4th Year Medical Student Would Like to Transfer to PA School

[bgabes]

Hi,

I'm a 4th year medical student currently on leave of absence (my father passed away earlier this year). I would like to complete my education in medicine, but have no desire to complete a residency or practice as a physician and am looking to transfer to a PA school. I attend a "top 50" med school, have completed all my core clinical rotations, and recently passed my USMLE Step II Boards (I scored near nat'l avg which is good considering my father was terminally ill at the time). Has anyone ever heard of someone so far into their medical school education transfering to PA school. Does anyone know of any schools who would allow me to transfer over credits? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

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[deleted6669]

sorry about your family situation.
you would need to reapply in most cases. if you are at a school that has a pa program and the pa program and the medschool take courses together you may get credits for those courses at that school only.
at this point it would probably be faster to just finish yr four and do a residency.
you would need to apply(assuming you have all the prereqs as these vary school to school). so that's 1 yr. then assuming you are accepted even if you get credits for a few courses you would have to do the whole 2 yrs to get the remaining courses as most programs only teach each course once/yr. that's 3 yrs aka a residency in em, fp, im, etc.
practicing as a pa isn't all that different than practicing as an md after a while. if you don't like medicine as a physician you will like it even less as a pa due to the added barriers of supervision/licensing that are much more involved than for physicians.....trust me finish medschool. take a yr off if you must to get your life in order but finish medschool and residency. after a few yrs as a pa you would be kicking yourself for not seeing it through.

 

[princekc]

I strongly agree with above post.

 

[greytmedic]

Just finish med school and then find a MD to PA or a MD to NP bridge course .

Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[contemplate]

emedpa is right -- there is way too much rigidity in medical education (whether it's PA/MD, nursing, etc). clinical skills are transferable, but the damn coursework and licensing are not. UNLESS your MD school also has a PA school -- you can talk to your advisor.

do not go the PA route. i don't know where you are located, but there are very few PA programs. you might have to relocate again (i hate moving) for this change. PA education can be redundant. and the application process is tiring!! you didn't repeat first grade -- why would you want to repeat medical education, which is 100 more exams and 1000s more hours of studying. if you continue and do your residency, you are at least learning some new technical/clinical skills. i don't know about you, but i'd rather tromp around a hospital at 2am dealing with patients and paperwork in a real work environment than to repeat rote memorization on my now square butt.

the economics doesn't work out for switching to PA -- you already paid $150K for medical school, why not finish and get your prize, the MD degree. if you leave now, you get NOTHING for $150K. no degree, no job. do you really wanna pay another $100K (total $250K) for PA, an inferior degree with less earning potential? just face it: even though everyone has more education than their job typically requires, more education is an advantage.

i know that the recent incidents (father's death) is a difficult thing to deal with -- but please think for the long-term. take time off and come back to finish your MD.

please post on this board again to let us know how you are doing. we would love to help you get past this. have faith, be strong and good luck!

sorry about your family situation.
you would need to reapply in most cases. if you are at a school that has a pa program and the pa program and the medschool take courses together you may get credits for those courses at that school only.
at this point it would probably be faster to just finish yr four and do a residency.
you would need to apply(assuming you have all the prereqs as these vary school to school). so that's 1 yr. then assuming you are accepted even if you get credits for a few courses you would have to do the whole 2 yrs to get the remaining courses as most programs only teach each course once/yr. that's 3 yrs aka a residency in em, fp, im, etc.
practicing as a pa isn't all that different than practicing as an md after a while. if you don't like medicine as a physician you will like it even less as a pa due to the added barriers of supervision/licensing that are much more involved than for physicians.....trust me finish medschool. take a yr off if you must to get your life in order but finish medschool and residency. after a few yrs as a pa you would be kicking yourself for not seeing it through.

 

[deleted6669]

" i don't know where you are located, but there are very few PA programs."

yeah,only around 140.....(?)

 

[core0]

" i don't know where you are located, but there are very few PA programs."

yeah,only around 140.....(?)

Its relative. There are around 125 medical schools (not sure if this included DO programs). There are around 16,000 new students admitted every year if I remember correctly which is much more than the PA programs. The med schools also tend to be better distributed than the PA programs.

David Carpenter, PA-C

 

[Taurus]

I'll point out the obvious. The OP sounds depressed and should talk to a psychiatrist. Your judgment and outlook may change once you start receiving treatment. Making big career decisions while you're depressed is probably not wise. Take a year off if you have to.