Agreed! They don’t know what they want! So why chose a direct admit program?
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I totally agree. It was off based. Thanks for pointing that out.
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Totally agree but for some reason I can’t edit it. You can delete it if you wish to please.
We were just pointing out the different pathways available for what the OP asked. No one said to absolutely go the direct-entry route. If I were you I’d actually do more research into direct-entry PA programs and see what they entail.
Agreed - and the questions surrounding RN, PA, and NP programs/professions are probably better off left to those who either actually went through the programs or are educators at such programs. I’d gladly say the same thing if we were discussing other professions.
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Def talk to PAs and doctors- need to have a collaborative agreement with the doctors to work. Doctors like NP training more and many have stated they don’t think PAs receive as strong of a clinical training as NPs- hence why they prefer NPs.
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This seems like anecdotal info about what physicians prefer? Both paths should/could end in good results. My daughter in law is finishing up a PA program and she is over 30. Her dad and stepmother are both physicians. She has a good friend that is a PA and is very happy in that role. A friend is an NP and also seems to have had a nice career. Also, anecdotal. Good luck to the OP! It’s all good and we certainly need more competent and dedicated health professionals.
Hello, I just want to clarify. The programs I am deciding between are 4 year nursing programs or 5 year PA programs (where I’d have to accrue 500 hours or more of healthcare experience working as a CNA, EMT, Medical Assistant, etc). Thanks for your response.
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Have you received guaranteed admission to the PA program?
How much debt do you think you will incur as a PA versus nursing?
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Me and my parents think it would be 30K for nursing and 80K if I did PA.
The PA program does have guaranteed admission as long as I maintain my gpa (3.00 to 3.200) for the nursing program I’d have to maintain a 85 GPA.
Well, the thing is that you can work a few years as a nurse while making money and then go the NP route and do very similar, if not identical work as most PAs.
The difference in loan amount is not trivial either. You are looking at a car payment equivalent versus a condo payment. Have you looked to see what the job market and compensation look like for PAs right now? I know that at the beginning of the pandemic, many fresh PAs were having a really hard time finding employment. But, nurses were making $90/hour plus benefits if they were willing to travel. Not sure where things stand now. There is a PA subreddit that you may find useful and can solicit some advise from too.
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You could work in surgery with just your BSN. If that’s your main goal just get your BSN and then work your way up to that. The best NP’s are the ones with many years of experience. The PA’s where I live don’t do much. Seems like a waste of schooling IMO. There are so so many things you can do with your BSN. I’d start there and get some good patient care under your belt and then decide what exactly you want to do. You’ll pick up so much knowledge working as an RN that you will most likely fly through NP school pretty easily. I honestly wouldn’t go to a PA or NP unless they had several years of nursing experience first.
So just went to the CVS minute clinic a few weeks back. They had free cholesterol and ha1c, blood pressure etc. The NP there was great but I asked her why NP and not PA. She said for her she wanted to practice by herself (10 years with the CVS minute clinic). She realizes she is a midline practitioner and fine with that. She said the work /life balance is fantastic. She has no problems making really good money but also has time to raise a family. She was a surgical nurse for the first ten years and enjoys this much more. She said her friends that are PAs don’t seem as happy as she is.
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I think it all depends on your practice and also the state in which you work for both professions. Walk-in clinics as mentioned above can actually make a provider feel pretty limited in their practIce as there are specific guidelines and treatment options that have to be followed, as well as case presentations that have to automatically be referred out. NP practice can also be very limited in some states while completely independent in others.
If she was an RN with a BSN for a few years before going back to school, then the NP route was definitely the more streamlined and less expensive approach.
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