tinylilron Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 I need guidance from experienced health care workers and students to make a decision regarding my medical education. I know this post may be long but I wanted to give you as much background as possible. Thank you for all your help!!! I am going to be 27 in a couple months. I have always wanted to go into health care. Currently, I am a clinical/protocol research coordinator at the National Institutes of Health/ National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. I graduated in 2007 with a degree in Biochemistry and a minor in Psychology. My GPA was 3.78 and I am sure that my Science GPA is higher or about the same. Medicine, health and research have always been where it is at for me. I am really interested in public health, community-based work/research, health outreach/education programs, working with the underserved, pharmacology, genetics, mental health, etc. My original plan was to go to medical school and also get a master’s in public health. In 2007, I did not do very well on the MCATs. I scored a 22M and I did put a lot of time into studying for it (although I will be honest and say life distracted me from it). I took the Kaplan course twice. I planned to restudy for it using the Exam Krackers books but life, second guessing, self-doubt and other interests got in the way. Now it is 5 years later and I want to go back to school graduate and/or medical ASAP. I realize that there is not much I can do with just a Bachelor in Science and I want to be able to work as a clinician. Now my question is: Do I still pursue medical school to be a DO/MD or do I pursue becoming a NP or a PA? I would have to retake the MCATs so if I do well on the MCATs I would enter in the fall of 2014 and graduate in 2018. I will be 32 by that time and then I will have to do residency and potentially an extra year because I am really interested in public health and I really want to have that background (so possibly 33). I would do this but I am uncertain about scoring well on the MCATs since it has been 5 years since I have graduated and the length of the program. I would like to get married and have some children in the near future (before I am 35). I am currently in a promising relationship. I have been looking into applying to PA programs because they are only 2 years. I do not have the clinical experience that they require. It is hard to attain while working a full-time job. I would love to get a job where I can get the clinical hours but I lack the training or experience. Some schools said that they would accept my clinical experience from the clinical research that I do but that was not the case for many schools. Plus, I would like to do the PA/MPH but there are not many of them. I studied and took the GREs and I got in the 70%. Not stellar but it seemed to be in range with a lot of the programs that I was applying to. I am not sure if I would score better if I tried again but if necessary I can and will retake them. I was considering PA over NP because they are trained with the physician model and from what I have heard they learn more about the science. I really enjoy learning about science and research and knowing everything. In addition, NPs have to specialize and I like that PAs have more flexibility/lateral movement. Thus, I think being a PA would be a good fit for me in that respect. However, I keep on hearing that NPs are more autonomous. Eventually, I want to be able to work as a primary care clinician and work with the underserved. I also want to teach, do research, and potentially work with/lead organizations to improve underserved communities health. Can I do all of this as an NP or PA? I keep on hearing about how NPs and PAs are the solution to the primary care clinician workforce especially working with underserved populations. (However, this does not completely make sense to me as PAs are supposed to have the supervision of a Physician and lack of Physicians in primary care should equal lack of PAs. Am I correct?) In addition, there was an article posted about how (for females) investing in medical school was not cost effective because they would make as much by being a PA http://faculty.som.yale.edu/keithche...rkingPaper.pdf I really would like to start school as soon as possible. I have missed many deadlines for PA school applications (although I may still try for some others). I intend to make this year all about preparing for applications and making myself a competitive applicant if I do not get into a desired program. But I would really like to hear advice from experienced individuals in health care. What would be the best career/degree for me? What would be the best preparation for me to become a clinician and public health researcher, educator, and leader (taking into account my situation)? In addition, how can I best make myself a competitive applicant this year, etc.? Thank you so much for all your help and support!!! Best, Verónica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Steve Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 Eventually, I want to be able to work as a primary care clinician and work with the underserved. I also want to teach, do research, and potentially work with/lead organizations to improve underserved communities health. Can I do all of this as an NP or PA? You bolded this, it is obviously important...not many PAs in research, docs have a greater scope to lead (they don't have to find sponsors, they have an easier time finding financing, they command more respect. If you want to be on the point of the spear of the cases you believe in then it is my suggestion that you gain as much education that you can. Life down the road will have so many more opportunities for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted August 25, 2012 Moderator Share Posted August 25, 2012 agree with Steve. go to med school. if you are set on pa school consider doing a dual pa/mph program like george washington's program. the mph opens up a lot of doors and gives you the option of doing a Dr. of public health program later if you so desire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinylilron Posted August 26, 2012 Author Share Posted August 26, 2012 agree with Steve. go to med school. if you are set on pa school consider doing a dual pa/mph program like george washington's program. the mph opens up a lot of doors and gives you the option of doing a Dr. of public health program later if you so desire. Thank you. I keep on wavering between PA and MD/DO. It seems that having an MD/DO will open a lot more doors for me. But then I think about how I also want to enjoy life too and I heard that as a PA you are more marketable because you are cheaper to hire and can do a lot of the same things a MD/DO can. What do you think about that? Do PAs have a better job market? Thank you once again for all your help. Sincerely, Verónica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinylilron Posted August 26, 2012 Author Share Posted August 26, 2012 Do they ask you during your interview why you would rather be a PA then a Physician? I can think of some good reasons but I am not sure if they are good enough. IF/when I apply to PA programs do they want an answer to this as well. I would like to work on a medical team and with other health professionals to provide better health solutions and health care to the community but I can do both as a PA and a Physician. I also feel that overtime after learning and much experience, I can be a leader and I am not sure if PAs are big on the leadership role as they always need to be under the Physician. Please let me know what you think. Thank you, Verónica Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Albert Posted August 26, 2012 Share Posted August 26, 2012 From what I understand (which isn't much, so take it with a grain of salt), admissions committes are leery of candidates that are unsure of their committment to becoming a PA because they're also thinking of MD/DO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinylilron Posted August 26, 2012 Author Share Posted August 26, 2012 From what I understand (which isn't much, so take it with a grain of salt), admissions committes are leery of candidates that are unsure of their committment to becoming a PA because they're also thinking of MD/DO. Which is understandable. I feel like the positions are very similar in my opinion with the PA lacking autonomy and therefore some types of flexibility plus they usually are not involved in research but I have read that PAs can be associate and principal investigators, etc. as well. I know that some organizations such as Doctors without Borders do not accept PAs in their program. But otherwise I think the training of a PA and Physician are similar (of course the Physician has more extensive training) but ultimately from what I have read from current PAs they eventually know at least as much if not more than the Physician. It seems to me PA is the shorter route to being a practicing health care provider and gain a solid clinical background. How would one make a good case for being a PA versus a Physician and visa versa? I think I might try to retake the MCAT and apply to both programs. Ultimately, I want to be able to contribute to under-served communities health via health care, education, leadership, and community based research. I think that I could do both as a PA or a Physician. I like that they both are given a strong science background which is what I crave. I LOVE science. I know that being a Physician might allow me more flexibility and respect though but I do not really care about having the highest degree as long as I can do the work and positively impact society in the same type of way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinylilron Posted August 27, 2012 Author Share Posted August 27, 2012 I feel like the positions between an MD/DO and a PA are very similar in my opinion. However, the PA lacks the autonomy that an MD/DO has and therefore some types of flexibility plus they usually are not involved in research but I have read that PAs can be associate and principal investigators, etc. as well. I know that some organizations such as Doctors without Borders do not accept PAs in their program. But otherwise I think the training of a PA and Physician are similar (of course the Physician has more extensive training) but ultimately from what I have read from current PAs they eventually know at least as much if not more than the Physician. It seems to me PA is the shorter route to being a practicing health care provider and gain a solid clinical background. In addition, MD/DO's have greater responsibility because they are more liable when errors occur. Am I correct? How would one make a good case for being a PA versus a Physician and visa versa? I think I might try to retake the MCAT and apply to both programs. Ultimately, I want to be able to contribute to under-served communities health via health care, education, leadership, and community based research. I think that I could do both as a PA or a Physician. I like that they both are given a strong science background which is what I crave. I LOVE science. I know that being a Physician might allow me more flexibility and respect though but I do not really care about having the highest degree as long as I can do the work and positively impact society in the same type of way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinylilron Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 Also, are NPs more globally recognized PAs? Someone told me. I also noticed that Doctor's without Borders and Global Health Service Corps will take NPs but not PAs. What is up with that? What is the reason for this? Thank you once again for all your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted August 28, 2012 Moderator Share Posted August 28, 2012 I also noticed that Doctor's without Borders and Global Health Service Corps will take NPs but not PAs. What is up with that? What is the reason for this?.[/ QUOTE] they are french...you know, wine swilling, brie quaffing surrender monkeys! but seriously, they don't know what pa's are. many other international disaster medical teams like www.nycmedics.org use pa's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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