<p>I'm currently a senior in high school applying for colleges. I am very interested and good at biological and life sciences and I am set on entering the medical field. Here's the problem: I've heard many stories of people entering college thinking they're going to be a doctor and they end up completely changing their mind. For that reason, I do not want to apply to a specific 7-8 year MD program because it gives me no other options. What I was thinking about doing was applying to a 5 year PA program (I know it's not easy) and after graduating and becoming a PA, I apply to a medical school if I decide I really really want to become a doctor. Does this make sense? I would take all the prerequisites for medical school in the PA program and I'd also have a job as a PA. I asked my guidance counselor about this and she told me that after the 5 years, I'd probably just want to be done with everything and not want to go back to school. I'm not sure if that's true. I feel like I would be very determined and try harder than I've ever tried in my life in medical school. But is that the only problem with this path? Any answer is greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>It’s rather late to be applying to 5-year PA programs now. Are you planning on taking a gap year before applying? Have you shadowed both physicians and PAs? Do you understand the difference between the 2 careers?</p>
<p>I think your GC is probably correct. After 3 years of undergrad plus 2 years of grad classes + intense clinical training (without a summer break in most cases), you will probably be eager to get out of school and start practicing. Med school will add a minimum of another 7-10 years of schooling/training (again with little to no time off) on top of the 5 years you’ve already completed before you can start your career. PAs do not get to shortcut the process and have to start medical training from the beginning in med school.</p>
<p>Also consider that med schools will be very reluctant to accepted a newly graduated PA who has never worked as PA. (As a general rule, med schools do not ‘poach’ students from other medical fields. Med school adcomms will want to hear a very, very good reason from you on why you want to change careers–and this is hard to articulate unless you’ve actually worked in your career for a while.)</p>
<p>I personally think that PA programs will not accept you if they have any hint you will want to jump ship and leave PA practice for med school. You would be taking a seat away from someone who wants to be a PA and isn’t just using PA as a back-up.</p>
<p>Getting on the PA track is committing yourself almost as much as being on a premed track. A BS in health sciences is not going to get you anywhere, and there aren’t a whole lot of options for elective courses and no chance of a dual major.</p>
<p>Depending on what specialty you are interested in, being a PA can be as satisfying as being a doctor. My daughter is in family practice and does everything that the doc does (except collecting a similar paycheck). She is highly respected in the community and actually sees more patients in a week than the doctor - at their request. </p>
<p>And even if you are in a specialty that only allows you to to intake/follow-up/assistance things, you may also be perfectly happy remaining a PA. It’s not something that you would necessarily feel that you are being forced to “settle” for.</p>
<p>And yes, the PA faculty would definitely be ticked if they heard that you intended to go to medical school. They want people committed to the program. </p>