What would you choose?

[mjjohnson1224]

I see a lot of people debating whether to become a PA or go the MD/DO route and thought it would be interesting to see what everyone would do if money for tuition/fees were not part of the picture.

 

What would you choose if money were not an issue, and school was free/full scholarship was provided to which ever path you wanted and the option for either PA or MD/DO was available (i.e. acceptances to all the schools you applied to) and why?

 

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Personally, while I sometimes feel I may like to get the MD, I look at how time consuming school will be for not 2 years, but 4, then followed by a residency of 3+ years (I would like to specialize, so 4+). I would probably stick with PA - I won't graduate until I'm 27, but then I can hit the ground running and have a set job and have options to move to different fields of practice, whereas with the MD, you would have minimum choice because of "The Match." You'd have a wish list, but that doesn't guarantee you get what you want by any means. If you decline a residency offer, you'd have to wait a few years to re-enter the match and, once again, there are no guarantees of getting what you want (good luck getting another legitimate offer, too). Not to mention the hellacious hours I hear about med school, and residency hours are also hell as per what I hear all the time. I'd like to specialize, so I'd be looking at 8+ yrs post undergrad before having a job (I'd be mid 30's) vs 2 yrs post undergrad (27) and be able to practice right away with the ability to switch fields, or find part-time positions easier to work in multiple fields (which Dr's can't do - in regard to multiple fields).

 

Opinions and thoughts on my reasoning at the moment or anything you'd like to point out or share for yourself?

[EMEDPA]

medschool in a hear beat..

sorry to break it to you but the hrs in pa school are just as "hellacious" as medschool, maybe more so. 70% of the material in 50% of the time. think about it.