Best PA Programs

[oohsonatural]

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Hi!

A little about myself:

I currently have a BA in Psychology with honors blah blah. I am working as a research assistant doing Epi research on cervical cancer in Kenya. I originally thought I was interested in conducting research and pursuing a PhD, but after multiple years working in research, I am beginning to realize that the field lacks some very important qualities that I would desire in a career. I am weighing my options and am considering both PA and MD. I believe the MD would be worth the sacrifice that I am aware it requires, but I want to explore my options to ensure I don’t pursue a career based on prestige, potentially endless opportunities for research, admin. potential etc. (MD) when a career as a PA may offer me all the things that I desire in a career. I want to know as much as possible before choosing my path ☺

Can you share any impressions you have of schools that are putting out the-best-of-the-best, or programs that are highly esteemed but those hiring?

Thanks for your feedback.

*I have other questions but have elected to post them in individual threads*

 

[deleted6669]

The "best of the best" programs require significant prior hce.
Do you have any besides research(many places-especially many top places- don't count research as hce)

 

[pamac]

Hi!

A little about myself:

I currently have a BA in Psychology with honors blah blah. I am working as a research assistant doing Epi research on cervical cancer in Kenya. I originally thought I was interested in conducting research and pursuing a PhD, but after multiple years working in research, I am beginning to realize that the field lacks some very important qualities that I would desire in a career. I am weighing my options and am considering both PA and MD. I believe the MD would be worth the sacrifice that I am aware it requires, but I want to explore my options to ensure I don't pursue a career based on prestige, potentially endless opportunities for research, admin. potential etc. (MD) when a career as a PA may offer me all the things that I desire in a career. I want to know as much as possible before choosing my path ☺

Can you share any impressions you have of schools that are putting out the-best-of-the-best, or programs that are highly esteemed but those hiring?

Thanks for your feedback.

*I have other questions but have elected to post them in individual threads*

At the end of he day, even without HCE, you can easily find PA programs that will take you. And at the end of the day, you'll find most employers won't care where you got your degree. Case in point, a PA I worked with went to an ivy league PA program. They work with another PA who went to a far less prestigious state school. Guess who gets the most respect and money. Trick question.... It's the Caribbean trained physician who had worse undergrad grades than both of the PAs! Put thier salaries together and you get almost what the physician makes. The physician leaves at 1530 each day to go boat or golf while the PAs stay late and work for salary.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[oohsonatural]

The "best of the best" programs require significant prior hce.
Do you have any besides research(many places-especially many top places- don't count research as hce)

I don't have the coveted "paid HCE." I do have over 50 hours of shadowing and around 50 hours of volunteering, primarily in Africa assisting with surgery and clinic. I am limited in this fact, but do see that highly esteemed schools like CU and Baylor have fewer HCE requirements. Not sure if having limited HCE, even for schools with little to no requirements, will put me at a disadvantage?

Do you agree with pamac in saying that prestige of the program does not dictate much when it comes to practice?

 

[oohsonatural]

Pamac,

Thanks for your input. I have heard an seen both ends of the spectrum when it comes to income and work life balance for PA's vs MD's. What do you think the biggest factor affecting those two variables is (purely opinion). I think that my decision will come down to potential for work life balance and ability to teach, possibly with some research on the side...

 

[pamac]

Pamac,

Thanks for your input. I have heard an seen both ends of the spectrum when it comes to income and work life balance for PA's vs MD's. What do you think the biggest factor affecting those two variables is (purely opinion). I think that my decision will come down to potential for work life balance and ability to teach, possibly with some research on the side...

Purely opinion? What it comes down to is how long you want to be in school, and what you want to get out of your profession once you get there. You will have two totally different experiences and outcomes. They aren't interchangable. You should look at them as two different jobs rather than two careers with different levels of intensity. The trade offs between the two are rather apparent. You get through PA school much sooner, but live with the consequences later. Med school takes forever (in my way of thinking), but the payoff is at the end. You miss out on life events up front. It really is a personal decision that rests on what you are willng to sacrifice.

I never looked at medical school, but I looked pretty hard at dental school, and somewhat at podiatry. Both of those have more in common with medical school than PA school. I never was excited about the relocation, the 4 years of school, and having to plod along for several years just to get started. The payoff, at least for dental school, is significant. But every time I thought about 4 straight years, I just didnt like the idea. Maybe I'm just not patient, but when I decided on something else, my mood improved almost instantly. Usually, I try to keep an attitude of me not letting exterior conditions have so much sway over my feelings, but in that case I let myself go with my heart. And as far as prestige... everyone has a boss, everyone has limitations placed upon them in some degree. 99.9999% of people have their influence limited to a rather narrow sphere. For instance, a doctor can have money, but his or her power basically takes a nosedive once they leave the confines of the clinic or the hospital. The cop pulling them over for speeding gets the last word. Sure, there is wealth there to try to wield like any other rich person, but thats not unique. So anyone going into a career for the prestige better get used to the notion of thier prestige having boundaries, and those boundaries often end where the money does. So if you want to be a physician, do it for the challenge and the satisfaction of what you can provide for your patients. If that fuels you, then you won't wake up one day wishing you'd sought out wealth an influence through a different career that didnt require as much out of you. If you are looking to be a rockstar, the chances are that you are a bigger rockstar in your own head than what other people consider you to be.

Medicine was even more unappealing to me because of the lack of control over certain variables. You often have to move for school, then you have to shoot for a residency match, then go where that match takes you. Thats two times you look at relocation that you don't have ultimate control over. So for me, it was more than just the time involved, it was losing control over location as well.

 

[oohsonatural]

Thanks for this. I had never considered the control you lose when matching and moving. Interesting perspective!