CASPA PCE vs HCE: Patient Care and Healthcare Experience

First of all, take a deep breath. It will all be alright. There's often a lot of buzz around how to classify experience as either healthcare experience (HCE) or patient care experience (PCE).

In the past, HCE was defined as working in a medical setting without directly interacting with patients in a care role, like reception, billing, or transport. PCE was defined as any job with direct patient interaction and care, such as nursing, EMT, paramedic, CNA, or MA work, roles where you perform skills and carry more responsibility. Scribe has always fallen somewhere in between. The general idea is that PCE involves being responsible for a patient's care and contributing to decisions about that care. [VERIFY]

CASPA updated its guidance so that some CNA and MA roles are categorized as HCE instead of PCE, and understandably this upset a lot of people who worked hard for those hours. CASPA stated the changes were based on feedback from PA programs. [VERIFY]

There's nuance here, though. Not every role labeled CNA or MA looks the same. If you work as an MA but spend most of your time at the front desk answering phones and handling prior authorizations and paperwork, that's more accurately HCE. If you're taking vitals, performing venipuncture, and counseling patients, that leans much more toward PCE. The truth is that having worked as a CNA, that job is no joke, and MAs are often deeply involved in patient care. The label matters less than what you actually did.

Here's why it will all be ok: the final decision rests with each program. Unless a program changes its requirements at the last minute, the experience you've accrued should be fine. CASPA itself gives you discretion, advising applicants to review the definitions, consider their actual duties, and use their best judgment, and to confer with individual programs when unsure.

If it were me, I'd list the experience where CASPA recommends based on its preferences, but I'd be very thorough in describing what the work entailed and what my responsibilities included. Make it clear to programs how involved you were in patient care, and above all, be honest. If you're unsure how a program will categorize your experience, check its website first. If you can't find an answer, contact your top few programs to clarify, and be patient because they're getting a lot of these questions.

The PCE versus HCE question feels stressful, but honesty and a thorough description of your responsibilities will carry you through. When in doubt, check the program's website or reach out directly, since they have the final say. If you want help organizing and presenting your hours, our coaching and the free application timeline can keep you on track.