hockey833 Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I've known I've wanted to go into healthcare for awhile and I've been researching lately. I was going to become a nurse but discovered PA's, so I switched my major. I think its amazing. You can specialize in whatever you want (I've even heard multiple at one time), good pay, only 6 years of schooling, and the ability to perform procedures and help people. I looked into being a doctor or nurse practitioner but the length of schooling required didn't interest me. The thought of being able to do a "decent amount" of what doctors can do satisfies me. Pa's make a comfortable salary, thats all I need, I don't need to be rolling in money like doctors are. 1) Do you ever get crap for being a PA (particularly males) over a Doctor from patients or doctors? 2) what was your favorite specialty? What did you like the most about it? Which one pays the most? 3) what was the hardest part of becoming a PA? easiest part? most fun? most boring? 4) How often do you work? Enough time for vacation, family, hobbies, etc? 5) Whats the best part of being a PA? Whats the worst? and lastly, if you could give me piece of advice to an 18 yr old just starting college to be a PA, what would it be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ct836 Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 i would love to see people's thought on this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockey833 Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 i would love to see people's thought on this.... I'm trying to find out if you meant this in a condescending way like I'm asking stupid questions or made extremely stupid statements? Or if you really think they're good questions.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted July 19, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 19, 2012 and lastly, if you could give me piece of advice to an 18 yr old just starting college to be a PA, what would it be? don't. go to med school instead. you have plenty of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ct836 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Nope, really think they are good questions that can conjure up some real thoughtful conversations... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex87 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Can anyone respond to this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joelseff Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Ditto emeds statement... Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsfelder0417 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I am a student, so I can't answer all those questions, but I am happy with my decision. I won't be in school forever, I have the GI Bill to pay for school, and best of all, I get to do what I love-study and practice medicine. This is a great profession that I am happy to be a part of. The only thing I get tired of is explaining that I am a provider (in training,) not an assistant-one day I hope to say I am a Physician Associate and alleviate that qualm. If you have a hard time trying to figure out PA vs MD and you are young, just remove doubt and go MD. We need people that support and believe in this profession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physasst Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Ditto emeds statement... Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk Thirded...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted July 25, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 25, 2012 Thirded...... ditto, 4th vote for ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underserved Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I'll be the 5th; go medical school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hubbardtim48 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I will be the first, go to PA school. I can't see throwing my life away for that long when a PA can do almost just as much as a MD/DO when talking about type specialty and years of experience. Maybe I just don't care to be in charge and am/will be happy with my PA career. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToppDog Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I want to be a PA more than anything, but I'm 45 years old with 20 plus years of healthcare experience & zero college degrees. I was the type of person the PA career was created for, a former military corpsman with advanced medical training but no college degree. Times are changing. What used to be a 2 year certificate program for people like me is quickly morphing into a 6 year requirement (4yr degree + 2 year PA program = Masters), & there is already talk of making it a doctorate with a required residency. If I was the young me looking at todays options, instead of the old me, there is absolutely no way I would go any other way than med school, period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen0508 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I will be the first, go to PA school. I can't see throwing my life away for that long when a PA can do almost just as much as a MD/DO when talking about type specialty and years of experience. Maybe I just don't care to be in charge and am/will be happy with my PA career. :) ditto, I dont care to be in charge or have the title "Dr", I just want to be a healthcare provider. I just started my job and love it and cant imagine doing anything else. However keep in mind, not all specialties allow you to do as much as MD/DO. Some specialties you can have years of exerience and still be doinig the same job as residents. To answer the poster's questions 1) Do you ever get crap for being a PA (particularly males) over a Doctor from patients or doctors? When i was a student people would sometimes ask "when are you going "all the way" to become a doctor?" , or "why didnt you just go to med school" etc but I just answer the question honestly and educate them on what a PA is and what all they can do. I have never been asked that in the ER though, most people are too sick (or supposed to be too sick) to care about why you didnt become a doctor. Ocassionally they may ask to see the doctor before you even finish introducing yourself but it has only happened a few times, even while on rotations 2) what was your favorite specialty? What did you like the most about it? Which one pays the most? Im a new PA, but I like emergency medicine because I like the fast pace and it generally doesnt get boring, and you dont have to deal with chronic diseases as much. Also, i love doing procedures. I guess I am biased though 3) what was the hardest part of becoming a PA? easiest part? most fun? most boring? Hardest- didactic year during PA school. You basically have no life other than going to school and studying and you will get very little sleep. Most fun- so far i loved clinical year, it was awesome to be able to go to a new place/specialty every month and be able to try new procedures, participate in cool surgeries, etc. We also got to pick our electives. 4) How often do you work? Enough time for vacation, family, hobbies, etc? 15 10hr shifts a month with option of doing more 5) Whats the best part of being a PA? Whats the worst? i cant comment on this too much since I just started working as a PA and i dont consider myself full-fledged yet, but best part to me is still the ability to switch specialties. In 10 years I can go do surgery if i desire, go into family practice, then OB-gyn....etc. and lastly, if you could give me piece of advice to an 18 yr old just starting college to be a PA, what would it be? shadow Dr's, PAs, NPs, nurses, etc and figure out what you REALLY want to do, then plan your route out. If you do PA dont skip over healthcare experience just because some people get into PA school without it. Volunteering and shadowing should not count as healthcare experience (with exception of something like volunteer EMS) anywho, good luck in your journey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted July 25, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 25, 2012 I want to be a PA more than anything, but I'm 45 years old with 20 plus years of healthcare experience & zero college degrees. I was the type of person the PA career was created for, a former military corpsman with advanced medical training but no college degree. Times are changing. What used to be a 2 year certificate program for people like me is quickly morphing into a 6 year requirement (4yr degree + 2 year PA program = Masters), & there is already talk of making it a doctorate with a required residency. If I was the young me looking at todays options, instead of the old me, there is absolutely no way I would go any other way than med school, period. there are still cert and a.s. programs for applicants like you. look at sjvc for example or any of the community college programs, there are 6. also the new medex program in tacoma will be bs level aimed at ex-military folks and you could get in with prereqs only and leave with a bs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToppDog Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Thanks E. I am applying to MEDEX this year (hoping to get in the Tacoma site), & I am keeping an eye on SJVC. They have quite a bit more pre-req's than MEDEX does though, so I'm not at a point where I can apply there yet. I don't remember seeing the other 5 though, so I'm off to check the AAPA site again :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted July 25, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 25, 2012 Thanks E. I am applying to MEDEX this year (hoping to get in the Tacoma site), & I am keeping an eye on SJVC. They have quite a bit more pre-req's than MEDEX does though, so I'm not at a point where I can apply there yet. I don't remember seeing the other 5 though, so I'm off to check the AAPA site again :) ask lesh. he is the sjvc director. if I recall correctly they are: miami dade sjvc malcolm x anne arundel rcc (riverside) stanford still has an a.s. option(I think) . they also have an ms option yup:The PCA Program is a 21-month (seven quarters) PA program and leads to a Certificate of Clinical Proficiency from the Stanford University School of Medicine. Foothill College provides academic credit for all courses. Completion of the PCA program courses qualifies the student for an AS degree through Foothill College. red rocks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andersenpa Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 1) Do you ever get crap for being a PA (particularly males) over a Doctor from patients or doctors? No. 2) what was your favorite specialty? What did you like the most about it? Which one pays the most? Current one- CT surg. High acuity, high autonomy in the ICU, operate on complex cases, see physiology in action day-to-day, rewarding changes in patients. Current specialty pays the most. 3) what was the hardest part of becoming a PA? easiest part? most fun? most boring? Residency was the hardest part of the process that got me where I am today but it's obviously not mandatory. Parts of PA school are time and energy demanding, but it's "doable". 4) How often do you work? Enough time for vacation, family, hobbies, etc? 50-60 hrs week Plenty of vacation Only downside is call which cuts into occasional weekends and weeknights 5) Whats the best part of being a PA? Whats the worst? best part is practicing medicine worst part is people not understanding what you are/do. When a doc, nurse, PT walks in the room the patient knows what they are. they don't really know PAs, and I've seen this on both sides of the country. and lastly, if you could give me piece of advice to an 18 yr old just starting college to be a PA, what would it be? If you want to practice medicine, consider MD first and see if the training/etc are cut out for you PA is always a great choice but you will not be fully independent and you will not make as much as docs in your specialty (but you certainly can make more as a specialty PA than a GP or pediatrician). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIW03 Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 OP, I am not a PA or really even a Pre-PA (although I could very well decide on it). You're always going to get the "the grass is greener on the other side" arguments from any healthcare profession: Doctors, PAs, RNs, etc, but at the end of the day, you have to decide what's more important to you and whether that career allows for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primadonna22274 Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Best part about choosing PA: very quick training, but efficient and more than adequate to start taking care of people medically. We teach you how to NOT kill people and you come out of school in 24-27 mos with a very good foundation. It is NOT AT ALL possible to learn all of medicine in that 27 mos...you learn as much as you can and keep learning. Worst part: no matter how much you learn and how well you have demonstrated expertise in your chosen specialty, there are many folks who will never see you as more than "just an assistant". That subservient role gets old real quick. It takes a thick skin and a whole lot of other interests outside of medicine to keep from becoming bitter about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToppDog Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 ask lesh. he is the sjvc director. if I recall correctly they are:miami dade sjvc malcolm x anne arundel rcc (riverside) stanford still has an a.s. option(I think) . they also have an ms option yup:The PCA Program is a 21-month (seven quarters) PA program and leads to a Certificate of Clinical Proficiency from the Stanford University School of Medicine. Foothill College provides academic credit for all courses. Completion of the PCA program courses qualifies the student for an AS degree through Foothill College. red rocks Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockey833 Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 I had 5 people say go to med school. Could I get some explanations on that? Its not the money I am after. I have been worrying, either if I become a NP or PA, what other people will continuously think about me or judge me. I mean its not gonna make me switch my decision right away, but if I am getting tons of disrespect then maybe I'm better off becoming a md. I just feel like getting into med school is extremely hard so I figured why not go to school for half the time and a little less effort and be making a comfortable salary as a PA/np? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen0508 Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 PA school is not necessarily easier to get into than medical school. (im sure people are going to eat you alive for saying that) anyways, real talk, if you care about what people think of your credentials then go to medical school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainer Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 . I looked into being a doctor or nurse practitioner but the length of schooling required didn't interest me. The closest in training and education to a physician is a physician assitant. Just to be clear, NP school is NOT more schooling. It's less. NP programs average 60 credit hours (DNP 80 credit hours), much of it online while students work part/full time as RN's PA programs average 130+ credit hours, over 2-3 years. Students rarely have time to work in PA school. It's a full-time effort. Both require a bachelors. NP schools require that students be an RN first. PA schools require pre-requisite science courses similar to medical school and favor significant previous healthcare experience Either can make a great clinician. My point is don't rule out RN/ NP school. It's a little more friendly to adult learners who need an income and flexibility in school. You're 18. Things don't always go as planned. Wish I could count the number of freshman college students who said they were going to become a doctor......and never seems to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinntsp Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 I just feel like getting into med school is extremely hard so I figured why not go to school for half the time and a little less effort and be making a comfortable salary as a PA/np? You'll be competing with the same caliber of students to get into PA school, just fyi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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