Do you REALLY want to be a PA?

[MC99]

Are you truly unaware of how many doctors have regrets about THEIR career choice?

 

Doctors who wish they had done PA school vs. PAs who wish they had done med school...that's a stat I'd love to see compared.

 

I honestly cannot see how you can reconcile these contradictions:

 

PA school is not a shortcut ----> but if you're YOUNG, do medical school instead.

Young folks just don't know what they want to do with their life ----> go to medical school instead.

 

Medical school is a long road that entails an avalanche of debt. It's not something you glibly recommend to people who, in the same breath, you say do not understand whether they really want to practice medicine.

 

I don't view PA school as some sort of "second best." In my opinion, it is a valid profession in and of itself, and it's not simply something you do because medical school was "too long." That's like saying schoolteachers are shortchanging themselves by not becoming college professors.

 

I completely agree with this. My boyfriend's cardiologist said he would never send his kids to med school, he would tell them to become a PA. Also, look at blogs and postings about med school. It causes depression, ect. There are many people that post about how miserable being a doctor is. There are also some students who dropped out of med school to go to PA school. The person who posted about how they regret not doing med school is saying it is for everyone which is not the case. I want to have time for a family, to be able to change specialties, ect. I have seen doctor's schedules and they suck (especially specialized ones like cardiologists or neurosurgeons)

[andersenpa]

Didn't read the whole paper but have read the synopsis. Quite frankly it rubs me the wrong way, in the same manner as it irks me to no end when young smart women tell me they want to be PAs instead of physicians so they can get married and have babies and spend more time with their families....

Now, admittedly, this is my trigger issue, considering I never had the babies and I never found it possible to work less than a minimum of one full-time job as a PA, but hey, I like to work. Medicine drives me. If it doesn't drive you, and you don't feel a strong desire to be an independent practitioner, PA is a very good gig.

 

It's bad advice to say that if medicine "doesn't drive you" then you should become a PA

There are countless PAs who are driven by their love of medicine (I consider myself one of them) who are practicing medicine to the gold standard.

PA is a great profession ("gig"....."quite frankly rubs me the wrong way"....it's a profession, not an open mic night at a bar) for many professionals who want to practice medicine but do not want to go through the "older" channels. MD (even DO) is the right choice for some. PA is best for others. It's about time we stop stratifying these clinicians. I know I see them in primary care doing the same job as their physician counterparts. Perhaps you have too?

 

Lisa I hope you're not going too far the other way now that you are in your new career track.

[primadonna22274]

Try not to be too sensitive Matt. I'm the same old me but older and more tired, admittedly. Yesterday was probably not a good time to post as I just came off a very rough month rotation and took a shelf exam...came on the forum to decompress a bit. Honestly those who know me know I will always advocate for PAs and plan to keep teaching them. I do believe there should be a way to stratify levels of autonomous practice for PAs with experience and advanced training. I just couldn't wait around for it to happen in my career when I had the opportunity to go back to med school now.

[andersenpa]

Try not to be too sensitive Matt. I'm the same old me but older and more tired, admittedly. Yesterday was probably not a good time to post as I just came off a very rough month rotation and took a shelf exam...came on the forum to decompress a bit. Honestly those who know me know I will always advocate for PAs and plan to keep teaching them. I do believe there should be a way to stratify levels of autonomous practice for PAs with experience and advanced training. I just couldn't wait around for it to happen in my career when I had the opportunity to go back to med school now.

 

Don't dismiss my objective comment at an emotional "sensitive" reaction.

It has nothing to do with your motives for moving on to DO.

 

It's a fact that stating that those "who are driven my medicine" should go MD/DO, otherwise go PA, is bad advice. Furthermore it's anachronistic given the reality of our times now, and the place PAs have earned based on their outstanding practice history.

I'm sure you can see how dismissive this is to the many PAs who are just as driven...or dare I say more driven. After all, it takes significant motivation to practice as a PA (in many cases) in the environments and settings that physicians are not willing to. In those areas PAs are legislated into what is, functionally, independent practice.

 

And when I say stratify I mean drawing false barriers in the practice of experienced PAs and physicians. This relates to primary care and those settings (non surgical, non specialty for the most part) where PAs and docs can be indistinguishable to lay eyes.

 

This all gets down to what will be the new modern philosophy on PA practice. CAQ, the DNP fear mongering, even the name change are secondary to how we will view the future practice of medicine by PAs. Dependent forever? Independent with qualifications? The patient population will drive this. Just as Eugene Stead, Richard Smith, Hu Myers and Marvin Gliedman were the disruptive forces of their era, who brought PAs the next (appropriate) level, we will need innovators for the future to see PA practice for what it is- a proven method of producing competent PCPs (and certain specialty providers). The PCP PA will be the model for future PA practice, as NPs have opened the door for nonphysician providers. Independent PA PCPs is not only appropriate, but becoming necessary with our patient demographic.

 

Why say all this? Because our future PAs need to know that if you are "driven by medicine", there is more than one route; not one which is for the "most driven" and another for the "kinda driven". That is the sort of stratification we need to do away with.

 

Passionate? Yes.

Sensitive? No.

[jctyce]

As a 40 year old career changer. Getting HCE is next to impossible. I am an I.T. professional with a masters degree and make more money now then I am ever likely to make as a PA. After spending 2.5 years in the hospital while my daughter and her doctors fought to cure her cancer, I decided that I wanted to be a doctor. I tried to talk myself out of it for five years before I began the post-bacc pre-med journey. I knew little to nothing about PAs when I started, but after shadowing a few doctors who suggested PA as a more practical route to medicine at my age, I decided on PA school. My wife is going to school for sonography and will support us along with savings while I attend PA school. Getting certified as an ER tech or something along those lines in order to get HCE is not possible as I am currently the only bread winner for our family of five. I have thought long and hard about wanting to practice medicine and the little shadowing that I have done makes me want it even more. To restrict entry into PA school to health care professionals who earned some quick certificate or associates degree (excluding nursing of course), is to punish those who were ambitious enough to get a degree after high school rather than some quick certification. What you are essentially saying is that only those who lacked ambition in their youth should be allowed to become PAs. Very few people know what they want to do with the rest of their lives when they pick that major in college. It is only after you have lived, experienced life, and seen just how much of that life your career consumes that you can make a reasonable decision about what to do with your life. I know now that I want to do something that matters to me and to others. My first chose would be a physician, but I an not willing to give up my role as husband and father to become one (kids are 5, 8, and 10). That being said, PA is the next best thing and I hope that my life experience will more than make up for my lack of HCE.

[rev ronin]

As a 40 year old career changer. Getting HCE is next to impossible. I am an I.T. professional with a masters degree and make more money now then I am ever likely to make as a PA. After spending 2.5 years in the hospital while my daughter and her doctors fought to cure her cancer, I decided that I wanted to be a doctor. I tried to talk myself out of it for five years before I began the post-bacc pre-med journey. I knew little to nothing about PAs when I started, but after shadowing a few doctors who suggested PA as a more practical route to medicine at my age, I decided on PA school. My wife is going to school for sonography and will support us along with savings while I attend PA school. Getting certified as an ER tech or something along those lines in order to get HCE is not possible as I am currently the only bread winner for our family of five. I have thought long and hard about wanting to practice medicine and the little shadowing that I have done makes me want it even more. To restrict entry into PA school to health care professionals who earned some quick certificate or associates degree (excluding nursing of course), is to punish those who were ambitious enough to get a degree after high school rather than some quick certification. What you are essentially saying is that only those who lacked ambition in their youth should be allowed to become PAs. Very few people know what they want to do with the rest of their lives when they pick that major in college. It is only after you have lived, experienced life, and seen just how much of that life your career consumes that you can make a reasonable decision about what to do with your life. I know now that I want to do something that matters to me and to others. My first chose would be a physician, but I an not willing to give up my role as husband and father to become one (kids are 5, 8, and 10). That being said, PA is the next best thing and I hope that my life experience will more than make up for my lack of HCE.

 

Our employment paths are not terribly dissimilar, except that my HCE was my motivation to switch careers: As a late 30's IT manager at a Fortune 100 company, I arrested my upward career trajectory to become an EMT/FF, and accumulated about 2,000 hours of time in that role before I was admitted to PA school. I did not have a terrible disease in-family to motivate me, but neither would I question the legitimacy of that motivation.

 

As a brand-new PA, I will be making about $40,000/year less than I did in IT... and I'm above the 50th percentile for new grad pay. Likewise, I also have three kids, and have kept them and my wife together as a family through the recent PA school journey, so I know both how important and difficult that can be. I have lived the sacrifices you're contemplating.

 

Having said all that... I would rather have you admitted to PA school than a 25 year old who has a couple thousand hours of EMT work, because you have life experiences that they do not.

 

I would not say that only people who lacked ambition in their youth should be PAs, but I would say that young people whose ambition is to practice medicine should become physicians, rather than PAs. Like you, I strongly considered medical school, but could not see a way to make it work with my children or with my finances. For young adults, the physician path is tried and true, known and respected by society and employers, and there is no need to trailblaze new roles for physicians. In 20 years, I will be looking at retirement. In 20 years, a 25-year-old newbie PA will be looking at 20 more years of work, always under supervision, always answerable to a physician.

[jctyce]

I agree completely. If I was 25 years old, I would definitely be trying to get into medical school. I also hate having to compete with youngsters with little to no responsibility and perfect GPAs. My grades are pretty good but I took some pretty intense course loads (E.g. Organic 2 (3000 level) and biochem at the same time labs included), while working full-time. I made Cs in both semesters of organic chemistry and even a D in organic 2 lab. These and low grades from my college years in the days of Moses pull me into the low 3.0 GPA range. I hope that the schools will look at the whole picture and I can get a spot. However, I can see why many younger students decide upon PA school rather than medical school. I would have never considered facing the med school monster had my life experiences not led me that way.

[tompkbr]

As a 40 year old career changer. Getting HCE is next to impossible. I am an I.T. professional with a masters degree and make more money now then I am ever likely to make as a PA. After spending 2.5 years in the hospital while my daughter and her doctors fought to cure her cancer, I decided that I wanted to be a doctor. I tried to talk myself out of it for five years before I began the post-bacc pre-med journey. I knew little to nothing about PAs when I started, but after shadowing a few doctors who suggested PA as a more practical route to medicine at my age, I decided on PA school. My wife is going to school for sonography and will support us along with savings while I attend PA school. Getting certified as an ER tech or something along those lines in order to get HCE is not possible as I am currently the only bread winner for our family of five. I have thought long and hard about wanting to practice medicine and the little shadowing that I have done makes me want it even more. To restrict entry into PA school to health care professionals who earned some quick certificate or associates degree (excluding nursing of course), is to punish those who were ambitious enough to get a degree after high school rather than some quick certification. What you are essentially saying is that only those who lacked ambition in their youth should be allowed to become PAs. Very few people know what they want to do with the rest of their lives when they pick that major in college. It is only after you have lived, experienced life, and seen just how much of that life your career consumes that you can make a reasonable decision about what to do with your life. I know now that I want to do something that matters to me and to others. My first chose would be a physician, but I an not willing to give up my role as husband and father to become one (kids are 5, 8, and 10). That being said, PA is the next best thing and I hope that my life experience will more than make up for my lack of HCE.

 

jctyce,

After 9 years in various corp. roles for a Fortune 100 manufacturer (fin/cost accounting, purchasing, and mfg. logistics), I decided to pursue PA. I knew from the get go that patient care experience is pretty much a pre-req. at most schools, so I knew that if I really wanted to do this, I would have to bite the bullet & give up a very lucarative career. I am in my mid-30s, married with 2 young children, and was also the sole breadwinner when I decied to quit, so I can relate. It wasn't easy to do, and it required nearly 2 years of careful financial planning to go to zero income, get a credential, then find work as an EMT-B on a buggy or as an ER Tech. Again, not easy, but doable. Frankly, I'm glad we did it this way as I have a much greater appreciation. I only wish I was a qualified as those who come from higher quality fields such as RN, RT, parmedic, etc.

 

That said, I do agree with what you and rev ronin have said about age. There are a significant "soft skills" one aquires through experience in the "real world" that no 22 yr old right of of college could possibly understand.

 

Best of luck to you with your decisions. You sound very practical & down to earth and I hope you are able to become a PA.

[EMEDPA]

jctyce- found your post very insulting. some/many of us did both; got the college degree early then went into health care as a medic/rn/rt, etc then went back later to pa school. pa school builds on a base of prior hce, that is why the requirement is there.

you should look at direct entry/2nd degree np if you don't want to put the time in to get hce to become a pa. 3 yrs from bs degree in anything to np.

[km07cq]

"To restrict entry into PA school to health care professionals who earned some quick certificate or associates degree (excluding nursing of course), is to punish those who were ambitious enough to get a degree after high school rather than some quick certification. What you are essentially saying is that only those who lacked ambition in their youth should be allowed to become PAs. "

 

Just to let your know.. those radiation therapists like myself who probably treated your daughter's cancer more than likely only had an associates degree. Im glad you think we had no ambition. Many people who have HCE got an AAS, worked, went back to school (while working full time jobs) and made straight As. Just because I dont have 4 kids and knew better to get a "trade" in medicine before I got my BS degree doesn't mean I should be banned from going to PA school. It means I was smart (and qualified).

[GatorRRT]

@jc, Just because someone attended community college doesn't mean they "lack ambition". I'd argue that your desire to not attempt to acquire any HCE shows a lack of ambition/follow through.

[EMEDPA]

. I'd argue that your desire to not attempt to acquire any HCE shows a lack of ambition/follow through.

yup, agree.......

[siskiyoufire]

Hello,

fly on the wall here.

Felt the need to chime in because I'm one of those people who "earned some quick certificate" AKA an EMT-B card and then 2.5 years later a Parmedic license. I had taken the EMT class because it was a pre-requisite for Fire Academy. I ended up falling in with EMS and later on Health care in general.

I have worked as a Paramedic in Rural EMS since 2005 and have spent the last 2 years also working in busy urgent care attached to a rural community health center, while finishing the pre-reqs for MEDEX and picking up ambulance shifts inbetween supporting my wife and 3 children. I have 17,000+ hours HCE, and am patiently awaiting to hear from MEDEX Yakima. JCTYCE I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum as you. You need more HCE. I need more "formal ED" but have worked hard through a situation similar to yours to be able to apply this year. PA school's are not favored towards someone with a "quick certificate." quite the opposite really. MEDEX is the only program that I'm capable of applying to. While even with next to 0 HCE Im sure you could volunteer scribe or shadow somewhere for a few weeks and then apply to oodles of programs with whatever degree you have.

[KCMA79]

Redacted

.

[CalSeniorGal]

"3) PA is not for the young; they belong in medical school. If you're under 25 and want to practice medicine, go to medical school. It's longer and more expensive, but it's a tried and true way for the young, malleable, and motivated to practice medicine. PA is orchestrated from the ground up to take people who have experience, adult learners, who have already demonstrated competence in limited fields to uplevel their skills and knowledge to the level needed to practice medicine, and are willing to live with de facto caps on their salary and professional respect."

 

Your post discourages those younger that 25 from being a PA even if it is what they really want to do. Going to medical is not exclusively for a younger age group and is not the alternative. It is an entirely different profession and schooling experience and is different in practice.

I don't think you should make groupings like that because not all people want to make the sacrifices that come with being a physician. I know I don't.

[rev ronin]

Your post discourages those younger that 25 from being a PA even if it is what they really want to do.

 

Yes, it does. Talk to some of the PA's around here who've been practicing for 20 years about the frustrations of the glass ceiling they experience that MDs won't ever hit. Basically, the idea that anyone smart and assertive enough to ace the sciences and get into PA school at age 22 will be happy with a FORTY YEAR career as "just an assistant" is silly. I'll grant that there may be those rare exceptions that prove the rule, but every <25 year old who's getting into PA school is charging at a career dead-end. Now, the goal posts may have moved in the next 20 years, and I would certainly hope that they do, but I wouldn't bet on it with the AAPA in the driver's seat.

 

As far as being 'different in practice', if you think there are markedly different sacrifices between PAs and Physicians outside of residency, all I can say is that I haven't seen what you're referring to yet.

[EMEDPA]

As far as being 'different in practice', if you think there are markedly different sacrifices between PAs and Physicians outside of residency, all I can say is that I haven't seen what you're referring to yet.

sure there are:

docs dilemna: bmw or porsche

pa's dilemna: my sp is retiring and no one wants to buy the practice so I can move across country, work in a supermax prison or join the army.

[kma14]

At 23, I just graduated with my BS in Nutrition, and was faced with two option: complete an RD internship, practice for a few years, then apply to PA school, or go straight into trying to groom myself for PA school. After meeting with an advisor at USC, I was told I would be wasting my time getting my RD.

 

So here I am, about to turn 24, living at home, unemployed, and spending all my time preparing myself for the 2013-2014 application cycle (volunteering, taking and re-taking a few pre-reqs at the community college, shadowing, studying/taking the GRE, etc.). My undergrad GPA wasn't steller...3.38, and I currently don't have any sort of license or certificate to get a job that counts toward HCE, but practicing medicine as a PA is what I want to do. Not because it's a short cut, or easy (I know fully well it's not), but because I want to practice medicine while still allowing me, as a woman, to be an active and present mother and wife to my future family.

 

Becoming a PA over an MD, seemed to suite my life goals best. I fully realize there is a glass ceiling on the practice of a PA, and for me, that's OK, because I fully intend for my career to not be #1 in my life, my future family will be. I know many people will scoff at this, particularly those who view their career advancement as the end-all-be-all of life, but I am not one of those people, and thus, I didn't feel med. school was a good fit.

 

Every day I wake up with a pit in my stomach and the ever-present thought in my head that I can't do this. That I don't have HCE and I have a lower GPA, and the other applicants I will undoubtedly be up against come application time will blow my out of the water. I am working on raising my science GPA, and I am working on a plan to get HCE, and I thought that coming here would encourage me, answer some of my questions about the application process, and let me know I am not alone. Instead, I find "Do you REALLY want to be a PA?", and my heart sinks even further.

 

I truly hope this is merely expressing the opinion of a few, and that I should not let it tear my dreams down. I hope my self-doubt is wrong, and I'm aware I need to believe in myself before any admissions board will. I'm a work in progress, but everyone has to start somewhere, whether it be at 23 or 33, and Rev Ronin should acknowledge this, rather than attacking the dreams of those who started down the PA path at a younger age.

Edited November 5, 2012 by kma14

[KCMA79]

Do what you want to do. I'm not sure what you are looking for but no one is attacking your dreams only offering realistic advice based on yrs of experience. "Do you REALLY want to be a PA" is a valid question since many people don't have a clue what being a PA is all about. People here will be happy to ans. questions. What type of encouragement do you want? Tell you that everything will be OK? There are many here that will be happy to tell you what you can do to chart a path to PA school but I would assume you want the unvarnished truth which isn't always encouraging or pretty.

[kma14]

I do appreciate the unvarnished truth, as well as the advice of those who have been where I am now, and succeeded as a PA. I suppose my problem with the original posting is that the advice being made was; if you're under 25 and/or lack HCE, you don't know what you're doing, and you don't belong here, go to medical school. I know fully well that everything might not be OK, and it scares the daylights out of me, but I'm still here. My point was "Do you REALLY want to be a PA" seemed more discouraging than anything else. Perhaps a better angle would have been to discuss the defining characteristics of the PA as opposed to other medical professionals, and give more insight for those here who "don't have a clue what being a PA is all about."

[rachiehayes]

At 23, I just graduated with my BS in Nutrition, and was faced with two option: complete an RD internship, practice for a few years, then apply to PA school, or go straight into trying to groom myself for PA school. After meeting with an advisor at USC, I was told I would be wasting my time getting my RD.

 

So here I am, about to turn 24, living at home, unemployed, and spending all my time preparing myself for the 2013-2014 application cycle (volunteering, taking and re-taking a few pre-reqs at the community college, shadowing, studying/taking the GRE, etc.). My undergrad GPA wasn't steller...3.38, and I currently don't have any sort of license or certificate to get a job that counts toward HCE, but practicing medicine as a PA is what I want to do. Not because it's a short cut, or easy (I know fully well it's not), but because I want to practice medicine while still allowing me, as a woman, to be an active and present mother and wife to my future family.

 

Becoming a PA over an MD, seemed to suite my life goals best. I fully realize there is a glass ceiling on the practice of a PA, and for me, that's OK, because I fully intend for my career to not be #1 in my life, my future family will be. I know many people will scoff at this, particularly those who view their career advancement as the end-all-be-all of life, but I am not one of those people, and thus, I didn't feel med. school was a good fit.

 

Every day I wake up with a pit in my stomach and the ever-present thought in my head that I can't do this. That I don't have HCE and I have a lower GPA, and the other applicants I will undoubtedly be up against come application time will blow my out of the water. I am working on raising my science GPA, and I am working on a plan to get HCE, and I thought that coming here would encourage me, answer some of my questions about the application process, and let me know I am not alone. Instead, I find "Do you REALLY want to be a PA?", and my heart sinks even further.

 

I truly hope this is merely expressing the opinion of a few, and that I should not let it tear my dreams down. I hope my self-doubt is wrong, and I'm aware I need to believe in myself before any admissions board will. I'm a work in progress, but everyone has to start somewhere, whether it be at 23 or 33, and Rev Ronin should acknowledge this, rather than attacking the dreams of those who started down the PA path at a younger age.

 

I don't think he's necessarily "attacking the dreams of anyone". A few months ago he gave me the same advice, "what the heck are you doing applying to PA school with 300 HCE & research experience, go to med school". Well I thought he probably just regretted doing PA instead of MD, and I instead took the rest as constructive criticism. I mean I can write a novel about how my mom is a doctor & never had time for me.. lol. But in reality, without HCE, how can you even know if you like dealing with patients?

 

A PA is a HIGHLY QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROVIDER. Do you think you can become a highly qualified healthcare provider in four years of PA school? If so, go for it.

 

I am 22 years old with a BS in Biomedical Sciences. For 6 months I was freaking out about not getting accepted. My gut feeling was right, I wasn't qualified. Boo hoo.

I'm working as a CNA and starting a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer program Spring 2014. Let me tell you, I finally have a huge weight off my shoulders.

Don't focus on simply getting in to PA school, concentrate on BEING QUALIFIED when you enter. Challenge yourself in the pre-PA process to be a continuous, lifelong learner.

Edited January 29, 2013 by rachiehayes

[Moiraine57]

I don't think he's necessarily "attacking the dreams of anyone". A few months ago he gave me the same advice, "what the heck are you doing applying to PA school with 300 HCE & research experience, go to med school". Well I thought he probably just regretted doing PA instead of MD, and I instead took the rest as constructive criticism. I mean I can write a novel about how my mom is a doctor & never had time for me.. lol. But in reality, without HCE, how can you even know if you like dealing with patients?

 

A PA is a HIGHLY QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROVIDER. Do you think you can become a highly qualified healthcare provider in four years of PA school? If so, go for it.

 

I am 22 years old with a BS in Biomedical Sciences. For 6 months I was freaking out about not getting accepted. My gut feeling was right, I wasn't qualified. Boo hoo.

I'm working as a CNA and starting a Diagnostic Medical Sonographer program Spring 2014. Let me tell you, I finally have a huge weight off my shoulders.

Don't focus on simply getting in to PA school, concentrate on BEING QUALIFIED when you enter. Challenge yourself in the pre-PA process to be a continuous, lifelong learner.

 

This is why I don't understand the "no HCE--become a doctor!" advice. If you can't know you want to be a PA without HCE, how can you know you want to be a doctor? If I decide I hate PA after PA school, I'm down 3 years and $$. If I decide I don't want to be an MD after med school and residency, I'm down 6+ years and $$$$$.

 

if anything, you can probably recover from "wasting your time" becoming a PA to do something else. You can't really recover if you decide doctor is wrong for you after the crushing med school loans.

[whoRyou]

This is why I don't understand the "no HCE--become a doctor!" advice. If you can't know you want to be a PA without HCE, how can you know you want to be a doctor? If I decide I hate PA after PA school, I'm down 3 years and $$. If I decide I don't want to be an MD after med school and residency, I'm down 6+ years and $$$$$.

 

if anything, you can probably recover from "wasting your time" becoming a PA to do something else. You can't really recover if you decide doctor is wrong for you after the crushing med school loans.

*NODS HEAD* Amen

[patachok]

First off, I think this is a great thread. :)

I will be starting a PA program summer 2013 in Rush, Chicago and beyond excited about that. I am one of those people, who started working in HC first as an EEG tech in the hospital, then went on getting my BA in Biology while working full time, and during that time decided that I wanted to do more for my patients and become a PA. I feel that that is the reverse of many people who first decide to become a PA and then start getting HCE. While I might not completely agree with the first post of this thread, I do strongly believe in hands on experience and preferably a good amount of it. Having been working for 4.5 years now, I have been told by my manager that I have an excellent work ethic, and a rare ability to really care about my patients (not because it is my job, but just how I am). To me - I just do what I consider is right.

 

As a PA you are going to work with people day in day out like somebody said. Really make sure you are O.K. with it... because let me tell you and I am sure people who work as PA's can confirm - some patients drive you up the wall, and you just want to do something bad to them...

But if you have decided that PA is for you, then get your stuff together, work with patients, make sure you do not hate people and go for it...

And hopefully you love it, no matter how old you are!

[patachok]

As a brand-new PA, I will be making about $40,000/year less than I did in IT... and I'm above the 50th percentile for new grad pay. Likewise, I also have three kids, and have kept them and my wife together as a family through the recent PA school journey, so I know both how important and difficult that can be. I have lived the sacrifices you're contemplating.

 

I am just curious what state are PA's making 40,000/year and what specialty? Seems awfully low...