RRT-PAsoon Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Hi, It's my first post... I'm currently in Respiratory Care school. I'm male, 21, and will graduate in the spring of 2013. I know that I don't want to be a Respiratory Therapist my whole life, and I'm basically using it as a stepping stone to PA school (mainly to get in 1000+ hours of healthcare experience in the ICU). I have a few questions for those of you who are already in the field: What age did you go to PA school? What were you before becoming a PA? If you could do it all over again, would you become a PA or MD/DO? I'm in Michigan and I will probably graduate from my bachelors degree around 30k in debt. I really want to get into the University of Detroit-Mercy's PA program. The problem is... With my previous debt, and the schools cost (It's a private school 24k a year + living expenses) I'm not sure if this is a wise decision. The school is sentimental my grandfather is sick and graduated from UDM -- he always wanted to see me go there as well. All my pre-req's were geared towards UDM and I'd have classes to take for other schools programs. So basically my last question is what do you guys think about that situation? ^ Sorry for the long post. Thank you to anyone who answers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigk Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I'm 40 in PA school now and have been a RN for the past 18yrs. If I had it to do over I probably never would have gone to nursing and just done PA but with that said, all my nursing experience (ER) has helped me out in school somewhat so its all good. As far as the debt goes, just work like crazy when your done. Save every dime you can, pay down all your loans and just make it happen. I spent the last 2 1/2yrs preparing for PA school by paying down/off bills and putting almost 50% of every paycheck in savings. As far as the school selection, that's up to you and what fits for you. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsboston Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I'm 40 in PA school now and have been a RN for the past 18yrs. If I had it to do over I probably never would have gone to nursing and just done PA but with that said, all my nursing experience (ER) has helped me out in school somewhat so its all good. As far as the debt goes, just work like crazy when your done. Save every dime you can, pay down all your loans and just make it happen. I spent the last 2 1/2yrs preparing for PA school by paying down/off bills and putting almost 50% of every paycheck in savings. As far as the school selection, that's up to you and what fits for you. Good luck Hey Craig, why not go NP? I'm sure you already know this, but the NP route would have cost less and you can go part time while you work. You must have had some very good personal reasons for going PA? I'd be interested to hear what they were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersenpa Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Try the search function as well, there's multiple threads on this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigk Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Honestly, I'm not interested in writing paper, after paper, after paper. Teach me how to take care of people and let me do my job, that's just about what it boiled down to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsboston Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Actually, what I posted above has nothing to do with the orginal posters question, sorry about that! I'm not a PA, but I know as much about money as anyone else so I'll toss in my perhaps worthless advice. If you're going PA, I'd pay down debt first. Personally I don't see problem with working in the real world for 5 years or so. Although you'll want to make sure your pre-reqs don't go bad. If you're going MD, then don't take any time off from school. Its ~7 years before you get to emerge back into the actual world and by then your debt is so huge wants another 30K +30K interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJax107 Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Good questions to ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.