Jump to content

Do Not Become a PA


Recommended Posts

To all and any who are considering the PA profession as their future career -

 

 

Choose a different career path.  I've been a PA for 17 years and I can count on one hand (ok maybe two) the number of days my job produced a level of satisfaction, enjoyment, or happiness.  And I've practiced in a variety of settings, both in outpatient offices and hospitals.  Only deployment overseas to Iraq as an Army Medical Officer gave me the great job satisfaction one would expect to get out of their work.  (Unfortunately it took me a half a world away from my family and cost me precious time with them.)  If you're considering a career as a PA, I advise you to consider the extra mile and go to medical school.  Yes it will be a longer path and a harder one, but it will end.  Once you finish PA school you will have the honor of joining the miserable, underpaid, overworked, disrespected, unappreciated, overlooked, unrecognized, unnoticed, always pushed around health care professionals on God's green earth.  We all like to think of ourselves as doing a lot (or most) of what doctors do.  And this is true!  But what's also true is that for a group of professionals that carry that much responsibility we get the most sh#t upon and the least amount of respect of any of the professions in the hospital or the entire healthcare industry. And we don't make anything near what a doctor makes.  Most of the hospital thinks of us as a joke and aren't even nice to us- even when they need us to do anything.  In New York we have no choice but to sell our souls to the doctors and hospitals.  Communism rules and capitalism is dead (meaning - we're not even allowed to choose our own future as an entrepreneur and open our own practice; even if we hire our own supervising physicians!)  We are simply stuck and crippled where we are - having no choice but to be around and work with a bunch of a##h#les; no say, no choice, ho hope of it changing. The job simply sucks!  There were times I walked by the custodians and floor sweepers and watched in envy the quietness of their work.  Nobody seems to bother them.  And we all appreciate a nice clean work environment.  I doubt they take their job home with them at night.  And I hate to say it but, despite the headlines of a "growing PA profession" and it being called one of the hottest jobs of the future, the actual job absolutely sucks.  Don't be fooled!  If you decide to go to PA school and become a PA you'll find out just what I'm talking about.  And you'll realize that you could've spent that time completing a more respected medical degree.  If I could go back in time, I would actually choose a totally different career path; probably as far away from the healthcare field as possible!  But if it was in healthcare, it would be the path of a doctor.

 

Again, if you're thinking of PA school... 

Take my advice...   ...go to medical school.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 102
  • Created
  • Last Reply

I applaud you for your outspoken opinion on career satisfaction. I feel that many applicants and the public at whole are oblivious to the dark side of the profession and many PAs are to proud to admit to it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To be fair, there are boatloads of unhappy physicians out there as well.

 

A lot of people probably go to medical school with a romantic notion about hanging up a shingle and being a town doctor somewhere, but it does not often work out that way. There is a lot of talk about autonomy, but not much to really go around. Many docs are employees of someone else. Most have intrusive insurance organizations telling them how to do things.

 

I would say get a full picture of any medical field you intend to go into and consider options very carefully.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I organize all of the events for our local Derm Society of physicians. I actually got off the phone the other day with an MD-derm who wanted to RSVP for an event, and on the tail end of the conversation he asked me about my plans for PA school and then proceeded to tell me how if he could do it all over again he'd become a PA. Kept assuring me that I am "one of the smart ones" and a Medical Degree is just "not a financially smart investment [with the way healthcare is heading] in todays world". 

 

Now, there is no black & white. I hear  A LOT of people complain about A LOT of jobs/careers. Hindsight is 20/20. But I firmly believe one is responsible for creating their own happiness, creating their own fulfillment, and creating their own reality.  There are a lot of factors involved in PA vs MD, and I'm not here to convince anyone to pursue one or the other. However, I do respect the insight and appreciate the candid discussion.

 

I hear many stories from successful PAs who love their job, and garner all of the respect that a professional clinician deserves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

...In New York we have no choice but to sell our souls to the doctors and hospitals...

...The job simply sucks!  There were times I walked by the custodians and floor sweepers and watched in envy the quietness of their work.  Nobody seems to bother them...

 

 

You sound pretty run down and stressed. Have you considered leaving your state for one that is more PA friendly? I know it's hard to change your life around, but sometimes that is the only way to break out of the funk.

 

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude."

 

I hope you find your Zen place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator

You sound pretty run down and stressed. Have you considered leaving your state for one that is more PA friendly? I know it's hard to change your life around, but sometimes that is the only way to break out of the funk.

 

sometimes even moving within a state is a big change. NYC sucks overall for PAs due to saturation but in upstate NY pas run ERs with no doc in house....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think your state makes a big difference; as much as your specialty. Many states still are not very PA-friendly, and compensation is a joke.

 

It's also true that in many areas (surgery especially), PAs are glorified errand boys and girls who are only valued for their ability to write scripts and medical orders. But a lot of general medical specialties seem to offer more autonomy. Urgent care, family, occupational, etc.

 

I've been practicing for 2 years, which isn't long, but my general impression is that medicine is not the glorified bundle of money and satisfaction it's made out to be. It's a lot of bureaucracy, billing games, ignorant and demanding patients, and massive student loans to boot.

 

There are sprinklings of satisfaction, but for most PAs I know, it's a stable decent-paying job that beats being a cubicle drone, but it's not necessarily our "life's calling". Most of us want out eventually.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's also true that in many areas (surgery especially), PAs are glorified errand boys and girls who are only valued for their ability to write scripts and medical orders. But a lot of general medical specialties seem to offer more autonomy.

Really? All I can say is that you should come spend a day with me (or any other surgical PA I know), and I will disabuse you of the notion that I'm a glorified "errand boy" with no autonomy. :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kind of sounds like you are a whine bag.  Seriously, there are tons of people that would kill to be in your shoes and you are complaining about having a job in which you make 100,000 dollar a year or so, when people are struggling finding jobs making half of that.  Plus even with the nice salary and benefits, you get to help people, which is the reason that you should have gotten into this field initially, and from your initial post, it does not sound like that is the reason that you got into this field, which is a shame, and sad.

 

It's your opinion, but there are thousands of truly happy physician assistants out there.  Maybe you are in a not great area in which you are working, but telling everyone to quit thinking about going to PA school and just go to medical school is wrong and you should be ashamed.  Learn some professionalism; just because it sucks in New York doesn't mean it will suck elsewhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that this thread shows what one of the primary problems within our profession is and that is the wide swing of diversity, even within the same specialty settings and locales.  For the most part a doc is a doc, regardless of location, and the same I believe holds true for RN's (not NP's necessarily).  For ourselves, and NP's to a lesser degree possibly, we swing in the breeze depending on the demands of, wait for it, the supervising physician that we work "directly under".  I can see both sides of this discussion.  For those of you who are head over heels in love with your current position, be thankful.  Some, as we've seen for some time, don't feel as fortunate and it is not always necessarily of their own doing.

 

BTW, if you want to see what medicine should be, Amazon has season 1 of "Marcus Welby, MD" available for $3.99.  See all of you at the Santa Monica Yacht Club for our two hour martini lunch, with my captain's hat and club blazer on!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

sometimes even moving within a state is a big change. NYC sucks overall for PAs due to saturation but in upstate NY pas run ERs with no doc in house....

I agreed with E. Upstate NY. Lots of jobs. City life not that great at times. Explore, be flexible & you'll be happy you did. That's all the hints & lead that I can provide at the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To the OP. It gets better. If you're a new grad. Hang in there. As you build experience = job satisfaction = more respect. We all started somewhere. Seven years ago, I almost quit or quit my first job. I was frustrated. Looking back now. I'm glad that I stayed the course. I'm happier now & had grown. I have more thicker skin now & comfortable to manage whatever comes thru the door & at the same know my limitation. Enough said. Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To the OP. It gets better. If you're a new grad. Hang in there. As you build experience = job satisfaction = more respect. We all started somewhere. Seven years ago, I almost quit or quit my first job. I was frustrated. Looking back now. I'm glad that I stayed the course. I'm happier now & had grown. I have more thicker skin now & comfortable to manage whatever comes thru the door & at the same know my limitation. Enough said. Good luck.

He says hes been in practice for 17 years...

 

Sent by my Samsung S4 Active via Tapatalk

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that this thread shows what one of the primary problems within our profession is and that is the wide swing of diversity, even within the same specialty settings and locales.  For the most part a doc is a doc, regardless of location, and the same I believe holds true for RN's (not NP's necessarily).  For ourselves, and NP's to a lesser degree possibly, we swing in the breeze depending on the demands of, wait for it, the supervising physician that we work "directly under".  I can see both sides of this discussion.  For those of you who are head over heels in love with your current position, be thankful.  Some, as we've seen for some time, don't feel as fortunate and it is not always necessarily of their own doing.

 

 

I agree. The spectrum of work hours, conditions, level of autonomy, and pay is tremendous; possibly more so than any other direct provider profession. 

 

The people with great jobs think the rest are ungrateful whiners, and those with sh!tty jobs think the profession sucks. It just depends on what side of the fence you are on.

 

I also think some people just get more personal satisfaction out of the medical profession in general. Some of us probably would be better suited to a different profession entirely, but we are either 'in too deep' now or made the best choice we could make at the time we started school.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to think that all problems would be solved in my lifetime. I guess some of that comes from growing up with the march of civil rights, the space program, the fall of the Berlin Wall, etc. As I've gotten older though, I've come to realize that some problems will take a lot longer to solve and new ones will keep cropping up. Our landscape continues to change, and so will we. 

 

As someone who is in their nth career, I think we have to take ownership of our own situations. Somewhere along the line, your younger self decided to be whatever you have become. If you no longer like what you do (and I've been there), then you you have options: curse the darkness, work to try to fix the problems, change jobs, or transition to something completely different. It's your life and the clock keeps on ticking.

 

These are not easy choices and there can be substantial obstacles to overcome. Still, moving forward feels a heck of a lot better than cursing the darkness and watching the clock tick. I've been there too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm all for not painting too rosy of a picture of our profession to those who come after us wanting to fill our shoes.  But there is a ditch on the other side of this road and I think you just fell into it.  Either that or you are indeed a troll. 

 

The profession has it's pluses and minuses.  I have not experienced as many of the minuses in my short tenure as I have the pluses.  Jobs are out there that will afford you the respect, autonomy, and fulfillment that you seek.  I have one of those jobs - yes, my colleagues get on my nerves from time to time and I often don't get the respect I feel I deserve.  It happens.  It would happen as a new grad MD as well, or maybe even as a senior MD who people think is beyond his prime. 

 

No carreer is going to be sunshine and roses 100% of the time.  But like others have said, we get to help people on a daily basis.  Occasionally we even make a difference.  If you don't like something about where you are, you need to work to change it.  Hope you can.  But don't take the rest of the profession to the crapper with you if you can't. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to the Physician Assistant Forum! This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn More