mktalon Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 In going through many PSs it has come up quite a bit that the PS should talk about your passion about being a PA and shying away from why NOT MD. I agree with this. With that said, for me, the choice was easy as to why, but it still comes off as a "I would have done MD but missed my window so now I'm going PA route." Does a real passion for the PA profession exist outside of the reason for not wanting/being able to be in school for 9 years? Yes, there is the lateral mobility issue, but is that enough to take a 50% pay cut and more limited scope? As an MD you have a larger scope, twice the pay, and more respect. I'm interested in hearing others opinions as to what is intrinsically more attractive about the PA profession outside of the time in school and lateral mobility (which may not exist in years to come)? And, no, I am not asking other people to answer this question for me. Like I said, I have my own reasons. I am just curious what others have to say about the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted January 9, 2012 no mcat, no o-chem, no biochem. no calculus. 1/2 the debt or less. all bad reasons but those were mine as a 25 yr old paramedic with a bs degree and all pa school prereqs done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted January 9, 2012 do you need calculus for med school? 10% of medschools require it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarian Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 ******* [ATTACH=CONFIG]853[/ATTACH] ******* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mktalon Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Contrarian, you wanted to be a PA so you could dress in a suit and wave a stick at a sleeping horse? Well, at least its unique... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taotaox1 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Contrarian, you wanted to be a PA so you could dress in a suit and wave a stick at a sleeping horse? Well, at least its unique... lol Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarian Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Contrarian, you wanted to be a PA so you could dress in a suit and wave a stick at a sleeping horse? Well, at least its unique... Well... hope you get in. Maybe AFTER completing a PA program... you will be able to recognize "death" and post-mortem flogging, as evidenced by the "x's" over the horses' eyes and the "bruising." :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Steve Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 can you define "real passion"? and are there parameters for when that feeling is real? I ask the second question because when I was six, I had a real passion to be an astronaut. I felt it with every bone of my body...then, as I gathered life experience, I found that the "real passion" passed...more frankly...I have a difficult time wrapping my mind around the notion shared by some posters here that at the age of 20, give or take a few years, they state they have a "real passion" to be a PA but they haven't ever worked in medicine and are struggling to find PAs to shadow. The whole picture just doesn't add up for me. I suppose the parameters of what makes something "real" for one person won't apply to others. I have a "real" passion for practicing clinical medicine. At this stage of my life, PA was the most logical route given my life balance. So perhaps one could argue my passion wasn't for being a PA, but rather to be a clinician. PA just made the most sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mktalon Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 Just Steve, that pretty much sums it up fo me as well. I am passionate about medicine and the PA profession is the most logical way to accomplish that. But I cant honestly say that my passion lies with the profession itself. I am sure that in other circumstances I would be pursuing med school. But in my circumstances I am either a PA or I won't be in medicine at all, so PA it is. I guess if that means I have a passion for the profession so be it, but I don't really see any intrinsic advantage to the profession outside of he fact that it allows someone like me a chance to practice medicine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Steve Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 but I don't really see any intrinsic advantage to the profession outside of he fact that it allows someone like me a chance to practice medicine. need there be more? Once you're a member of the club, I think you'd be hard pressed to find the ceiling. Everytime you run up against what feels like "as far as I can go" there is a state with more lenient practice restrictions, there are fields yet to be explored, there are avenues...from my spot..i figure I have maybe another 20-30 years of practice left...I doubt I'll get too bored in that time frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mktalon Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 I don't need more but I am still left curious as to what others see as an intrinsic advantage to PA, other than time spent in school; especially from those that have the time to do med school. What I'm trying to get to is whether or not here is something about the actual practicing as a PA that is somehow more attractive than as a MD. Cost and length of school and no mcat are all reasons, but are peripheral to the actual profession whereas the advantages to being an MD are more intrinsic to the actual practice of medicine (scope, pay, respect, opportunities). So less barriers of entry is an advantage for the PA route, but once a PA is out practicing, is there something about it that is so much better than practicing as an MD? I'm not arguing that there isn't, but I don't hear anybody talk about it much in this context. And yes I know about lateral mobility but I'm not convinced that this will be as true in the future as it is now so I would not want that having much weight if I were making my decision in other circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valerialynch Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 One great benefit of the PA profession is the ability to work in any specialty. You can bounce around and explore. You aren't committed to one specialty. From my personal experiences, patients are extremely grateful that PAs are available in their times of need because they would otherwise be waiting awhile to see their physician. And the PAs (that I have worked with) can spare time to be with the patients, thoroughly explain what is going on, and address the patients' concern. I am not looking down upon being a physician, but the reality is that there is a shortage of physicians. The reason why PA was started to begin with was to alleviate this shortage. With PA education lasting 2-3 years, PAs are "produced" more quickly than physicians and are able to provide to the patients. Depending how you work as a PA, you may not have to worry about medical malpractice insurance because you will covered by the physician. Depending on the state laws, you can own your own clinic (as long as there is a physician there). PAs still get respect for treating patients. They have plenty of opportunities. I know PAs who make $100,000. Money isn't everything to me. As long as I can live comfortably and provide to my future family and have the time to be with them, I'll be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted January 10, 2012 Moderator Share Posted January 10, 2012 lateral mobility I think is exaggerated within our profession and is getting harder to swing every yr. to get many quality specialty jobs today you need experience in that specialty. as an em pa if I wanted to work neurosurgery for example I would probably need to do a residency. sure there is mobility among entry level positions but who wants to leave a specialty job making say 125k for an entry level position making 80 at which you are not credentialed for any of the procedures in that specialty. insurance companies, hospital credenmtialing boards and the joint commission are making it harder and harder for pa's to practice in even a single specialty with a good scope of practice. we have to track # of procedures, etc to stay credentialed. even as a senior em pa I am seriously considering going back to do a residency to get credentialed for more procedures because I just can't get the #s needed in regular day to day practice. ( u/s for example requires EIGHT HUNDRED PRECEPTED STUDIES to be credentialed at my primary facility). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackjacks Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Ties in with the shorter length of schooling, but by choosing PA over MD/DO I will be able to buy a house sooner and have children around age 30, which I wouldn't be able to do as a MD because there is no way in heck I'd have kids during residency. I know women who do it, and they amaze me, but I am not going to put that kind of stress on myself. I'll be in a better spot financially in my 30's. I am not interested in any super-sub-specialty lateral transitions, but I'd like to work as a hospitalist at a big teaching hospital in a city the first several years after PA school, then move somewhere more rural and outdoorsy and work in FP. Being a PA fits really well with all of these other goals that I have in life, and allows me to practice medicine and have a career that I'll find fulfilling. I don't have any need to be the head honcho, but I am capable of being a leader and working autonomously. If I ever want more, I can get an MBA through night school, learn about business, and try to open my own practice. In PA school interviews, I was basically straight up honest about the fact that I want balance in my life and I have a lot of other goals besides being a PA, but I also made it clear that I will support the PA profession/am interested in politics and understand that we need to work for legislation supporting PAs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kooljessie2007 Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 There's also the comfort of practicing medicine and not having the fear of being sued... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mktalon Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 There's also the comfort of practicing medicine and not having the fear of being sued... are you sure about this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatevs Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 PAs have just as much liability as other health care providers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kooljessie2007 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 [h=2]My mistake. I did my research and found that I had made the wrong conclusion. I assumed that if employers picked up a PAs insurance, (s)he could not be sued, that the supervising MD would be taking responsibility. I misinterpreted what I read. [/h] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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