I’m torn on which one to go for. I could go the pre med route and then go to med school which will most definitely be the more expensive route but if i go for physician assistant, will i regret not going for my MD? Please help me figure out what to do! Thanks
If you start as a PA, and decide you really do want to become an MD, that option will still be open to you in the future.
Dear OP,
It would be better to ask that question in the light of what your short-term and long-term goals are as someone working in the field. A relative of mine, after carefully considering M.D. and discussing it with the whole family, chose P.A. because she valued her lifestyle + long & frequent vacations-- so dearly. (She travels internationally at least twice/yr because her husband has relatives abroad.) She did consider the 3 medical specialities which, she said, do not require on-call duty, but given that she is so practically oriented and was in a hurry to get practicing quickly (it was a career change for her), she felt that P.A. fit her lifestyle and fit what she expected out of that position.
She has gotten a lot of satisfaction out of her job and much responsibility. In addition, she has helped out our family medically quite a bit. Her diagnoses, despite not having the title of M.D., are amazingly accurate. My own internist respects her so much that she sometimes considers her opinion when treating me!
Also, she really was not constructed, at any age, for all-nighters – either in medical residency or as an on-call physician such as a pediatrics, obstetrics, etc. She’s one of these people who needs her sleep and goes to bed early. So for her she made the right choice. I also subscribe to what happymom said.
Thank you epiphany and happymom! That was exactly what I was looking for thanks for the help
You’re very welcome. Good luck to you!
Also consider if you are ok being an employee or want to be your own boss. While many physicians are employees, you could still own your own practice in many specialties. That can’t happen as PA.
^ another good point.
(There are, however, pluses and minuses to opening one’s own practice.)
Do you have any idea what you might want to specialize in? That could be one of the biggest factors in making a decision. other than expense/time of education vs salary/demands/advantages of PA vs MD
PA’s have greater or lesser responsibilities and freedoms depending on what specialty they practice. Some fields may limit them to initial exams or follow-ups or to assisting in surgery or other procedures. Other fields allow them to be the primary medical professional working with a specific patient.
My daughter is a PA in a family practice. She does everything the doctor does and is pretty much independent - he goes on vacation up to two weeks at a time, and she is then the only provider at the practice (“supervision” in NYS means that the doc has to review a very few of her charts every month). She consults with him only if she comes up against something that she is not sure of, and she has caught things with the doc’s patients that he has missed when she covers for him (usually heart conditions, as she seems to have a better ear for murmurs and leaks than he does).
My kid chose the PA route because she wanted to get out and earning sooner and she did not want the responsibilities associated with being in charge of a clinic. She had considered letting Uncle Sam pay her way through med school but did not want to try to balance a family life around military service.
There is one advantage of PA over MD: it is very easy to switch specialties as a PA. They are licensed for every field of medicine, unlike a doctor who would have to do much more preparation to gain certification in a different specialty. If my kid wanted to switch to cardiology, she could send out applications today to cardiologist practices.
One thing about going the PA route - it is a LOT easier to go through the 3+2 programs than it is to be admitted into the graduate phase. The 3+2 at most (but not all) schools guarantee grad placement for undergrads who have the grades and patient contact hours required for admission. The school my daughter attended had well over 1000 applicants for a handful of graduate openings - those openings come about only through students who drop out or transfer out of the undergrad class.
"If you start as a PA, and decide you really do want to become an MD, that option will still be open to you in the future. "
-not easily. Not recommended
KKmama, where did your daughter go to school?