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^^^ My goal was broadcast journalism until I was talked into PAdom by a sociology professor as a freshman. I hadn't heard of the field and certainly didn't know one (late 70's).

I worked with a few PAs in the 80s when I was an er tech. they often worked alone and with no input from the docs. what I didn't realize at the time was these were mostly very senior PAs nearing the ends of their careers. if I had known what year 1-5 would be like and how much disrespect I would have to deal with I would have run to medschool instead.

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Thanks for your thoughtful responses. Sorry to derail the thread! And sorry to hear you've been disrespected or made to feel less than by being a PA. I am fortunate that in my area and place of employment Pas are highly regarded and the doctors treat us as colleagues. Also, I am sure the view of the profession must have grown a lot in the past years, which helps us newer PA's (I'm a little over 3 years out of school) not feel that as much.

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Let's be fair: I was often happy as a PA. I was just never content. I could never stay happy for long. I tried--I changed jobs, I moved cross-country, I changed specialties, I taught PAs--and each of those opportunities were valuable and led to another opportunity. I have been very, very blessed in my PA career (and in many ways by this forum which has existed in some form or another since my student days, although I think at that time it was the Duke PA listserv) and I see my opportunity to complete my education as a DO as another opportunity.

I'm kinda grateful I wasn't born in the generation where folks got a job and kept it for 35 years until retirement. I get bored too easily. I thrive on change. I discovered about halfway through my PA career that I need to be diversely employed--for the past seven years I have had always at least one job, usually 2 or 3. Heck, even in med school I held 3 part-time jobs and a per diem post in a rural SC ED where I still pick up shifts when I'm home and able and feeling poor :)

It's funny. I'm near the end of residency interview season right now and am pleasantly surprised that my PA career has been overwhelmingly positively viewed by program directors and faculty. Granted, these are the interviews I got--never will know about the ones I didn't get lol. It's kind of fascinating from a sociological perspective to think that most of these academic docs who might turn down a consult or admission from me and want to talk "to the DOCTOR" are fawning over how I would be such an asset to their program. It's really amazing. Kinda makes you wonder if they really do respect PAs after all, and it's WE PAs who have the chip on our shoulder? Hmmmmm??

Just a thought.

OP: do what makes you happy.

Sorry I can't recall which thread I'm replying to at the moment...I've been trolling a lot of them the past few weeks lol

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Let's be fair: I was often happy as a PA. I was just never content. I could never stay happy for long. I tried--I changed jobs, I moved cross-country...

ditto...have recently found a few jobs that make me more happy than not and am cutting down hrs at places that don't....

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I should try and address the OP's question.

I think up front the PA career can be quite family-friendly, particularly if you are the clinic type without call and hospital duties and paid vacation. Be prepared to be paid much less for the luxury of a predictable schedule. (Been there, done that.)

If that doesn't float your boat, you can have a very flexible work schedule and potentially make much more in EM and hospitalist medicine. But you will work your share of weekends and holidays and overnights and that's just the way it works.

Similar for physicians but your work-value as am MD/DO is quite a bit heftier than as a PA so you may be able to work 2/3 as much and make twice as much as the PA. Depends on many factors of course. YMMV.

Not too many female PAs are like me--I am not interested in being anybody's mother. I am married but both of us are very independent and don't "need" each other very much. That level of detachment leaves a lot of room for me to seek a satisfying career--don't try this at home with an unwilling spouse or (God help you) kids. I am a person who derives a lot of satisfaction and a great sense of identity from my work. Maybe you're not this way. You need to figure this out and decide what kind of home life you require and what kind of work life you need to achieve that home life.

Best wishes to you.

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Just my two cents: Financially speaking, wouldn't it take you many more years to pay off the debt by going to D.O school? Though, many people look at school debt today like a second mortgage. I worked with a wonderful D.O physician for 5 years. He worked with chiropractors, worked some urgent care, had a med spa, and worked with me in the family practice. Now, he may be overzealous, but he did miss a lot of moments at home with his family. We all know the world of family practice is changing, and I think you have to work many hats in order to make a good living.

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Just my two cents: Financially speaking, wouldn't it take you many more years to pay off the debt by going to D.O school? Though, many people look at school debt today like a second mortgage. I worked with a wonderful D.O physician for 5 years. He worked with chiropractors, worked some urgent care, had a med spa, and worked with me in the family practice. Now, he may be overzealous, but he did miss a lot of moments at home with his family. We all know the world of family practice is changing, and I think you have to work many hats in order to make a good living.

Family docs in saturated markets can make 160k right out of residency. In my area which is a suburb in between two major metropolitan areas the new grads in FM are making 180k. If you pick up a part time job you can reasonably expect to make over 200k. It wont take longer to pay off the loans if you budget accordingly.

 

If I were not geographically limited due to family I would go for DO without a second thought.

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In the end, your life and career is what you make of it. Regrets are a waste of effort. Having applied twice to med school (and not getting accepted), I got a PhD in physical chemistry and then an MBA. I met my wife in the PhD program and now have a daughter getting ready to start PA school. My life never worked out the way I hoped but, as they say, what happened instead, that was the really good stuff. Whether you become a DO or a PA isn't what will make you happy. Choose well and press on. In either career you will have many opportunities, and you no doubt know the expression: "chance favors the prepared mind." For someone bright enough to become a DO or a PA, there is no terminally wrong career decisions.

 

Sent from my KFAPWI using Tapatalk 2

 

 

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