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Should I quit??


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I am in my third clinical rotation and I am contemplating quitting. I absolutely hate PA school and I think the only reason I haven't quit is because I have so much debt from the past year and a half in PA school. I've searched for anyone else who might feel the way I do and it seems that everyone loves being a PA. So what is wrong with me? I just wish there was something else I could do with my PA degree than to actually work in the medical field. I am not sure what the most responsible thing for me to do is....

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I think the stress of all of it is getting to you...if you made it to clinicals youre obviously doing well. I think once youre done and its all over you will feel a lot better. There are other things you can do with the degree but some may require a bit more education like working in public health, education (not neccessairly a PA program)

 

Hope everything works out

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Guest guthriesm

This is the physician assistant forum- so this board isn't the place to find people who have hated school. You are not going to get perfect strangers to validate you quitting school, that is entirely up to you.

 

You need to decide what you will do- if you stick it out (which clearly you are at least halfway done) what will you do - will you take the PANCE? Be a skilled and compassionate provider? Teach? If you can't do the field a service, please do not stick with it.

 

If you decide to quit- find a good job you hopefully can enjoy. The loans are a fact either way but if you are truly upset with your choice, then stop as soon as possible. Making yourself miserable or making other people miserable (which in my opinion is worse) with your choice is not going to win you any success.

 

Good luck.

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I agree, if you want actual advice, we need to know why you hate it so much. You said you wish there was something you could do outside of the medical field - is it the patient contact you don't like? The volume of information in medicine? The stress of it all?

 

Most PAs I talk to absolutely love their job and would never turn back, so if you already "hate" it, then get out. I'm assuming you're in a Masters program so maybe just switch to a different Masters that you actually like and hopefully then you can end up in something that pays well enough that you can pay back debt. If you don't want to have patient contact, get out now! Being a PA means being a caring advocate for patients as well as treating disease and no offense, but I'd like a positive representation of what we do in clinics as it reflects on all of us (not saying you'd be a bad PA, but generally unhappiness can be sensed easily by patients).

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I had a hard time in the beginning of clinicals, i actually liked didactic better (I know crazy right) but I fouond that like in all areas of my life that are new to me, I find a groove and ride it out. I actually find quite a bit of satisfaction seeing pts and figuring out whats wrong with them, then "fixing" the problem. And to think in 3 mos, I will be getting paid for this! Some rotations sucked, I wont be specific, but I just stuck it out. It's not always gonna be roses yaknowhutimsayin? Hang in there. You dont HAVE to practice after, maybe be a drug rep or something...

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yea you should quit. Why be unhappy? Cut your losses and go do something you will enjoy. Why get a PA degree when you dont want to wok in medical field, just doesnt make sense. I hope you change your mind, but sometimes you have to go with your gut. Why burden you and your family with more debt.

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First, please talk with your advisors at school. Make sure you're not mistaking depression for hating the field. We've seen students who feel the way you do but once their depression is treated, everything looks different, and they are able to finish and become successful PAs. There MUST be some reason why you chose to become a PA in the first place...think back to that. If you really can't find it, and you're not depressed but just hate medicine, then yes, you should quit...but I don't envy you trying to pay back those loans without the skill set you would have as a graduate PA.

Best wishes to you.

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No- perhaps my original post was a little harsh. If the OP is honestly reaching out for an opinion- here is my honest one: DONT QUIT. Why? You're too far in. Unless you have another degree or a job waiting in the wing that will pay you well enough to pay back your student loans, you're hosed.

 

Suck it up, get a job when you're finished and pay back you're student loans. Decide along the way where you need to be and get there. There is no point to quitting this far through.

 

Just my 2 cents.

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If you just don't feel comfortable and have made your decision to not work as a PA - you could use your education to be a credible source as an author (scholarly reviews or magazines) in health or health related field like fitness or sports medicine. Also, professor/ teacher at community college/tech. You could also work for non-for-profit organization like community shelters or food banks to help with community planning and community health, medical device representative for Johnson and Johnson or biotech company or in social work . Another idea is office manager because you understand all the needs of medical offices. I wish you good luck and remember to keep your chin up because the lemons you have are going to make pretty excellent lemonade. It's just different than what you were thinking.

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I sent this poster a PM right after this thread went up. I know the poster got and read my PM however I got no answer. I can only come to the conclusion that the decision to quit was already made b/f putting up this thread, since this poster hasn't been back to the forum since to even read the responses. I can only hope the decision that was made was the right one for the poster...whatever it was.

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I sent this poster a PM right after this thread went up. I know the poster got and read my PM however I got no answer. I can only come to the conclusion that the decision to quit was already made b/f putting up this thread, since this poster hasn't been back to the forum since to even read the responses. I can only hope the decision that was made was the right one for the poster...whatever it was.

... or the poster was a troll from the beginning, of course.

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You don't hate PA school. You and ur poor little brain are just tired and sick of seeing so many patients, greek and latin words altogether (rotations & medical books). Don't even think sbout leaving PA school. Do you remember that day when you got accepted? How excited were you? How can you hate PA school all of a sudden? You are the one worked so hard to get in, now you are thinking about quitting, NO WAY! You are just TIRED. Exercise every morning, go out for running or something, enjoy nature for sometime, you will be fine. You can share your problems in the forum. This forum is full of funny, experienced, caring, and romeo type of people...............;-)))) Cheers!!

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