deNebThere are really both positives and negatives with becoming a PA. I'll start with the positives. It is less school than the physician route, however there are some residencies for PA's that can extend education. You are working under a physician and there for practice under their license(malpractice insurance is expensive). While there can be both positive and negative things with this, it does take some weight off your shoulders. The pay is decent and finding a job shouldn't be to difficult. You are able to spend more time with patients. Because you will work for less than a physician, you may have more opportunities in rural areas And you can perform most of the tasks a physician can.
Now to the negatives. Given that you are under a physician you can sometimes be the grunt. Pay is substantially less than physician(About $100,000 in the case of ER physician). There can be a ceiling on career opportunities. While PA to MD programs do exists, they can be more of a hassle than just going to med school.
Both MD/DO schools and PA schools are competitive so grades should be a very high priority. Also at least in the mid west PA schools are few and far between and therefor are very expensive. Personally if I was to get into the field and didn't want to become a doctor I would get a BS in nursing, decide if I like the field or not and then go for my DNP (There starting to phase out masters degree programs). 99% of physician will hire either for Mid-level position.
pretty on point. As for the negatives- I don't know what physicians in the ED make but some of my buddies right out of school make 100k+ workin in the ED with decent opportunity for growth (but I agree, there's obviously a salary discrepancy).
I also chose against becoming a physician for some of those reasons- schooling time/cost, and malpractice was a huge one
.lenconGonna be a senior in HS.
Also can't PA work in their own like "Urgent Care" practice and do more general things? I heard they could and make good money doing this
Autonomy depends entirely on the practice. One of the urgent care centers near my house that I visited, the PA runs it when the doc isn't there. They're his patients, he doesn't work the same hours as the MD.
As for me, I'm a nocturnist at a hospital with around 350 beds. About 175 are on my service with 125 non-teaching (residents take care of teaching patients). Since I'm the overnight hospitalist, if there are any issues with those ~125 patients, I get called and I have to figure out what to do for them. I work with two MDs and if I ever have a question they're my backup. They admit patients from the ED to the floor, if they're backed up I might take an "easier" patient to free up their time. Sure it's "grunt" work, but when I'm getting 15 calls an hour I'd rather not have to admit someone for something time-consuming.
Peter.first off, if you're going into medicine for the purpose of money, you're going into the wrong field.
second off, your PA experience will vary based on how you are as a person, and how the people you work for are. some PAs get treated like shit because they act like they know as much if not more than the doctor, which just isn't true. That being said, a PA who knows his place can be a great addition to a team of physicians.
Very true. The hospital I work at has 5 of us on their service of 30+ MDs. I've only been here for a few months, but everyone is very happy I'm aboard, more than willing to teach me things, and genuinely friendly.
Also, I didn't reread all that haha. Lemme know if you have othe questions or clarifications. I'll try to address other comments later if I have time
