So, as my title implies, I am waffling. I’m currently working as a Sonographer. It’s a cool job, but I know I don’t want to do it forever. My original plan was med school, but I’ve been lurking on the PA forums these days and I’m feeling a bit torn.
I am sure there are other people on these forums who have struggled with this particular set of options. My GPA is pretty good. I still have a lot of prereqs to take, but I am volunteering and I have clinical experience. I feel certain that given enough time I could get in to medical school, and I think that I would love the first two years, and much of the second two. I love learning and I love medicine. Nothing is as fascinating to me as anatomy, pathology and disease processes.
I am 30 years old and would like to have a child in the next 5 years, which is a consideration. But the largest consideration for me is that I get bored easily. Quite easily. The moment I feel that I’ve mastered a skill is the moment I want a new one to learn. I can’t stand feeling bored and stagnant - I would describe myself as being a restless person. That gives me a lot of energy and helps me to learn quickly; it can also be a liability. Probably I have ADD, though I’ve never been diagnosed. I’m a bit of a dilletante, and certainly a jack-of-all-trades-master -of-none. I paint, write, play guitar,sew, knit, and cook; I have an English degree, worked in finance for a while, and now am an ultrasound tech who does freelance accounting on the side. You get the picture - I like variety.
The reason I am feeling drawn to the PA profession is that I have heard you have the ability to switch specialties easily. This is immensely appealing for obvious reasons. Also, I could be working and making good money sooner. It will be 2 years before I could start either PA or medschool, due to prereqs and the need to work full time, making me at least 32 when I start.
However, I am afraid that I will chafe under the need to be supervised. Also, I am afraid of feeling that I didn’t learn enough. Surely there is a great deal of information in that extra 2 years of school that I will want to have when I am in a clinical setting as a clinician.
I am afraid that I will choose wrongly. I am worried that I will pick the most grueling path, only to find myself bored silly by PGY2, or that I will pick a shorter path and end up unsatisfied.
Sorry for the long post… Anybody have any opinions??
I don’t have a lot of great advice to offer, but I know that when I looked at the fact that it was going to be almost as much work (if not more) to get into PA school (due to the extensive clinical experience requirements for acceptance in many PA programs), I figured I might as well go for it all and do med school. I also had the feeling that I wanted the buck to stop with me, and not to need to be “supervised”. Many PAs do function with a great deal of autonomy, though, depending on the state and their individual practicing situation.
I can understand your concern about being bored. There are specialties that lend themselves a little less to boredom than others. A great many “ADD” type people seem to end up in Emergency Medicine because they like the variety. A lot of specialties are constantly evolving due to the new discoveries in medicine. In any field, you will need to spend a lot of time researching/reading/etc in order to keep your knowledge and skills up.
Even though switching specialties is more difficult as an MD, there are a lot of different hats you can wear in most specialties. You can do research, administration, teach, etc. Some people combat the boredome by switching roles in that way.
Don’t let age and wanting to have children be a huge factor. Having children in medical school can be tough, but it can be done, especially if you have a supportive spouse.
slb,
one thing to consider is that it takes a lot of years to achieve true autonomy as a physician. Even as a senior resident 3-4 years out of medical school, you are still reporting to an attending, if only as a formality.
I have heard of many P.A.s who are happy as a clam; they do great work, make great money, and go home at 5pm every day. Perhaps they have less responsibility than a physician but still do a lot of interesting work.
Maybe you could shadow a couple of P.A.s some time to get more of a feel for the profession. In the end it’s up to you to pick your path. As Robert Frost once said, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both…”
Best of luck,
thanks, you guys - good food for thought…
oh, and terry - the thing I like about that poem is that he says he took the road less travelled and that has made all the difference - but he never says whether that’s for the better or the worse…
I’m a regular at the PA forum. It’s where I started this marathon. I only had A&P left to take so I was applying and that’s where my “Aha” moment hit me. I couldn’t answer “Why PA?”. I mean I could BS my way through it but I couldn’t honestly answer why I would choose PA over MD.
Because of that I’m back taking the more difficult science prereqs, I had taken the nursing version, after speaking with a local PA program director. The lateral mobility is very enticing. As is the ability to be in and out of school in 2 years. Less debt and all that. However I contacted a few PA2MD’s and realized that I would never be satisfied as a PA. You are only taught so much in PA school. These PA’s went back because they wanted to know the “why’s” of medicine as well as the “how’s”.
The thing PA has is lateral mobility. However some things to consider are the lack of knowledge/understanding by many physicians and patients on what a PA is or is not. There are areas of the country where NP’s are favored over PA’s. There is a push with NP’s to get the terminal degree of DNP and PA’s seem to be headed that way as well.
I’m a bit ADD as well. I can’t wait to learn something new. However this does come at a price and having a salary that continuously fluctuates every 2-3 years just isn’t worth either.
All in all, I have nothing against PA’s or nontrads who decide to cut the marathon short. Only you can make that decision for yourself. I just rather err on the side of knowing more than knowing less. Of course that comes with a higher cost, financially and personally, but dems is the breaks. 
- Quote:
Nothing wrong with PA's and nothing wrong with you doing this if it is what you want to do, But and this is the thing, you came here where we are premeds, in Medschool or Doctors, why?
I think it is because something inside you says I may want to be a Doc. I may not be happy without more. I wanted to be a Doc because I wanted to be independent and I wanted variety, as an FP rural I get the best of all worlds I think. I can't wait and it's sooner now then later.
Time, well when I was 29 I thought 40 was a lifetime away and I rushed into many things I regret, yes regret not pursuing medicine a lot sooner, now I'm 42 (43 on the 16th) and loving every moment( well most of it) of succeeding in Medical school, yes I'm only halfway through with the big hump ahea of me ( the USMLE step 1 in Aug) but It's so close now and I will make it. Now I look back and I'm glad I stuck it out and I will be a Doc.
So look at yourself and really ponder, will you be a PA at 32 and say to yourself I could have been a Doc with just 24 more months? A short 24 months?
Thats how I look at it, nothing wrong if you are happy at a PA nothing wrong with my friends who stayed RN's we need these loving and caring people in medicine too, but this is about what you want for yourself........................
- croooz Said:
However I contacted a few PA2MD's and realized that I would never be satisfied as a PA. You are only taught so much in PA school. These PA's went back because they wanted to know the "why's" of medicine as well as the "how's".
Interesting point. I am a person who always wants the whys. This may in itself seal the deal for MD.
Clearly I need to shadow some of both and see...
Some PA students feel they’ll be able to fill in the “why’s” with studying on their own. Basically picking up books and asking questions. Again nothing wrong with that but now you’re talking about learning or trying to learn everything a physician knows without officially going to med school.
Too long, too hard to be a “do it yourself” kinda program. One thing that I learned in the military and still use is “I’d rather have something and not need it, than need something and not have it” The other reality is if after med school or PA school you decide that medicine is not for you there isn’t much you can do with a PA degree. As a physician you have a ton more options. I work with PhD’s who were in med school and dropped out to become PhD’s. 15 years later they are regretting that decision. I know 2 guys personally who decided not to pursue medicine after medical school. Those little initials behind their names really help to open doors. One thing I think about is the 3rd phase of my life. Some think retirement but I’m thinking what I will do after medicine… Yeah I haven’t even gotten into medical school and already think of my exit strategy. 
The reality is you need something you can do when you get older and being a permanent resident (PA) just won’t work for me.
This last sentence was what the PA2MD’s used to describe what it was like.
BTW the 9-5 depends on the specialty and practice you work at. There are plenty of physicians who utilize their PA’s effectively giving the docs more free time. It seems to be that a lot of PA hopefuls believe they will work half the time and therefore earn half as much. As my health care provider, who is a PA, puts it “I work twice as long, to make half as much”
It takes years to get proficient. All the jumping around will make you that Jack but not a master. I’m up for being the master of my specialty. I’ve jacked around long enough.
crooz-
thanks for the thoughtful comments. clearly you have given this matter some thought… of course, you and i are different people, but your comments do ring true. i think part of the problem is that i am afraid to narrow my options - i hadn’t really thought of an MD + residency broadening my options… I really was looking at it as a box that i would end up inside, and i wasn’t sure i’d end up liking the box - but it would be too late… several threads on sdn tend to reinforce this notion.
i should probably just stay off sdn 
- slb Said:
Good idea, your brain cells will thank you later since they won't be disrupted by an aneurysm from reading too many idiotic comments. ;P
- slb Said:
thanks for the thoughtful comments. clearly you have given this matter some thought... of course, you and i are different people, but your comments do ring true. i think part of the problem is that i am afraid to narrow my options - i hadn't really thought of an MD + residency *broadening* my options... I really was looking at it as a box that i would end up inside, and i wasn't sure i'd end up liking the box - but it would be too late... several threads on sdn tend to reinforce this notion.
i should probably just stay off sdn
This is the thing about SDN, the threads about being trapped in a BOX as a DOC, written by Practicing DOCTORS or Premeds? Everyone knows premeds have so much experience as a Doctor that they can give such advice ( ME rolling my eyes).
I have never ever thought of becoming a Doc as being trapped, quite the opposite, Staying an RN that has to live by and follow the orders of the Doctor makes me feel trapped at times, If I became an NP I would still have this problems sometimes, I worked with several NP's, yes they had their practice but at times had to refer to the MD for different problems and then at times were given orders by the MD, the NP's told me to get my MD , They said the cost and time to get the NP, a little more time and I could a Doc and they now wished they would have done it.
- slb Said:
thanks for the thoughtful comments. clearly you have given this matter some thought... of course, you and i are different people, but your comments do ring true. i think part of the problem is that i am afraid to narrow my options - i hadn't really thought of an MD + residency *broadening* my options... I really was looking at it as a box that i would end up inside, and i wasn't sure i'd end up liking the box - but it would be too late... several threads on sdn tend to reinforce this notion.
i should probably just stay off sdn
I second that. I do get on there at times to see what the word is there in terms of facts and not crude or ridiculous opinions, the latter of which is rampant. Other than the non-trad, I check out the specialty forums to see what people are doing, what they are working on, etc. Aside from that, I'm happy I to have found OPM where we can be upfront, yet not dismiss someone's dreams and goals because their past history doesn't fall into the 'norm.'