Working for VA vs private sector medicine

[NYCPAC]

Hi All!

 

Was recently offered a relatively top private hospital PA opportunity in a surgical specialty, however there is also a job opportunity on the fence at the VA where I have connections within the dept already. While I have worked for "prestigious academic center hospitals" before, I dont 100% know if the surgical job is the right fit given it would take a bit more additional training whereas the VA job would take some, but quite a bit less given it falls under the crit care/medicine umbrella for which i already have nearly 3yrs experience. Additionally the surgical job is with 1 provider only and it split almost 50/50 between clinic and OR- i am used to working with large amounts of rotating physicians. I have been told by another PA who works at a VA that they really love their job, have a great relationship with the docs and that the VA offer great benefits, salary raises, and even student loan forgiveness with certain time commitments.  The surgical specialty job has solid pay & benefits but is more of a "corporation" whos trying to crank out numbers to gain higher recognition (this is the story with most large university centers), however the attending physician comes from THE most recognized academic center on the west coast and I am sure this would be a great resume booster should i choose to ever have another job. Also- not sure if my federal loans would still be elligible for public service loan forgiveness plan given that this is a private medical center?? Would need to look into this as my fed loans are still >90k (ahhhh!). Both positions dont have the best pt population from what ive heard, however I am used to dealing with all kinds of pt populations and a a very patient person. While money is not the driving force in my decision, I have to make it somewhat of a consideration into my decision. Has anyone ever worked for the VA? if so, what was your experience like? Additionally has anyone gone from large PA/MD service to solely working with 1 provider- what were the pros/cons of the switch? Any feedback at all would be greatly appreciated!