I always wanted to be a Doctor, but life got in the way…
Fast forward…
Now at 42 divorced, remarried, with twelve year old son (Manny) and a full time student at a state college.
I am in my Junior year Biology major and have managed to keep a 3.7 GPA. My original plan was PA school because of 1) my age 2) not wanting to do the extra 3 years of residency after med school 3) not wanting to take on such big debt so late in my life.
But now after a friend of mine who was a PA for 7 years decided to go back to school and do the few pre-recs she needed for med school, took the MCAT and got ACCEPTED at 38 …am starting to ask my self why not ??
AND? 
Many of us on here do not have the age or the GPA you have going for you.
You’ll never know unless you try but what you may find out is that at age 50, you wish you would have at least tried.
I started this (again) at 44; I’m 47 now. Bumps, lumps, troughs, and life “tsunamis” have not stopped me from continuing to try.
Until every last med school laughs in my face and says, “HELL NO!” I will not stop.
- Adoc2be Said:
Until every last med school laughs in my face and says, "HELL NO!" I will not stop.
OH my goodness... someone... anyone...PLEASE put this on an OPM t-shirt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !
<3 - ty for all you do for all of us!!!
Well said, Adoc2be. I agree with Carrieliz, that should be the creed of OPM!
“Until every last med school laughs in my face and says, “HELL NO!” I will not stop.”
YES! That’s the attitude of someone committed to a goal!
For a different view on PA, check out this link from a blogger I highly respect (I’m told she was an old premed, too - now a vascular surgeon):
http://drnjbmd.wordpress.com/
Based on those I’ve seen, I think happiness as a PA depends on finding an area of practice that you love and a doc to work with who will value your contributions and mentor you. Actually, the same goes for doctors.
Bottom line, MD/DO/PA/NP…all are options that are worth consideration in light of your own unique circumstances and goals. My goal is MD or DO, but that’s the decision that fits me.
Annette
“In truth, PA school is a bit more difficult than medical school.”
“Most PAs are very adept at self-directed learning in the same manner as a physician.”
“Most of the folks who applied the Physician Assistant (PA) program at my university had over a 3.5 GPA and most who were accepted into the program had over a 3.7 GPA. This would indicate that the folks who were able to enter our PA program were definitely capable and would have been competitive for many medical schools in this country.”
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http://drnjbmd.wordpress.com/
…This person’s blog seems to indicate that PAs are essentially better than physicians. A little far fetched if you ask me.
I did not at all get the sense that she thought PA’s were better than physicians, but simply that PA’s are valuable contributors to the health care team. I also read her post in the context of having read every other post on her blog, so that may be a factor in our differing perspectives.
If you read more, you’ll discover that she is a driven, dedicated surgeon who loves what she does. She also gives very solid, well thought out advice on applying to med school, how to do well once there, etc.
Honestly, becoming an MD or DO is NOT right for some folks due to limitations in time, resources, family support/family obligations. Having a fuller picture of what different roles entail is a good thing. Even if that knowledge just inspires you to decide NOT to become a midlevel provider but to go further and strive toward MD/DO.
Annette
I had a family doc that was a geneticist, and before that a nutritionist. He decided his true calling was medicine when he was into his 40’s. By the time he graduated and was practicing he was close to 50. Its sounds like your doing well, so I say reach for the stars! Do what makes you happiest, but don’t not do something that you may regret doing later down the road.
- modernFamily Said:
I always wanted to be a Doctor, but life got in the way.....
I think you answered the question for yourself.
You have always wanted to be a doctor; now go and really BE that doctor . . .
In the interest of accuracy, here are the data on PA applicants and matriculants
Link PA applicant/matriculant data presentation
Link PA Applicant Summary Report
Below are selected bullet points from the summary report.
- selected summary bullet points Said:
*The total number of matriculants in 2011 is 4,731. (added note: 16,569 applicants for 3.5 applicants per seat)
*The average age of applicants is 27.6 years, and 74% of applicants are female.
*8.43% of applicants are of Hispanic origin; 6.8% of those are matriculants.
*65.6% of applicants are white.
*Applicants have an average overall GPA of 3.27, with an average GRE score of 1075.(note added: matricultants had 3.43 science GPA and 3.57 non science GPA)
*84.6% of CASPA applicants did not apply to any other professional programs; 6.1% applied to nursing programs. In 2010, 85.0% did not apply to any other programs; 6.2% applied to nursing programs.