Accelerated Five Year BS/MPAS Programs

[vanessa99]

I'm a senior in high school, currently applying to colleges, and I would love to hear this group's opinions on the undergraduate 5 year master's programs. Are they worth the hype? They're extremely appealing, for the obvious reasons of tuition costs and years actually spent in school. I would love to begin working right after college around the age of 23. And just to be clear, I'm interested in the career of a physician assistant for several reasons, one being that I do not want the lifestyle of a physician (namely, I'm attracted to the flexibility of the PA career, for the interest of having a family in the future and not wanting as much stress and difficult hours). So unless I hear an overwhelming response that medical school would be a better pathway for me, I would prefer opinions on how to best become a PA. Please correct me or give me new insights if anything I've said is naive-- college admissions and high school counselors are both very encouraging, but I would much rather hear your thoughts. (I have shadowing dates scheduled for later this month, for the same reason)

 

I'm also especially interested in neuroscience--would there be any benefit to getting my undergraduate degree in Neuro and then applying to grad school somewhere else?

 

I'm looking at schools primarily in Pennsylvania: Duquesne, Seton Hill, St.Francis, Pitt, and possibly a couple further east.

 

Thank you in advance for any feedback you could offer!

[newton9686]

I just think its a difficult decision to make at 17 years old. Unless you have had a major exposure to healthcare because of illness or a parent that has groomed you along, you really have no idea what you are looking at. PA sounds great in theory. But like anything there are pros and cons. And you have to decide if the pros outweigh the cons, and that takes knowledge and knowledge comes from experience. 

 

Plus I personally tell anybody who wants to be a surgeon to number 1 shadow a surgeon. Number 2 is shadow a primary care provider and see if that is comparable or actually better than you expected. But if you decide surgeon is what you see yourself most doing, go to medical school. Surgery is not a glass ceiling for PAs, but its pretty close. There is some awesome research about PA operating fairly autonomously in the catheter lab at Duke, but even that is not surgery, its a really awesome procedure that has replaced surgery. 

 

I know personally I could not spend my entire career working in tandem with a doctor as the "right hand man." Thats not to say others don't do it and  thats not to say they are not very successful and happy, I just wouldn't recommend it, especially to a 17 year old. It would absolutely be different if you were 40 years old.

 

My advice would be don't rush the process. I'm not saying every PA student needs to be 32 years old or above, but give yourself a year or two of undergraduate education to figure out what is important to you. And if you decide its PA, well we have at least 3 kids in our class who went to PA school the semester following their graduation from undergrad. I promise you, you are not wasting time if you slow down and explore your options, you are just making sure you don't miss your turn. 

[rev ronin]

If you're going to consider a 5 year BS/Masters program, why not a 6 year BS/MD program?  Seriously, if you're THAT dedicated to medicine, why not just power through while you're young and be an attending before you hit 30?  It's going to take smarts and stamina, but anyone who has that much drive to do everything for the BS/MS, is also likely to feel frustrated by the PA glass ceiling that they will quickly hit...