Opinion/advice needed

[natalizumab]

I have been following these forums for quite some time now. I have noticed how helpful everyone here is, and that's what encouraged me to seek advice/opinion. The executive summary of my background is that I attended on the well-known Caribbean medical school a couple of years ago for 2 years and successfully completed basic sciences but had to withdraw (voluntarily and in good standing) due to some hardships (non-academic). Since leaving med school, I worked and obtained a third graduate degree (had 2 previously). My love for medicine has never faded and now I feel ready more thane ever to go back and continue where I left off, especially considering the investment I made (point of no return). However;  I'm not getting any younger (I'm a non-trad.), needless to say, the odds are not in my favor for residency (older, several years away from med school, Caribbean med school, etc .), so I'm considering Pharmacy (3-year accelerated) and PA schools as alternatives. I'm torn between the 2 as I love medicine (PA), and I loved pharm in med school and aced it. I'm also exposed to both professions (shadowing) and loved both. I'm fully aware of how pharmacy is getting saturated as a profession and whatnot, but my main concern is doing something that I will love and not hate halfway down the road. And finally, what are my odds for getting accepted into either one (my undergrad stats: above average, med school: average, grad school well above average).

So there you have it! Any input will be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I haven't taken the USMLE

Edited May 11, 2018 by natalizumab

[jmj11]

Yeah, I got an idea. Go to PA school! You will love being a PA if you loved medicine. I would go crazy being a pharmacist. 

[PACJD]

Honestly, from a practical standpoint either career path is a good choice and has a bright future. I may be a little biased since I am a PA and my sister is a pharmacist, but nonetheless they are good careers and you probably already know that. Both are pretty difficult to get into, and job saturation is creeping up in both professions as well. Pay may be a little higher in pharm but that is also depending on where you work. I can tell you from experience that there is more overtime opportunities in PA. 

In terms of which one to choose, you really need to focus on which one you are more interested in and which one you can see yourself working in. Do you like the intimate interaction with patients more? Or do you like to keep to yourself more and deal with patient care "behind the scenes" so to speak? When you were in med school did you excel and have interest in your anatomy and physiology classes or your pharm and biochem classes? 

It seems like you are very hardworking, have a good educational resume thus far, and would get into either with minimal problem. Ultimately it comes down to your interests. Something to keep in mind: in PA there is a little more room for lateral movement and potential to move around within the field. One area of medicine does not interest you? Go into a field that doesn't require extensive knowledge on that topic. In pharm, there is still some lateral movement but not as much. However you can work in different clinical settings, go into education, research, pharmaceutical companies, etc. if you wanted.

[natalizumab]

Thanks, jmj11 & NJPL1213 for the valuable advice. You guys make it even harder to choose  

No seriously, you both make some very valid arguments. Perhaps I should apply to both and hope that I don't make it to one of them. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I see myself leaning toward PA because of the medicine aspect of it. After all, there's enough pharm in medicine and PAs need to know their meds cold, although not as much as PharmD's of course, still. 

[natalizumab]

I guess the million dollar question to the PAs is: If you could go back in time, would you do it all over again?

[UGoLong]

If you are not sure between two very different careers, have multiple degrees and still don’t know what to do next, it’s probably not time to make a decision. Even joking about applying to two different paths and then letting karma decide is a red flag.

You do not need to rush into anything; there is no big clock ticking. Stay calm and continue to expose yourself to different situations and see what feels right.

Good luck from someone with three MS degrees!


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[Guest ral]

1 hour ago, natalizumab said:

I guess the million dollar question to the PAs is: If you could go back in time, would you do it all over again?

I would not but, that's a personal thing, and not a knock to the profession.  If you can see yourself being truly happy, then definitely go for it.  I am sure it will bring you much reward.

 

[Joelseff]

Why can't you go back and finish med school? The residency limit for med school counts the COMPLETION of it not when you attended, am I wrong? If you are going to invest in 2-3 years of PA school or 4 years of Pharm school why not just finish the last 2 years of med school. Time is time no matter how old you are. In 2-4 years would you regret your not completing med school?

 

I have been following these forums for quite some time now. I have noticed how helpful everyone here is, and that's what encouraged me to seek advice/opinion. The executive summary of my background is that I attended on the well-known Caribbean medical school a couple of years ago for 2 years and successfully completed basic sciences but had to withdraw (voluntarily and in good standing) due to some hardships (non-academic). Since leaving med school, I worked and obtained a third graduate degree (had 2 previously). My love for medicine has never faded and now I feel ready more thane ever to go back and continue where I left off, especially considering the investment I made (point of no return). However;  I'm not getting any younger (I'm a non-trad.), needless to say, the odds are not in my favor for residency (older, several years away from med school, Caribbean med school, etc .), so I'm considering Pharmacy (3-year accelerated) and PA schools as alternatives. I'm torn between the 2 as I love medicine (PA), and I loved pharm in med school and aced it. I'm also exposed to both professions (shadowing) and loved both. I'm fully aware of how pharmacy is getting saturated as a profession and whatnot, but my main concern is doing something that I will love and not hate halfway down the road. And finally, what are my odds for getting accepted into either one (my undergrad stats: above average, med school: average, grad school well above average).

So there you have it! Any input will be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I haven't taken the USMLE

 

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[PAtoMD]

3 hours ago, ral said:

I would not but, that's a personal thing, and not a knock to the profession.

 

Same and I'm not even out of school yet.

 

Based on your name being a mAb I would say you would enjoy pharmacy more lol

 

[natalizumab]

I guess I'm trying to get an idea as to the overall level of burnout/loss of interest, and future career outlook from current PAs. I have already asked this question to several pharmacists and trying to draw a comparison.

[natalizumab]

26 minutes ago, SR0525 said:

Same and I'm not even out of school yet.

 

Based on your name being a mAb I would say you would enjoy pharmacy more lol

 

LOL!

[katieo]

4 hours ago, SR0525 said:

Same and I'm not even out of school yet.

 

Ahh

[SedRate]

22 hours ago, natalizumab said:

I have been following these forums for quite some time now. I have noticed how helpful everyone here is, and that's what encouraged me to seek advice/opinion. The executive summary of my background is that I attended on the well-known Caribbean medical school a couple of years ago for 2 years and successfully completed basic sciences but had to withdraw (voluntarily and in good standing) due to some hardships (non-academic). Since leaving med school, I worked and obtained a third graduate degree (had 2 previously). My love for medicine has never faded and now I feel ready more thane ever to go back and continue where I left off, especially considering the investment I made (point of no return). However;  I'm not getting any younger (I'm a non-trad.), needless to say, the odds are not in my favor for residency (older, several years away from med school, Caribbean med school, etc .), so I'm considering Pharmacy (3-year accelerated) and PA schools as alternatives. I'm torn between the 2 as I love medicine (PA), and I loved pharm in med school and aced it. I'm also exposed to both professions (shadowing) and loved both. I'm fully aware of how pharmacy is getting saturated as a profession and whatnot, but my main concern is doing something that I will love and not hate halfway down the road. And finally, what are my odds for getting accepted into either one (my undergrad stats: above average, med school: average, grad school well above average).

So there you have it! Any input will be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I haven't taken the USMLE

You are primed for the PA route, especially being a non-traditional student. However, as UGoLong said, there's no rush. Gathering opinions from online PA strangers may help, but only you can find out what's right for you.

As for feedback from PAs on doing it all over again, feel free to search and peruse through some of the other threads on this forum that surround that very question that has been posted by many others. For me, yes, I'd do it all over again. Caveat: I'm only a handful of years out and still bright-eyed. I also wanted to work in surgery and didn't want to go through the MD/DO route to get there.

[EMNP]

I guess the million dollar question to the PAs is: If you could go back in time, would you do it all over again?

I wouldn’t, I would have gone a different route which eventually, hopefully I will.


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[natalizumab]

55 minutes ago, EMNP said:

I wouldn’t, I would have gone a different route which eventually, hopefully I will.


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Do you mind explaining why?

[natalizumab]

6 hours ago, Joelseff said:

Why can't you go back and finish med school? The residency limit for med school counts the COMPLETION of it not when you attended, am I wrong? If you are going to invest in 2-3 years of PA school or 4 years of Pharm school why not just finish the last 2 years of med school. Time is time no matter how old you are. In 2-4 years would you regret your not completing med school?

 

 

 

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That's true, but I have to do a lot of explaining as to long gap. I have a few friends who did well enough in the USMLE and 3 cycles later couldn't match. You could be right about the possibility of regretting not finishing med school, nobody knows!

 

 

 

 

[quietmedic]

I don't understand why ANYONE does pharmacy.  Six years for a PharmD...so you can stand all day in the back of a CVS and twiddle your thumbs?  Boggles my mind.

Go PA.   You want to treat patients.  Not push pills into bottles, or sit and watch teenage pharm techs push pills into bottles.   You want pharmacology?  That's what you do when you prescribe meds!

[EMNP]

I don't understand why ANYONE does pharmacy.  Six years for a PharmD...so you can stand all day in the back of a CVS and twiddle your thumbs?  Boggles my mind.
Go PA.   You want to treat patients.  Not push pills into bottles, or sit and watch teenage pharm techs push pills into bottles.   You want pharmacology?  That's what you do when you prescribe meds!

Pharmacy school is 4 year and not all pharmacist work retail; many of them work in hospitals and specialize in different specialties buddy!


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[PACJD]

12 hours ago, EMNP said:

Pharmacy school is 4 year and not all pharmacist work retail; many of them work in hospitals and specialize in different specialties buddy!


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Ehh the concept is the same more or less. I know several pharmacists who say the work is monotonous, but they love it cause it suits their personality and get paid well. Not trash talking the profession but certainly different from patient-based medicine. 

[AlmostaTexan]

On 5/12/2018 at 11:39 AM, SR0525 said:

Same and I'm not even out of school yet.

 

Yikes! May I ask why not??

[PAtoMD]

2 hours ago, AlmostaTexan said:

Yikes! May I ask why not??

I think I would have gone to medical school instead. 

 

A similar question was proposed at lunch one day with my classmates. The question was if you could get all your loans at that moment forgiven and drop out of PA school would you do it? At this point we were almost done with didactic. I said absolutely not. I invested way too much to just throw it away. 

[natalizumab]

Thanks guys. Although still undecided, the more I research these 2 professions, the more I lean toward PA. My limited experience in clinical medicine in med school was one of the best learning experiences I have ever had. Funny, I aced both pharm & clinical med though.

[natalizumab]

So finally I decided on PA school with Pharm as a plan B, mainly because PA seems to offer more options in term of practice, and/or the current situation with the pharmacy job market.

If granted interviews,  what is the best course of action to take to convince ADCOM as to why PA after attending med school, and why not just go back and finish med school? My actual main reasons are, age, cost, and the odds of matching into residency from a foreign med school. But are these compelling/convincing enough reasons?