Primary PAs happier than other specialties?

[Girl_who_loves_life!]

Hi : D So I am an undergraduate student, quite certain I want to work in primary care, specifically family medicine...but I am debating that old question, P.A. vs. D.O. (If I did go to med school it would be an osteopathic school because i like the osteopathic philosophy).  So my question is:

- Are there many part time opportunities for P.A.s in family medicine/other primary care?  How does working part time as a doctor vs. part time as a P.A. compare?

- How is it being a P.A. in NJ or P.A. (the state)?  Like how much autonomy/respect do they have in comparison to other places...

-Is it just me, or are primary care P.A.s happier in general with their jobs than surgical/ Emed P.A.s? (I've been hanging arounf the forums for a bit now...)

[rev ronin]

Yes, there are plenty of part-time family medicine opportunities, probably more than most other specialties.

 

I have no idea how you'd compare job satisfaction between specialties--people tend to gravitate to what they want to do.  Even when people switch specialties, the environment in two different practice settings simply isn't the same.

[True Anomaly]

The DO "philosophy" is more of a marketing gimmick at this point than anything- DO's are physicians who practice medicine to the same standards and methods that MD's do.  They just get training in a unique field during medical school that MD's don't.  It doesn't mean the majority of DO's utilize osteopathic manipulation on a routine basis, or even at all, and they're not the exclusive proprietors of "holistic medicine"- whatever that actually means.

 

Point being, if you want to go to medical school, don't limit yourself to DO just because of some "philosophy"- MD's and DO's are both physicians who practice medicine and are held to the same standards

[winterallsummer]

PAs tend to have a lot of autonomy in family med which is great. Many have their own patient panel, and some work as solo providers. As far as happier, just depends on the person. A trauma PA who spends half their day in the OR and loves that would probably never be happy in FM and vice versa.

 

My advice is try to shadow FM PA and doc. There are advantages and disadvantages to both fields. It's more of a personal choice.

[andersenpa]

It won't matter which specialty is "happer"

Go with the one that makes you happy

 

FP and surgery tend to attract polar opposites so hard to see most PAs being on the fence with this one