Med school or PT school..

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DDX2k

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Hey all, I just graduated from undergrad in the spring and after some soul searching, I've found that I'm drawn much more to the patient care side of science, as opposed to the research side. Right now, I'm in a dilemma because I can't seem to choose between med school or PT school. At first, I was gung-ho on med school, but all of the unhappiness I've been hearing about within the primary care ranks has been scaring me a bit (that's what I think I'd go into, I know we can't know for sure yet but I'd really like to be a generalist and to be able to spend more time with patients...not to mention building a relationship with families). I also would prefer a lower-stress career, which turns me off completely from emergency medicine.

In addition, PT seems like a great alternative in many respects. Less debt, lots of hands-on time with patients (which is what I really want), and there's much more of a chance to build relationships with your patients, rather than seeing them for a session and not seeing them again for a long time, if ever. I like that PTs are (and have to be) more flexible with schedules, and don't seem quite as consumed with their work as many physicians are. That said, I don't want to feel like I'm 'settling' by not going for the DO (I'd rather be a DO than MD because of their approach to medicine). I also really don't want to go through med school, only to come out of it and realize that I put myself through it all and I would've been happier as a PT the whole time.

Sorry if this is a jumbled mess in places, I'm just trying to explain as much of my rationale as possible. It's a really tough choice for me. Have any of you ever considered MD? What drew you more to PT? I've just begun shadowing. I've done a PT shadow so far and I really liked that. I'm hoping that clears things up a little more for me.

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I was in your shoes a couple of years ago. I began my journey focused on attending medical school. I wanted to do PM&R, so my interest in rehabilitation was always there. Ultimately, I made a pro and con list and decided PT school made more sense to me. I am an older student, so 4 years of medical school plus 3-4 of residency seemed like waaaaay too long. I want to have a family eventually, and I felt that medical school would interfere. Like you, I want a low stress job that does not consume my life, so I think PT is the best fit for me. Yes, the income is way smaller, but I can live with that. Quality of life is more important than money.

I suggest you continue to shadow PTs and talk to some doctors as well. Really research both fields, looking at income, average weekly hours, student loan debt accrual, residency requirements for your area of interest, etc. You will find your answer!

Good luck!
 
You are not alone when trying to decide between medical school or DPT school. I, too, was in the same position and decided that DPT was a better option for me. I had no plans on performing surgery so PM&R, Internal medicine, Family practice, neurology or orthopedics were the primary specialties I was interested in pursuing. Being that I am a bit of a non-traditional student(will be 26 when I start DPT school next year) I knew that I would have 7-12 years of full time school and residency ahead of me. This was a major factor that contributed to me going the DPT route and not the MD/DO route.

As OneMoreRep stated, you should make a pros/cons list of items from each profession. There are perceived and real goods/bads with both professions. Shadow professionals in both settings to get a "real world feel" of how each profession works on a daily basis. I recommend doing this over an extended period of time in multiple settings fore both PT and MD/DO. Then you can begin to make an informed decision.

Side Note: The winds of change will be sweeping health care over the next several years. In all honesty, nobody truly knows what the health care landscape is going look like in the next 2-5 years. Dont let this dissuade you, because the reform will most likely affect professionals at all levels of the system.
 
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Have you done much shadowing in either field? I would definitely say that's the first place to start! Nothing replaces experience and seeing first hand what every work day will be like for you. Good luck with the decision, I know it's a tough one.
 
Yeah, I've shadowed a PT outpatient clinic and I will be shadowing a orthopedic surgeon and a primary care physician soon. I'll try to fit in a PMR soon too. One thing I really like about PT is that you can really build a solid relationship with your patients over the time that you see them. I feel like in medicine, it's more of an 'in and out' type thing. You don't get to build the same rapport and have the same amount of follow-up from what I've seen. I also really like how hands on the PTs are in the rehabilitation process, from the manual stretching to the massage and adjustment techniques.

That said, I haven't done the physician shadows yet, so we'll see how those go before I make a concrete decision, but I definitely am leaning towards PT.
 
I'm glad you had a good experience with it :)

If you're still seriously leaning towards PT after shadowing this physician, I would recommend going to some other PT settings as well. Acute, SNF's, schools, neuro. I really love outpatient ortho as well, but PT school will make you do internships in all settings. So make sure you at least see yourself working in them all! Plus it's good experience hours haha.
 
I have another concern about PT for those who are now practicing....do you feel like you're going to hit a proverbial 'ceiling' after a while? I just read a thread on here that had several PTs that turned to MD/DO because they felt they hit a ceiling and felt that their scope was way too limited, so they were willing to go through the sacrifice involved with being an MD/DO. That surprised me a lot, considering that it's an extra 7+ years to do all of that, plus a more stressful job with more strain on your personal and family life. Is this common in the PT field, or are most veteran PTs happy where they are?
 
So I talked to my PCP today about med school during my physical, and he really strongly encouraged me to reconsider my leaning towards PT. He said that by judging how interested I am in overall healthcare, I'd find PT's scope a little unfulfilling and he recommends me to just do med instead. I asked him about the time and happiness concerns and he said he absolutely loves his job and he only works 50> hours/wk with fairly little on-call time because he's part of a partnership. Now he's got me thinking hard about medicine again....agh, it's such a tough decision! I mean, my big fear in medicine is going through all that schooling and all that sacrifice and not really enjoying being a physician due to long hours, lots of stress, etc. If I knew I could have something somewhat like a 9-5 and not be super super stressed, I'd really want to do it.

I know there are some PTs here who switched to MD/DO...can you all tell me why you did this?
 
So I talked to my PCP today about med school during my physical, and he really strongly encouraged me to reconsider my leaning towards PT. He said that by judging how interested I am in overall healthcare, I'd find PT's scope a little unfulfilling and he recommends me to just do med instead. I asked him about the time and happiness concerns and he said he absolutely loves his job and he only works 50> hours/wk with fairly little on-call time because he's part of a partnership. Now he's got me thinking hard about medicine again....agh, it's such a tough decision! I mean, my big fear in medicine is going through all that schooling and all that sacrifice and not really enjoying being a physician due to long hours, lots of stress, etc. If I knew I could have something somewhat like a 9-5 and not be super super stressed, I'd really want to do it.

I know there are some PTs here who switched to MD/DO...can you all tell me why you did this?

I'b be interested in hearing this answer, as well. I am in the same boat as you, DDX2k. As a female who's turning thirty in five months, the thought of spending another eight years in training is daunting. Plus, it has been so long since I have taken the med school pre-reqs, I did not do well on the MCAT the first time I took it. If you are interested in clinical medicine, but worried about the time committment, have you ever considered PA?
 
I'b be interested in hearing this answer, as well. I am in the same boat as you, DDX2k. As a female who's turning thirty in five months, the thought of spending another eight years in training is daunting. Plus, it has been so long since I have taken the med school pre-reqs, I did not do well on the MCAT the first time I took it. If you are interested in clinical medicine, but worried about the time committment, have you ever considered PA?

I have, but I think the fact that I would always be 'under' a doctor would really bruise my ego after a while, especially because I'm only 22 (24 by the time I start school) and thus, would still be fairly young by the time I'm out. Knowing that, no matter how much time I put in, I could never be on the doctor's level would bother me to great lengths, I'd think. I'd probably consider PA if I were more of a non-traditional student, though.
 
I have another concern about PT for those who are now practicing....do you feel like you're going to hit a proverbial 'ceiling' after a while? I just read a thread on here that had several PTs that turned to MD/DO because they felt they hit a ceiling and felt that their scope was way too limited, so they were willing to go through the sacrifice involved with being an MD/DO. That surprised me a lot, considering that it's an extra 7+ years to do all of that, plus a more stressful job with more strain on your personal and family life. Is this common in the PT field, or are most veteran PTs happy where they are?

I can't say that I have ever felt as though I was hitting a ceiling, but your question is a difficult one to answer, as each individual wants something different out of their career. Research in the field of Physical Therapy is expanding rapidly, and keeping abreast of this, and allowing it to change my practice patterns has kept the profession feeling vibrant to me for 12 years.

I guess that I haven't felt that the scope of my practice was too narrow. Most patients now are looking for someone with expertise in a given area, rather than a generalist. My area of expertise is conservative, non-medical care of musculoskeletal conditions. Given the prevalence of spinal pain, as well as the weekend warrior syndrome of many, I certainly don't have a shortage of patients who are looking for the service I provide.

A typical day for me:
10 to fifteen patients, two to four of which are there for their first PT evaluation and treatment. The vast majority of new patients that come into the clinic I work in have been referred from their PCP. This typically means that their MD/DO has taken a subjective history, asked some screening questions, and possibly (although not highly likely) recieved a physical examination - see below for the dying art of the physical exam amongst physicians:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/health/12profile.html

So, my task is to take a more physical therapy specific subjective history, ask additional screening questions to rule out a systemic or non-musculoskeletal cause of their pain and then perform an in-depth phsyical examination. From the data collected during the subjective and objective exam, a plan of care is developed, using current best evidence when available. For the most part, I end up managing a significant portion of the patient's care regarding the conservative management of their musculoskeletal pain/problem, all the while getting to know them over the course of a few 30-60 minutes treatment sessions rather than a 10 minutes appointment with their MD/DO.

When applied to the appropriate patients, using evidence to guide the examination and treatment, physical therapy is highly effective compared to many other alternatives that are offered to patients. Essentially, the patients get better, in a fairly short period of time, and are appreciative of that fact. That's all I need in a career. But, you may want some thing different.

Some things to consider about Primary Care Medicine:
1. What about this expanded scope of care is desireable to you? The latest data I read indicates that upwards of 20-25% of patients that a PCP now sees are coming to them for a musculoskeletal complaint. It has been discussed elsewhere on this forum that many PCPs education regarding managment of musculoskeletal conditions is less than ideal, so they typically refer them to a PT, ortho surgeon or physiatrist. So, in this example, your expanded scope means you are essentially writing a PT prescription or filling out a referral form.
2. The litigious nature of our society has caused many PCPs to refer many patients to specialists for fear of a missed diagnosis leading to a lawsuit. Do you want to be the "middle man" in all of that?
3. Decreasing reimbursement rates have caused many PCPs to see more patients during their typical work day in order to generate the same amount of income. That doens't sound like it would allow you to spend more time with your patients.

If medicine is your thing, go for it. But, think about some of the things I have posted. Some other PTs who occasionally post on this site may have other insights as well.
 
I have, but I think the fact that I would always be 'under' a doctor would really bruise my ego after a while, especially because I'm only 22 (24 by the time I start school) and thus, would still be fairly young by the time I'm out. Knowing that, no matter how much time I put in, I could never be on the doctor's level would bother me to great lengths, I'd think. I'd probably consider PA if I were more of a non-traditional student, though.

Oh LOL! By the sound of your post, I though you were like, in your thirties or something. I don't want to persuade you to do something you don't want to do, but you should not let the time committment of medical school and residency dissuade, you, as you would only be 31 or 32 when you became an attending. Just last night, it occured to me that had I began medical school when I was your age, I would be finishing my residency soon. If you were my age, and had ovaries drying up by the second, I would tell you to do PA or PT, but if medicine is what you want to do, you should go for it. Even I have not 100% ruled out doing medical school a bit later in life, after the DPT.
 
If building relationships with ur patients is a concern, there is no problem within primary care. It just takes longer...months, years, decades:eek:Family medicine is great at this, since like u said, u can get to know the entire family, which can give very good insight into each member. Also, since ur a generalist, u will be able to be involved in every aspect of the patient's health, not just a particular system. Who knows, u may get bored just dealing with the neuromsk part. If not, however there are a small percentage of DOs who do NMM/OMM (neuromuscular/osteopathic manipulative medicine) fellowships, and have primarily hands-on, sometimes cash-only practices, but still have the the full scope of meds, labs, imaging, and referral ability if needed. All that being said, PT is much better training if you want to focus on neuromsk and movement/function. PTs are the experts, IMO, in this area next to orthopods, and some OMM gurus.
 
If building relationships with ur patients is a concern, there is no problem within primary care. It just takes longer...months, years, decades:eek:Family medicine is great at this, since like u said, u can get to know the entire family, which can give very good insight into each member. Also, since ur a generalist, u will be able to be involved in every aspect of the patient's health, not just a particular system. Who knows, u may get bored just dealing with the neuromsk part. If not, however there are a small percentage of DOs who do NMM/OMM (neuromuscular/osteopathic manipulative medicine) fellowships, and have primarily hands-on, sometimes cash-only practices, but still have the the full scope of meds, labs, imaging, and referral ability if needed. All that being said, PT is much better training if you want to focus on neuromsk and movement/function. PTs are the experts, IMO, in this area next to orthopods, and some OMM gurus.

Hmm, yeah, going for my DO definitely sounds like a more and more attractive option. For those of you who are in med school now, why did you ultimately make the switch from PT? Also, do you think that a family man can have adequate time to spend with family, friends, and for hobbies (I'm an avid martial artist for example and I'd like time to go to classes a few times/week) while being a family physician? I've noticed that the group practice structure has become more popular...will that allow for a more 9-5ish workweek than what we used to see?
 
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