<p>Long story short, I dropped out of HS but earned my GED. I have serious dreams and goals of going to med school, but sometimes I feel I should set my sights a little lower and focus on becoming a PA. Is it possible to start out in this fashion, and eventually get in to med school? Do you know anyone who has?</p>
<p>Your high school status has zero bearing on whether you might be able to attend med school. Med schools don’t look at high school grades, diplomas, only at what you’ve accomplished in college. If you feel that you’re academically capable of attending college, taking a difficult courseload and earning high grades–then either career pathway is open to you.</p>
<p>PA school is extremely competitive admit, in some ways more it’s more competitive than med school. (Fewer available seats per applicant.) The academic bar might be a bit lower, but you’re expected to have significantly more ‘hands on’ patient experience than for med school.</p>
<p>As for which you should do–that’s a decision you need to think seriously about.</p>
<p>Med school is a huge commitment in time and money. (4 years undergrad + 4 years med school + 3 years residency [minimum—some residencies are 5+ years], and then there’s further specialization–called fellowships–which adds another 1-3 years after residency). During residency and fellowship you will not be earning much money and will be carrying a huge debt burden.</p>
<p>PA school requires less time (4 years undergrad + 2 years grad school) until you can practice and start earning an income. </p>
<p>PA school is a 5 year commitment. The best way to get into the grad program is a school that offers the 3+2 program guaranteeing qualified students to pass from the pre-professional to professional level. Most PA programs are more cooperative than competitive, whereas many pre-med programs and med schools tend to be competitive. My daughter’s PA program strongly encouraged cooperative study groups, and since the program was smaller (around 35 students), everyone was in the same class at the same time and helped each other out.</p>
<p>PA work can be just as fulfilling as a doctor’s, depending on what your chosen specialty is. My daughter is a PA in family medicine and works independently of her “supervising” physician (state law requires that he review ten of her charts every month to fulfill the supervision of a PA). The doc is out of the office a day or two every week, so it often feels like she’s in private practice. Of course, if you specialize in something else, you would be in a more supportive role and not do everything that a doctor does.</p>
<p>Your biggest hurdle might be in finding a school that offers a PA program and accepts GED’s, but you can start looking, Meanwhile, get some medical exposure by volunteering in a medical setting, even something like a bloodbank. Or get EMT certification,which PA schools like to see.</p>
<p>You don’t use PA or nursing as a stepping stone to MD/DO.
Seems like it might be good to start back to college and see how that goes.
Take the pre-requisites for both PA and MD (e.g., Biology, Chemistry, etc)
Go slow and don’t worry about finishing quickly but keeping up your GPA.
In the mean time volunteer in a medical setting and shadow Physicians and PAs and see what appeals to you.
Then when you are about to graduate you can see if you think PA or MD is the right route for you.</p>
<p>You could go to a Masters Program for PA if that is what you choose.
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