monpetitoiseau Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Hello everyone! I am currently a pre-med or pre-PA student and have a question for you practicing PAs out there. Have any of you ever felt limited by the options of specialties as a PA? This has been one of my concerns in the MD/PA debate and I'm curious to hear what your perspectives are. Thanks so much! Katie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted August 22, 2011 Moderator Share Posted August 22, 2011 never limited - sometimes have been overwhelmed by the options - this is the BIG advantage of PA - in 10 years I have done IM, Occ Health, Interventional Radiology, Chronic Pain, ER, and per diem in Ortho, Occ health, Physiatry...... realized I am just a primary care guy at heart....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btg138 Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 There seem to be a few specialties which do not utilize PAs very much (I seem to see this in Nephrology, for example), but even then I think you'd be able to get a job in that area if you could convince a physician to be your SP (and maybe the necessary administration(s)). The only real limitation I see is in the surgical field, but even then there is a lot you can do, depending on the SP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houstonian Posted September 2, 2011 Share Posted September 2, 2011 Never felt limited by specialty opportunities. I have known PA's functioning successfully in family practice, internal medicine,general surgery, vascular surgery, cardiology, neurosurgery, neurology, interventional radiology, oncology, gastroenterology, emergency medicine. Have seen fewer PA's in pediatrics or ICU medicine. The limitation is whether you are willing to take on the challenge of learning a whole new field. One advantage of doing a medical residency is the structured learning opportunity; as a PA the training ismorelikely to be informal, on the job training and of course self-study. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SocialMedicine Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 few in Infectious Disease, Nephrology, ENT, Urology in my experience. GYN tends to be more of an NP/CNM area. Also PAs are more of an assistant in surgical fields for obvious reasons but command for the most part full autonomy in medicine settings. The PAs I find that are unhappy (and it is VERY few I fidn unhappy) seem to be those who really took a love for surgery and do not like the role of PA in that realm. :shrug: But many LOVE it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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