..

[EMNP]

.

[electric130]

To be completely honest it seems like the FNP program is the much better choice for you considering the cost and time involved.  In practice once you have experience I feel like most NPs and PAs are right on par with each other.  Whatever procedural experience NPs don't get in school they tend to pick up once they are in practice if they are in the right setting.  You come out way ahead financially doing the FNP program. 

[LESH]

Finish the FNP program.

[CAAdmission]

Just remember: nurses become good clinicians in direct proportion to their ability to forget all the crap they teach in nursing school.

[primadonna22274]

What my friend Les is too gracious to say is that you must now finish the FNP program because you have most likely trashed your acceptance at Stanford PA program.

Your deferral was not granted to allow you to enroll in another program to hedge your bets. The PA world is very small and it wouldn't take much digging for any Stanford program folks to figure out who you are and rescind your acceptance and subsequent deferral.

 

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[Acebecker]

I'll add to primadonna's post that if any of us were on the admissions committee for Stanford, we would be revoking your offer. 

 

My advice *would have been* to take the PA slot as the training is vastly superior to that of most FNP programs.  As others have said, after 2-3 years the knowledge curves will become similar.  At this point, have the professional courtesy to notify Stanford that  your decision has changed so that they are no longer holding a seat for you. 

[Reality Check 2]

Not impressed.

Same dude who waits to see which "friend " is going to the "cool party" and dumps the other person last minute. Or only cheers for the hometeam when they win.

 

You get what you invest and not just in $$$$.

 

COMMIT and stay true to ONE THING.

 

Make it happen and give 100%.

[Purrpa]

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I am. Continue with the FNP program, hold your head high & don't look back at us PAs who bicker over name changes, ever changing certification requirements & ongoing NCCPA exams/fees. Look forward to taking ONE exam & maintaining ongoing CME certification. Frankly, I'm considering retaking the NCLEX exam to work as a staff RN again.

Best of luck to you -

 

 

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[sillycibin]

You are giving up a far superior education up front, but once in practice and seasoned, it won't matter whether you're an FNP or PAC.  A lot of times I mistakenly refer to the NPs I work with as PAs.  And NPs can work anywhere.  We just hired a new grad FNP for our trauma surgery service.  And yes, we are having to teach her how to gown and glove... And you will get one huge advantage over being a PA, opportunity for independent practice!  I can't tell you how mad it makes me to not have that ability.  If there was a PA to FNP bridge I would do it.

[db_pavnp]

Let me be the first to say that you don't owe either program anything.  You have been accepted because you have demonstrated an ability to pass their exams on the contingency that you are willing to pay and follow whatever rules they have implemented dictating your behavior.  Neither program is saintly or altruistic - they aren't giving homeless people a second chance at life or donating proceeds to fight hunger in Africa.

 

All selection processes are deeply prejudiced and you fit whatever stereotypes were necessary to get accepted.  If I haven't driven this point hard enough yet, I just read a discussion where a med school student noticed that a disproportionate number of their overweight students magically failed to match.  Another ran a p test on it and got something like a p value of 0.0001.

 

That all said, you are asking if you should become essentially an F-PA or an F-NP.  Realistically, no one has an answer for you or the energy to invest in this question.  These professions are more similar than they are different and exhibit too many localized variations in relative strength or weakness to come up with an answer for you.

 

Let me also be the first to say that neither program teaches you enough.  They can't.  They are too short.  If you are smart, you will study beyond what you are taught and plan on continuing to do so for a long time.  If you really work hard at it and follow that mindset, the program you attend is far less important than what you put into it.

[HMtoPA]

Given the financial advantage and the fact that you've already started the FNP program, I'd stick with that.  As others have said, in the real world the jobs are so similar as to often be mistaken for one another.  So keep your savings and get that house.  

 

I don't understand how you can work 24-36 hours a week while in an FNP program, though.  Shouldn't you be...busier?

 

I wouldn't listen to the holier-than-thou crowd that want to burn you at the stake for starting an FNP program while you're on deferral from Stanford.  At this point you haven't taken a seat from anyone.  You applied, they accepted you, then you decided to wait a year, and they agreed.  So what?

[Boatswain2PA]

Go the NP route.  It rarely ever makes financial sense for a nurse to go to PA school for the reasons you listed above.

 

However, realize that your NP education is a joke.  It will NOT prepare you to practice family practice medicine.  Just look at how little actual effort you are putting into learning MEDICINE in your program now.  Much of what you are learning is "holistic nursing theoretical management solutions to perceived problems in underserved patient populations".  AND you have time to work 24-36 hours per week.  Compare that to the MEDICAL training that a PA or MD/DO and you will begin to see our point here.

 

So, get through your NP education, realize you now have a sheepskin and a license, and THEN start working hard to learn medicine.  Two of the best midlevels I have worked with were NPs.  One works with a general surgeon, and the other works in EM.  Both openly say that their NP education was a joke, but they learned medicine by outstanding physician mentors and extreme amounts of hard work and self-education.  

 

Good luck.

[Joelseff]

What my friend Les is too gracious to say is that you must now finish the FNP program because you have most likely trashed your acceptance at Stanford PA program.

Your deferral was not granted to allow you to enroll in another program to hedge your bets. The PA world is very small and it wouldn't take much digging for any Stanford program folks to figure out who you are and rescind your acceptance and subsequent deferral.

 

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We may even have a Stanford alum or two who still keeps in contact with the ADCOM, lurking in here... ????;)

 

Sent from my S5 Active...Like you care...

 

[rev ronin]

What my friend Les is too gracious to say is that you must now finish the FNP program because you have most likely trashed your acceptance at Stanford PA program.

Your deferral was not granted to allow you to enroll in another program to hedge your bets. The PA world is very small and it wouldn't take much digging for any Stanford program folks to figure out who you are and rescind your acceptance and subsequent deferral.

The security professional in me wonders whether the OP might not even be a fake account, designed to 'out' and get rid of some competition for the Stanford program.  That is, anyone smart and devious enough to do things the OP's way is probably not dumb enough to post about it with specifics on the Internet.  BUT, if one were a Machiavellian Stanford PA applicant and ended up with knowledge of the situation, one might have calculated a likely advantage by surreptitiously bringing it to the attention of the current administration, say, by posting about it in a forum like this.

 

But that's probably just my past work experience talking.  No one would actually do that in real life, right?

[Guest Paula]

Haha. Rev. I'm suspicious too. Lol.

[LESH]

What my friend Les is too gracious to say is that you must now finish the FNP program because you have most likely trashed your acceptance at Stanford PA program.

Your deferral was not granted to allow you to enroll in another program to hedge your bets. The PA world is very small and it wouldn't take much digging for any Stanford program folks to figure out who you are and rescind your acceptance and subsequent deferral.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

Prima I am being more pragmatic that any thing else. I will say that I give kudos to the administration and faculty at Stanford for offering the deferral. They have come along way. There was a time that wouldn't be an option.

[primadonna22274]

Oh I'm pragmatic too. Just want the kid to understand he made a choice. ..whether he realized it or not. Naivete is so cute.

 

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[SocialMedicine]

The education does not sound as robust through the fnp

You must recognize that

When you see a pa and fnp program compared like that it raises flags for the indep practice movement

That said fnp appears the way to go especially if you have strong hce. It sounds like you do

Too bad Stanford medical school does not award a masters degree. Sounds like an odd design

You are making the right call. Maybe do a residency after graduation

[LESH]

Oh I'm pragmatic too. Just want the kid to understand he made a choice. ..whether he realized it or not. Naivete is so cute.

 

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I think the OP has made a call that was based on what was important to them and that is okay. It is hard to compete with the CSU FNP programs for applicants because of how they are set up and cost.  As long as the seat in the Stanford program is freed up for someone else then it pretty much is a wash IMHO. 

[Z PA-C]

I always heard that PA training >>> NP training but I didn't realize how different until an NP student rotated with me. I'll admit I was jealous she got to work full-time but I almost couldn't believe it when I heard she had 4 rotations (two adult medicine, one peds, and one geriatrics) and only needed about 130 hrs for each rotation which she could set up around her schedule. She was also never taught to suture or interpret Xrays AND they have to find all of their own rotation sites!

I'm hoping that most NP programs aren't like this but this program in particular is also trying to start a new PA program so I'm curious to see how that pans out.

As for OP, you're already in the NP program just stick it out. If you hadn't deferred the Stanford PA position for a year, I would have recommended taking that route but it seems like in the end NPs and PAs end up working in similar settings anyway, plus nurse lobby benefits.

[Joelseff]

Prima I am being more pragmatic that any thing else. I will say that I give kudos to the administration and faculty at Stanford for offering the deferral. They have come along way. There was a time that wouldn't be an option.

They might revoke it.... Just saying.... :rolleyes:

 

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[Joelseff]

I always heard that PA training >>> NP training but I didn't realize how different until an NP student rotated with me. I'll admit I was jealous she got to work full-time but I almost couldn't believe it when I heard she had 4 rotations (two adult medicine, one peds, and one geriatrics) and only needed about 130 hrs for each rotation which she could set up around her schedule. She was also never taught to suture or interpret Xrays AND they have to find all of their own rotation sites!

 

I'm hoping that most NP programs aren't like this but this program in particular is also trying to start a new PA program so I'm curious to see how that pans out.

 

As for OP, you're already in the NP program just stick it out. If you hadn't deferred the Stanford PA position for a year, I would have recommended taking that route but it seems like in the end NPs and PAs end up working in similar settings anyway, plus nurse lobby benefits.

I am precepting 2 NP students from 2 different schools... I'm frustrated because they are a few months from graduating and they don't even have the basics of HTN pathophysiology or pharmacology down. One is already thinking of opening his own practice after graduation... He better pass my rotation first though.

 

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[Acebecker]

I'm thinking that the OP didn't get the response he/she was looking for, hence the redaction of the original post. 

 

The summary was this:  The OP was accepted to Stanford's PA program.  The OP requested a deferral due to a family issue at the expected time of matriculation.  It was granted.  Since a deferral was granted, the OP started a FNP program elsewhere.  The OP wanted our advice about whether or not to stay in the FNP program and if accepting the PA seat would be more beneficial.  The OP posted financial information to help us provide advice. 

 

That's the gist of it so that anyone else can provide feedback on this issue. 

[True Anomaly]

I'm thinking that the OP didn't get the response he/she was looking for, hence the redaction of the original post. 

 

The summary was this:  The OP was accepted to Stanford's PA program.  The OP requested a deferral due to a family issue at the expected time of matriculation.  It was granted.  Since a deferral was granted, the OP started a FNP program elsewhere.  The OP wanted our advice about whether or not to stay in the FNP program and if accepting the PA seat would be more beneficial.  The OP posted financial information to help us provide advice. 

 

That's the gist of it so that anyone else can provide feedback on this issue. 

 

I think all the feedback necessary has been given on the thread- thanks for the summation.  

 

I'm going to lock the thread because the OP redacted their post and we've seemed to reach the limit of discussion about it.  Let it be a cautionary post to anyone who would consider a similar route.