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Hello! I made a similar post in another thread, a much older one. I'm posting this in a few other forum catagories now to hopefully get some more reads and responses.
Let me start by giving you my background. 2007 graduate with a BS in Biology and Chemistry minor. 3.75 overall GPA and 3.64. Before ever starting college I had pre-med in mind, which shortly thereafter turned into dentistry (due to the difference in time it takes to complete school). Then, after graduation I decided to pursue pharmacy and currently work in a pharmacy. After discovering I was annoyingly bored by it I started thinking back to my original decision.
I have a love for Psychiatry. It fascinates me to no end. I grew up with a parent suffering from bipolar disorder and have seen first hand what happens when a psych patient is not compliant with doctors orders. (They love to stop taking their medication, it's a fact.) **SOAPBOX WARNING** When people like Tom Cruise and ignoramuses such as that bash psychiatry and talk about what "nonsense" it is, it outrages me. Fire shoots from my ears, because I KNOW. I've been there. I've SEEN IT. When he went on Dr. Phil psych bashing I literally threw my shoe at the TV set. I want to be there for people who are mentally ill and see them (AND their families, because trust me, they are suffering too) through. It's all too real. This I know.
I read somewhere that PA's were functional in psychiatric settings (one local psychiatric private practice had an ad looking for one to practically function as a psychiatrist, to see patients and do med checks). This thrilled me. I started researching the PA route.
I'd love nothing more than to have that job. I'd love to be an MD too, don't get me wrong. I do not want to devote 5&1/2 more years (it'd be another year & a half before I could even start) plus 4 more years of grueling residency. Personally, I'd like to start my family somewhere around the age of 26 or 27, God willing. I'd be 32 before I finished medical school. Not that that's old... But going to PA school would be complete when I'm about to turn 25.
It is an assumption of mine that a PA gets more down time than a doctor, given the particular specialty.
Are PA's functional in psychiatry or is this just a dream of mine? Is becoming a PA a bad decision? Should I bite the bullet and go to med school? Can I be an efficient wife/mother and be a successful MD? Can I be an efficient wife/mother and be a successful PA? Just asking opinions. I would love to hear from any Psychiatrists with families. What is your average work week like? Do you have time for yourself? For your family? During med school? Any psychiatric PAs out there? Have you heard of any?
If you've stuck with me through this entire long post, I commend you, and would shake your hand if I saw you in person.
Thanks for reading.
Brooke
Let me start by giving you my background. 2007 graduate with a BS in Biology and Chemistry minor. 3.75 overall GPA and 3.64. Before ever starting college I had pre-med in mind, which shortly thereafter turned into dentistry (due to the difference in time it takes to complete school). Then, after graduation I decided to pursue pharmacy and currently work in a pharmacy. After discovering I was annoyingly bored by it I started thinking back to my original decision.
I have a love for Psychiatry. It fascinates me to no end. I grew up with a parent suffering from bipolar disorder and have seen first hand what happens when a psych patient is not compliant with doctors orders. (They love to stop taking their medication, it's a fact.) **SOAPBOX WARNING** When people like Tom Cruise and ignoramuses such as that bash psychiatry and talk about what "nonsense" it is, it outrages me. Fire shoots from my ears, because I KNOW. I've been there. I've SEEN IT. When he went on Dr. Phil psych bashing I literally threw my shoe at the TV set. I want to be there for people who are mentally ill and see them (AND their families, because trust me, they are suffering too) through. It's all too real. This I know.
I read somewhere that PA's were functional in psychiatric settings (one local psychiatric private practice had an ad looking for one to practically function as a psychiatrist, to see patients and do med checks). This thrilled me. I started researching the PA route.
I'd love nothing more than to have that job. I'd love to be an MD too, don't get me wrong. I do not want to devote 5&1/2 more years (it'd be another year & a half before I could even start) plus 4 more years of grueling residency. Personally, I'd like to start my family somewhere around the age of 26 or 27, God willing. I'd be 32 before I finished medical school. Not that that's old... But going to PA school would be complete when I'm about to turn 25.
It is an assumption of mine that a PA gets more down time than a doctor, given the particular specialty.
Are PA's functional in psychiatry or is this just a dream of mine? Is becoming a PA a bad decision? Should I bite the bullet and go to med school? Can I be an efficient wife/mother and be a successful MD? Can I be an efficient wife/mother and be a successful PA? Just asking opinions. I would love to hear from any Psychiatrists with families. What is your average work week like? Do you have time for yourself? For your family? During med school? Any psychiatric PAs out there? Have you heard of any?
If you've stuck with me through this entire long post, I commend you, and would shake your hand if I saw you in person.
Thanks for reading.
Brooke
