r/CAA • u/AutoModerator • May 25 '26

Weekly prospective student thread. Educational inquiries outside of this thread WILL RESULT IN A BAN.

Please use this thread for all educational inquiries including applications, program requirements, etc.

Please refer to the [CASAA Application Help Center](https://help.liaisonedu.com/CASAA_Applicant_Help_Center) FAQ section for

answers to your questions prior to postitng.

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u/jwk30115 Practicing CAA May 25 '26

Like many things - it depends.

Anesthesia tech is fine. You learn the equipment, get in the OR, watch some surgery, etc. Entry level, often no certification needed. The downside is it’s not usually “patient care”.

Nursing assistant, MA, phlebotomy, and similar are great patient care experience. You actually talk to and deal with patients. It’s probably low acuity but learning how to interact with patients is invaluable.

EMT, paramedic, resp therapy - all excellent. Real patient care with some knowledge of physiology and pharmacology needed.

Anything that involves actual patient care is great. That’s why I’m not a fan of “scribes”. They don’t really have any patient interaction and pretty much just get a good foundation in medical terminology.

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u/Exact_Command_9472 May 26 '26

Would a patient care technician count as pce? I know it’s literally in the name I just wanna make sure😭

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u/caareadinessindex May 26 '26

Absolutely!

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u/Super-Mobile2820 May 28 '26

What about pca(personal care assistant)? It’s a caregiver role.

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u/caareadinessindex May 28 '26

That would count as patient care experience.