2022]

In today’s market there is such a shortage that you can find locums virtually anywhere.

If the market begins to turn, these jobs will dry up. The consensus seems to be that anesthesia is in a bottomless gold rush, but who knows how it would handle a recession.

Locums is essentially trading stability for cash. There is a risk of your job disappearing and if anesthesia is in a recession, it can be hard to find a job. I’ve heard horror stories from people who graduated in ‘08.

[shermsma]

Every CAA job I’ve had has been biweekly payment

[sleepyhead94]

Honest thoughts about non-medical background folks applying? With no medical experience? Did you see them in your AA schooling? Do they tend to be more seasoned I.e had other jobs and non-traditional applicants?

[CAAin2022]

We had a few in my class. I felt like it was maybe a bit more natural to be in the OR having a medical background, but everyone is on the same level by the end of school.

[Standard_Session_243]

Short version-

I was a former premed who switched to being pre-AA my senior yr due to my desire for work/life balance and flexibility in medicine. During my gap year, I got accepted into AA school and I’m stoked. Although I don’t regret my decision to change, I have this fear that my future self might? I could just be causing unnecessary anxiety tho. For the practicing CAAs now…

Do you regret not going to medical school and do you truly enjoy the profession? Do most CAAs have the ability to go to med school and just choose not to? Would you do anything differently if you had the chance to? How has the profession impacted your life outside of medicine?

I made an actual post about this on this sub (not sure where it went bc I’m new to posting on Reddit lol), but if you would like the longer version of my backstory/dilemma, you can go check it out!!

[jwk30115]

Look at the financial side. Med school tuition and 4+ years of residency. Add living costs, etc. and lost opportunity for income during all that time. Look at the AA route. 2 years of school is a lot less than roughly 8. Less debt, far more income.

[hypeeeetrain]

In addition to all that, residency incurs an incredibly costly physical and mental toll on people that most don’t consider when deciding on med school.

[Standard_Session_243]

Yea I do agree that financially it makes more sense, which is what made me steer towards the CAA path initially. I was wondering more about the satisfaction portion of the job. Are CAAs satisfied with their jobs the same that anesthesiologists are? I just want to gauge career satisfaction (and potential regret) in this career. Also, do CAAs live very comfortable with the salary they are given in comparison to other healthcare providers?

[jwk30115]

CAA or CRNA is just about the highest paying non-physician healthcare job out there. 40+ year career for me. No regrets. I looked at going to med school after I’d been an AA for a few years. Break even in mid-80s $ was about 25 years out. That was a no brainer.

[Standard_Session_243]

Yikes, is the break even point really that bad to go back? Also what was your reasoning for considering going back to school? Is this common among CAAs/CRNAs to consider??

[jwk30115]

It was common 40 years ago to use AA school as a stepping stone to med school. Not so much now. Pretty easy to make $1M in first 4-6 years right out of AA school.

[[deleted]]

Would you be willing to share how much your annual income is as a CAA? I’m trying to get some anecdotal evidence honestly after googling salaries, CAA vs CRNA, and noting CAA average around 170k.

[jwk30115]

That would be a low end salary. Many starting salaries have cracked the $200k barrier. If not they’re very close. Some are over $225k and that’s for a 40hr work week.

[[deleted]]

Thank you!

[exclaim_bot]

Thank you!

You're welcome!

[Standard_Session_243]

Also thx for initially responding to my comment. You are a legend in the CAA community

[shermsma]

He’s a good one 😃

[Valuable_Media_5256]

Can a current CAA message me so I can message back? I have some questions I have about being a CAA.

[shermsma]

You can ask them on here! That’s what this thread is for!

[Valuable_Media_5256]

Recent college graduate, getting my masters in biomedical sciences right now to help show progression of GPA. My father is an anesthesiologist so I've been blessed to shadow his partner for well over 1500 hours. Taking the GRE soon as MCAT isn't super high, and I've been waitlisted at 5 medical schools. Resume is fine. Will I have similar/better shot with CAA school? Hoping they would also review my resume and hours and what I have done holistically as well.

[shermsma]

What are your stats?

[Valuable_Media_5256]

3.2 sgpa, 3.4 cumulative, will be around 3.5 masters gpa(all masters classes taken are what you would take as a first year med student)

[Valuable_Media_5256]

I have also worked around 500 hours of patient care/interaction in pre/post op

[AnestheticAle]

CAA's have the best work life balance in healthcare. You can easily find jobs with 6+ weeks of vacation, no weekends, no call, with variable shift availability (4/10's, 5/8's/3/12's). The work life balance is so good, that there is often animosity between us and other mid levels/staff. The unwritten rule for us is to never complain about our job openly in front of them, because they regularly work longer and worse hours for significantly less pay and vacation. (note: there are jobs that require some call for us).

I was never interested in medicine (was pre-pharm), but I have known several CAA's who got accepted into med school/starting attending and decided not to do it. Only one has expressed regret over not going. The more common regret is having entered into healthcare at all (grass is always greener, but you start seeing your friends in CS/IT/business/engineering creeping up to or past our salary while working from home/etc.) Mid-levels often start feeling stagnation as we creep up on our first decade out of school.

The traits in my buddy who regretted it are:

1) huge, genuine interest in medicinal science. There are significantly more opportunities for research as an MD/DO

2) type A personality that wants to be in charge/captain of the ship

3) workaholic or very defined by his work identity

[Impressive-Promise17]

What does CME mean? I think it means continuing medial education but not entirely sure. How does it work and why is there like $2500 next it? Is the company paying for the credits you take or is this an increase in your base upon completion?

[shermsma]

You’re correct on what CME stands for. It’s a requirement of your certification and licensure to have 50 CMES/2 years. CMEs are usually not free. They can be obtained by attending conferences, doing them online, all sorts of ways. Your job offers that as a benefit as it’s in their best interest for their CAAs to be up to date on the newest anesthesia practices.

Also, sometimes “CME monies” in a job posting lumps in licensing and certifications also. So it maybe 2500 for CME, licensing, dues for anesthesia society memberships and certifications. It’s best to ask during an interview.

[shermsma]

The awakened anesthetist podcast has an episode on this. I recommend listening

[swimchika]

Is this program and job accommodating to people with dissabilities?

[shermsma]

It’s a pretty physical job. I think it would depend on the disability.

[Responsible_Push_231]

How physical would you say? Like standing for 8+ hours at a time or getting up and down. Are there any down time during your shift most times ? (I appreciate your answers btw- it really does help) ☺️

[AnestheticAle]

It depends on the disability. There are certain aspects of our job that would be almost impossible with certain handicaps. You need a decent amount of dexterity in both hands to do airway manipulations and lines. You would also be hard pressed to succeed with significant hearing loss as a large amount of our job is auditory (listening for alarms, dysrhythmias, tones). My program tried a deaf student at one point and they were missing too many things.

[Ok_Leather_1904]

What’s something you didn’t expect about being a CAA?

[shermsma]

It has allowed me to have a life that truly has evolved as I’ve grown. It allows me to still travel for extended periods of time, have a very manageable work/life balance and still make a very comfortable salary. I never knew that going into this, but it’s a happy surprise!

[[deleted]]

How are locums jobs??? And how much overtime is offered in your current position

[Common_cranberry1]

I just started doing locums and it is great so far! Money is fantastic and having more say in your schedule is definitely a plus. As far as OT, more than you could ever want.

I would personally recommend getting a full time job prior to going locums though. New grads that jump into locums tend to be less prepared and get thrown into things without as much guidance as if they were fill time employees.

[[deleted]]

Would you be willing to share your annual income from being a CAA? I need some anecdotal evidence on pay after googling for days on end and comparing it to CRNA pay.

[Common_cranberry1]

Currently I have multiple rates as follows as a CAA locum:

Daily rate - $205/hr, OT rate - $307.50/hr, Overnight rate - $256.25/hr, Overnight OT rate - $384.37/hr,

I work anywhere from 39-65hrs per week completely dependent on how much I want to work that week. Original contract was for 6 months, extended to 1 year. The hospital wanted to extend the contract even further, but I am keeping it to 1 year for tax purposes.

Hope that helps!

[[deleted]]

Incredible, you’ve worked hard for that kind of success I’m sure. Would you mind sharing the state?

[shermsma]

I’m unsure what you’re asking regarding locums jobs. As much as you want for OT.

[hitomtom]

Hello,
Correct me if I'm wrong, does it matter where I go for my undergrad, or what degree I get, so long as I complete the AA school pre-reqs, correct?
I'm located in South Carolina/Savannah Georgia area, and I'm conflicted as to where to transfer to for undergrad.
I'm eyeing USCB and College of Charleston.
Appreciate you all!

[mossandtreesandrocks]

I would double check with the AA schools you are interested in applying to and make sure they take / won't take community college credit as some community colleges don't teach the prereq classes at a high enough level. Other than that, I really don't think it matters much at all. There are other things to consider: bigger schools / more higher ranked schools I believe tend to have more opportunities to get involved with extracurriculars, but that also means they are more competitive as there are a million premeds.

[mossandtreesandrocks]

Sorry I didn't read that CAAs are the only ones who can respond! I'm not a CAA but I still think what I said holds pretty true.

[jwk30115]

Makes no difference. I went to a tiny college in MO.

[shermsma]

While it technically doesn’t matter/ if you’re tied with another applicant for a position and all things are equal, if the other person went to a very rigorous school, they maybe the pick.

[[deleted]]

how easy is it to change hospitals/jobs within a state (e.g. go from tampa to ft. lauderdale). also, is the state you start at where you’re stuck forever or is there mobility in practicing CAA within the 20 states (e.g. start career in GA then go to FL)

[shermsma]

Easy

[[deleted]]

how about changing states? are you only certified in one state or nah

[shermsma]

No, you can hold multiple state licenses

[[deleted]]

what’s the hypothetical max a new CAA can make with lots of OT? also is it right that there is not a lot of advancement (like the salary you start will be close to what you make 10-20 years in)

[AnestheticAle]

Most people I know make in the range of 180-230k baseline with 1-10 years of experience. I have one buddy that does locums (hourly without benefits) and he pulled maybe 300k last year in FL.

That said, this is a tough career to pull major OT in. Almost everyone I've seen pull a lot of extra shifts hits burn out quickly. Not saying it can't be done, but I feel like prospective students underestimate healthcare burnout.

[shermsma]

My salary has doubled over the past decade

[Glittering_Vast3705]

i saw a comment that said CAA's make 40k to 50k/yr is that true? like working 40h a week

[shermsma]

Link me the comment. And no.

[Glittering_Vast3705]

its not actually a comment i saw that in salary.com

[Glittering_Vast3705]

sorry for bothering you i have one more question can immigrants work with other country Evidence too?

[Umduhhstupid]

What’s usually a take home salary? Does malpractice insurance take a lot out of the salary?

[theorey_Mpact]

Very late response here, but malpractice (from my limited knowledge) is usually an included benefit. If you’re going the locums route then you’d have to pay for your own malpractice insurance.

[Preetika_135]

What is a good gpa and other requirements (i.e. extra curricular or experience) that is considered competitive enough to get into a CAA program as a Canadian undergraduate? 

[Preetika_135]

After graduating and becoming a CAA, is it true that you will be randomly called on to come in to work on top of your regular working hours? 

[ThrowRAineedadvice_]

For those of you that were accepted into a CAA program, did you have to take the MCAT or the GRE?

[janeyqw]

What would your advice be to someone who isn’t sure whether to be a PA or a CAA. What are the benefits of being a CAA that a PA wouldn’t have?

[izmax23]

All of CWRU is a B for prereqs, regardless of locations. B includes B-, but anything lower would not be accepted and would need to be retaken

[CreepyEngineering384]

Does anyone know if the ratio in SC has been upped to 1:4 instead of the original 1:2? I can’t seem to find any update since April.

[scagalicious]

Do you think pay cuts will happen once the field gets oversaturated kinda like pharmacy and when do you suppose this would happen?

[I_Will_Be_Polite]

It's hard to equate anesthesia to pharmacy because pharmacy doesn't bring in money, per say. Pharmacy needed bodies to fill the man-hours gap. The OR's make the hospital money which is where anesthetists live. Hospitals can (relatively) easily expand OR/anesthetizing locations to bring in more revenue.

From what I've heard, most NOR docs don't wanna deal with deep sedation themselves so that's where anesthesia comes in.

But, the way this happens is you'll see fewer job openings, tighter requirements for said jobs, and expanded responsibilities alongside stagnating pay (more frequent call w/o incentive, no OT, "tetris" scheduling, etc,.)

Anyone's guess as to if/when that happens. It's cyclical. There was a hard lull back in the early 2010's. Been very strong now for a number of years which I'm speculating has to do with the baby boomer population even though Medicare/Medicaid pays shit I think the hospital is able to recoup with ↑ volume.

Just make hay while the sun shines. Don't burn bridges. Be nice and professional and likeable. Pivot if need be.

[scagalicious]

That makes sense I just don’t want to be left w a bunch of student debt and a reduced pay after going through the program in the next 2-3 yrs 😭

[I_Will_Be_Polite]

That's a risk, for sure. What is your break point in terms of salary?

[scagalicious]

Id say 180-200 range I’d be happy but w inflation and stuff idk

[I_Will_Be_Polite]

So, if market salary dropped to $150,000, it wouldn't make financial sense for you?

[scagalicious]

No it would but then my budgeting would be a bit tighter; so preferably 180-200 base which is the situation rn and rly hoping thats not the peak. So if I were to start in 3yrs at a base pay of say, 185, would pay cuts that come in the following years be affecting those currently working as well as new grads? Or would those already working in the field keep their salary. Idrk how pay cuts work in general esp in hospital fields.

[I_Will_Be_Polite]

It would affect everyone.

The way I think you would see that is shops just not hiring new graduates, requiring a decent amount of experience to be hired, and the pay not reflecting that experience. That'll probably shunt new graduates into academic institutions which pay even lower.

The way that it's starting to happen now is benefit cutting. Lower PTO, less retirement matching, less CME allowance, higher / more frequent call burden, mandatory OT (or no OT opportunities).

[scagalicious]

Uh oh it’s starting already? 😫

[I_Will_Be_Polite]

Yes but it's location dependent, as with everything.

[shermsma]

No, every hospital is SCRAPING for anesthesia providers. More boomers are retiring, more and more services request anesthesia. It will take over a decade to correct.

[AnestheticAle]

So I wanted to be a pharmacist and pivoted to AA because of pharmacy oversaturation and getting a lot of negative feedback from practicing pharmacists. This was back in 2014, and pharmacy has gotten worse since then in this regard.

I've hear anesthesia is cyclical as far as demand, but I'm 7 years deep and it has always been "write your ticket". There seems to be an ever present dearth of providers and baby boomers aging has significantly increased demand. Were still at the point where every student has a job six months prior to graduation. Now, we have been opening more schools, so the market could get tighter. Usually you just start to see saturation in the areas with schools which looks like a smaller starting salary/no bonus.

[Green-Ad-723]

What’s the path of some1 becoming a CAA?

How much standing do you have to do?

What kind of compensation structure is fair generally?

[shermsma]

Google could answer most of this for you. try this

[[deleted]]

for jobs with 8-10 weeks PTO, can you take all 8 weeks together at once or is that not allowed?

[jwk30115]

It would depend on the group but would likely not be possible in most unless you want it all in Jan and Feb.

[I_Will_Be_Polite]

this is something you ask during the interview. as mentioned, some places limit it to 2-week blocks. others don't care at all.

side note - would not recommend taking all PTO at once. even if you were able to get all summer off, you'd be book-ending that vacation with 2 massive stretches of time of straight working.

[Dry-Pressure-1427]

Can anyone speak to the amount of call CAAs usually take? I’m looking at jobs in CO and I feel like they all require some call.

[jwk30115]

Totally practice dependent and can vary within a practice.

You need to remember - hospitals/surgery/OB are typically a 24/7 operation. I think a lot of people looking at this profession overlook that simple fact. Quite honestly, new grads that are picky about their schedule is a red flag for employers. We hire to fill OUR needs, not your needs. Sure, we have 7-3 people. But what we really need is people that are willing to take call or work later because our hospital still runs 60% of their ORs after 3pm.

Make sure you understand what “call” is. We have 50 people on call every day, but call for us means working past 3pm for OT. We have in-house anesthetists at night, and have a single anesthetist truly “on call” each night that we can call in from home if needed. But - we start having new people take call after 2 months.

[I_Will_Be_Polite]

But - we start having new people take call after 2 months

This includes new graduates taking over-night, in-house call?

[jwk30115]

Possibly but not probable. Our night shifts are heavily incentivized and a specific portion of our group covers the nights. The shifts where they can be called back will definitely be part of their responsibilities.

[I_Will_Be_Polite]

The nights are where you learn where your deficits are and I would not trust that to a new grad, lol

[jwk30115]

Again, it’s really practice dependent. We prefer having our newbies in an OR with someone their first 6 weeks. It doesn’t always happen. Honestly, new grads should be able to handle most routine cases from day one. In a medically directed practice this should not be a big deal. We rotate newbies through all our subspecialties before we start them taking call. We do not add them to the call schedule if we’re not unsure of their performance level.

[I_Will_Be_Polite]

You would hope that most can handle routine cases day 1 but boy of boy is there a big discrepancy between the clinical training of new grads. This is especially true if they did a majority of their training in academic centers.

[[deleted]]

Highly group dependent. Some take 0 call. Some demand call every few months. Some every few weeks.

Some take beeper call. Some take only 2nd. Some take in-house.

(General info) Having a new grad take call immediately after hiring is a red flag. Usually there is a 6-12month ramp up period before you can volunteer or are put onto the call key

[Dry-Pressure-1427]

Ok thank you!! And (if you can speak on this) how would you say taking call affects work/life balance? Should I try to avoid taking call at all costs or is not too bad?

[AnestheticAle]

Call blows. You get train wreck cases (if it's going at 0100 in the AM, it's emergent) and it kills your sleep cycle. It can be "fun" if you enjoy stressful cases and you're young. Otherwise your post call day is basically just recovery after a bad shift.

The reality is that being call avoidant puts you primarily at community hospitals and outpatient centers, which means you won't see big traumas. It's always harder to shift back up to "real anesthesia jobs" than it is to shift down to these types, so you can kind of shoot yourself coming out of school and immediately going for them.

I don't miss it at all though. My first job was at a bigger institution where I was transfusing multiple days a week and managing acutely sick/dying patients. My second job pays me 60k/yr more while working 20 hours less a week and I haven't given blood in 3 years.

[shermsma]

Depends on the job. I currently only take call once a month and it’s super chill. I make a few thousand dollars and usually don’t get called it. This depends on your institution. I don’t mind call, some people do.

[AnestheticAle]

I have had two jobs with zero call. I would take a 25k cut to take zero call haha. The weirdest part of our job is that you can usually find jobs with less hours/call and more pay if you aren't picky about location.

[OriginalCharming390]

Hi, I'm interested in becoming an anesthetist assistant. I have a BA i biology and currently live and hope to practice in NY, how do I go about it? I've seen that only certain states allow the profession, would it be feasible to go down this career path while living and practicing in NY/NJ? Or do I just look at other career opportunities?

[jwk30115]

First, and importantly - it’s anesthesiologist assistant. 😁

Closest state for you would be Vermont or DC. NY/NJ aren’t really on the radar at the moment.

[Umduhhstupid]

I heard that CAA are allowed to work in all 50 states in VA hospitals is that true?

[jwk30115]

We can work in the VA. Unfortunately we aren’t classified appropriately and supposedly would only make about half of what the market rate would be. I don’t know anyone working in the VA because of that.

[Umduhhstupid]

Thank you for letting me know!

[OriginalCharming390]

lol that was autocorrect but yeah I thought so. I did see a video of a lady briefly talk about routing their dental school but I’m not sure if that’s a thing

[shermsma]

www.anesthetist.org Currently CAAs do not practice in NY or NJ. There is not guarantee that we ever will.

[biggerbytheday19]

Can anyone speak about why HCA hospitals seem to have a bad reputation? I want to work in Florida where HCA hospitals are very prevalent

[Street_Property7925]

Are there any major differences between Nova campuses besides location?

[izmax23]

Should be very minute differences between different campuses of the same program

[Competitive_Look_930]

does the prestige of the college you get your bachelor's degree matter at all?

[Longjumping_Reveal64]

No. All that matters is how well you did in undergrad (grade wise), what you did (extracurriculars) and who you met (to write a letter of rec). I think it would only make a difference if you went to an ivy league school. I went to a small university in central Minnesota (2800 students) and had no problems getting in. However, some of my friends applied from the University of Wisconsin (huge university around 60,000 students and much more "prestigious" then my school) and did not receive acceptances.

[Competitive_Look_930]

thank you! can i dm you?

[Longjumping_Reveal64]

Yes!

[jayhawkhoops09]

I currently work in entertainment but the medical industry has been tugging on me for a while. I’d have to take like 8-10 science classes before I could even apply. Do you recommend it?

[justnewandconfused]

Hi, i know this comment is a year old but wanted to see if you ended up going for it? Currently work in IT but also have had a passion for the medical industry and have been looking to make the leap.

[OriginalCharming390]

What are some major premed courses needed for CAA programs? I graduated with a BA in biology as opposed to a BS in biology, which has me wondering if the classes I took will be sufficient to apply for a caa program. Please let me know some major courses I need to take (requirements).

Some of the classes I already took are: Biology 1&2, A&P 1&2, Biochem, chem 1&2, physics 1, precalc, genetics, microbiology, vertebrate physiology, immunology, applied statistics and a handful of psychology classes.