famofu Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 Hi guys, I don't know where else to post this and I hope you guys can be understanding of my sitaution. I am two semesters in my PA school and I now realized that I want to go to medical school. I think choosing PA school over med school was a poorly thought-out decision and now I know that I would eventually need to be a physician anyways. In that regards, I would like to get some opinions about my course of action from now. Should I drop out and prepare for med school, or should I stick it out, get some experience and pay off the debt, and then go back to school? I'm in my mid-twenties and luckily I don't have a lot of debt right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 I teach in PA school. One of our students just did what you are contemplating. None of we faculty had any idea until he came in one morning to withdraw; he'd been accepted to a local med school and his first class was the following week. So this can be done. I've also known of several PAs who later did med school. Whether it's best for you is only up to you, your interests, financial situation, etc. In your case, you apparently have tests to take and maybe some classes. Unlike our former student, you don't know if you'll get accepted after all of that. Personally, I'd like a backup plan. How would you feel if you dropped out of school and risked it all, only not to get in med school? Maybe you finish your didactic training and ask for a one year leave of absence with which to prepare and apply? Then maybe you could come back for clinicals if things don't work out. Think it through, and good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asclepius Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 Hi famofu, welcome to the forum. I agree with UGoLong - have a backup plan. Life is known for throwing curve balls. Out of curiosity may I ask, after two semesters, what made you come to this realization? How can you be so sure being a PA is not for you without actually having practice yet? From my research, the didactic/clinical experience is vastly different from practicing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newton9686 Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 Agree with Asclepius on this one. What about 2 semesters in a classroom can make you decide PA isn't for you when it was for you when you started? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchampigny Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 What year did you graduate from Troll U? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted November 27, 2016 Moderator Share Posted November 27, 2016 there is a 3 yr pa to physician bridge program at Lecom in erie, pa. consider finishing pa school and applying to this program. no mcat, much smaller applicant pool to compete against, etc. Primadonna, one of our regular posters, is a grad of this program and now a 3rd yr resident at her top pick program. If I was younger or single I would go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
famofu Posted November 27, 2016 Author Share Posted November 27, 2016 I teach in PA school. One of our students just did what you are contemplating. None of we faculty had any idea until he came in one morning to withdraw; he'd been accepted to a local med school and his first class was the following week. So this can be done. I've also known of several PAs who later did med school. Whether it's best for you is only up to you, your interests, financial situation, etc. In your case, you apparently have tests to take and maybe some classes. Unlike our former student, you don't know if you'll get accepted after all of that. Personally, I'd like a backup plan. How would you feel if you dropped out of school and risked it all, only not to get in med school? Maybe you finish your didactic training and ask for a one year leave of absence with which to prepare and apply? Then maybe you could come back for clinicals if things don't work out. Think it through, and good luck! Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Yeah unfortunately I got to take a whole year of physics and the MCAT so I would not be able to just apply if I were to withdraw. I guess I would be graduating from PA school by the time I marticulare a medical school, if I get in. I've also heard that med school adcoms usually do not like applicants who dropped out of school/programs... Makes sense but any truth to that notion? I came in thinking I would be okay with being a dependent provider and having limited knowledge compared to physicians, but now I realized I do want to know all the basic sciences and understand "why" in medicine, and I also want the full responsibiltiies and independence of a physician. I don't think I can have a career as a PA knowing I want more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 If you've got all that prep still to do, I'd consider EMEDPA's suggestion, and also PM primadonna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newton9686 Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 yeah being a PA isn't a preventive factor in understanding the why of medicine. As a second year PA student I constantly am reading the same material as my medial student colleagues to understand the why. As for the autonomy aspect, I hope you want to do something surgically rooted, because the difference in autonomy between PAs and MDs elsewhere is not even tangible in many cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted November 27, 2016 Moderator Share Posted November 27, 2016 you may feel differently about the available autonomy once you are in practice....there is a lot of subtle, and not so subtle, stuff that goes on in regards to respect , etc that can be a SIGNIFICANT issue in many settings. this forum is full of stories from PAs who have been disrespected or not allowed to do things well within their scope solely based on the initials after their names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newton9686 Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 I respect your opinion EMEDPA and thank you for all your hard work to advance this profession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croooz Posted November 28, 2016 Share Posted November 28, 2016 Finish PA school, take your remaining prereqs, then apply to med school. Finish what you start. If you drop out it will give med school ADCOMS the doubt of your commitment to follow through on what you've started. Then there is also the thought of not thinking things through which brings into question your maturity level. I'm not doubting your level just giving you my perspective of what I would think when looking at your application. My good friend and mentor is an ADCOM at a medical school and they've given me redacted apps to look at and give my impression. You want to finish what you start and show/explain what exactly drove you to MD/DO after being a PA. Heck you can even say during your med school interview that you knew during PA school but since you made the decision you would follow through with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDayBFL Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Finish PA school. You can even work as a PA during MS1-4 to make extra cash on the weekends at an urgent care or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatswain2PA Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Your chances of being accepted into medical school is probably less than your chance of completing PA school. It would be terrible for you to drop out of PA school and then not get into med school.If you are able to apply to med school WHILE FINISHING PA school, then I would do that.If not able to do that, then complete PA school, then work on finishing pre-req's and/or med school applications.Best of luck to you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NP-C Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Apply to MD, DO, or NP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsman89 Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 .....Says the guy asking in another thread if he should go to PA school or NP school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katera Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I can only speak for Urgent Care, but I am horrified by how the docs are treated in UC. I have posted here many times about the corporate overlords taking over medicine, but as shocking as the decline in respect for PA's as providers in UC is, the treatment of the docs has been worse. They are literally treated like higher paid MA's. They are not respected by the non-clinical management and that has trickled down to the staff. I know how horrible medical school + residency is, and they are treated like......Labor. Just be VERY VERY sure that you know what you want to do in medicine before you invest a decade of your life in it. Every doc I work with is utterly disillusioned and all but a few say they wish they had never gone into medicine... I was told that one UC chain down here just fired all of their docs and replaced them with mid-levels/APP. They kept just a few to meet the supervision requirements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hckyplyr Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Yeah unfortunately I got to take a whole year of physics and the MCAT so I would not be able to just apply if I were to withdraw. I guess I would be graduating from PA school by the time I marticulare a medical school, if I get in. I've also heard that med school adcoms usually do not like applicants who dropped out of school/programs... Makes sense but any truth to that notion? I came in thinking I would be okay with being a dependent provider and having limited knowledge compared to physicians, but now I realized I do want to know all the basic sciences and understand "why" in medicine, and I also want the full responsibiltiies and independence of a physician. I don't think I can have a career as a PA knowing I want more. So how many years until you graduate PA school? I was in a similar predicament, knew early on during PA school that I made the wrong choice. Because I had <2 yrs left to complete PA school, I decided to complete it, then practice for almost two years as a PA to make sure its what I wanted. I took the MCAT during a break during PA school, I would NOT recommend that, especially considering most all med students who are fresh on their prereq classes take 3-6 months to prepare for that test. You would just be setting yourself up for a low MCAT and likely be lowering your chances of getting into a med program. I'm more than halfway through my second year of med school now, studying for Step 1 as I speak. Although I have many rough days, I still haven't regretted my decision yet. Let us know what you decided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runforhotdogs Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 So how many years until you graduate PA school? I was in a similar predicament, knew early on during PA school that I made the wrong choice. Because I had <2 yrs left to complete PA school, I decided to complete it, then practice for almost two years as a PA to make sure its what I wanted. I took the MCAT during a break during PA school, I would NOT recommend that, especially considering most all med students who are fresh on their prereq classes take 3-6 months to prepare for that test. You would just be setting yourself up for a low MCAT and likely be lowering your chances of getting into a med program. I'm more than halfway through my second year of med school now, studying for Step 1 as I speak. Although I have many rough days, I still haven't regretted my decision yet. Let us know what you decided. Smart move. I always like having backup plans in place and having something to fall back on too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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