Decided to go MD... should I attend my PA school interview?

[kcmoua]

Long story short... I've decided to try for MD school.

My concern right now is that I still have a pending PA school interview over the weekend which also has an adjunct medical school which I would like to apply to.

I would like to attend it given I paid my application/supplemental fee and for the interview practice, but I am wondering if I am shooting myself in the foot by attending it.

Would it be more beneficial for me to just skip it and remain somewhat a "mystery" to the ADCOMS or attend it, revealing a bit more.

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[Scrizzy]

That's a tough one. I'm on the side of taking the interview in case you change your mind. But not attend the school if you get accepted. Since you will most likely have to explain why you switched from PA to MD if you go to the school.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Cancel.

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[efle]

Long story short... I've decided to try for MD school.

Based on your other post you have a solid sGPA but no MCAT score

Is it possible to attend the interview, take the MCAT in the next ~6 months and then decide after receiving your score but before starting the PA program?

 

[ChrisMack390]

FWIW, I dount the adcoms from the PA program and the MD program are linked like this.

 

[kcmoua]

FWIW, I dount the adcoms from the PA program and the MD program are linked like this.

They are not. But I imagine I would have to disclose if I ever applied to the school before. It would not take much work for the MD program to glean any information on me from the PA program.

 

[kcmoua]

Based on your other post you have a solid sGPA but no MCAT score

Is it possible to attend the interview, take the MCAT in the next ~6 months and then decide after receiving your score but before starting the PA program?

It is possible as the PA program starts later. But frankly, my mind is pretty set. I have had an internal debate about this since long before I made that previous post on WAMC.

 

[efle]

It is possible as the PA program starts later. But frankly, my mind is pretty set. I have had an internal debate about this since long before I made that previous post on WAMC.

The next step is taking an MCAT no matter what. If you're testing the waters, MCAT. If you're committed to applying this coming cycle, also MCAT. So you might as well time it in a way that gives you options. I say take the test in early summer, withdraw upon score release if it is competitive.

 

[Alienman52]

Long story short... I've decided to try for MD school.

My concern right now is that I still have a pending PA school interview over the weekend which also has an adjunct medical school which I would like to apply to.

I would like to attend it given I paid my application/supplemental fee and for the interview practice, but I am wondering if I am shooting myself in the foot by attending it.

Would it be more beneficial for me to just skip it and remain somewhat a "mystery" to the ADCOMS or attend it, revealing a bit more.

If you're 100% dead set on MD, then cancel. There are other ways to practice interviewing, plus you'd be potentially stopping someone from getting a seat who really wants to be a PA.


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[BeddingfieldMD]

Unless travel or financial matters are a concern, I would attend the PA interview. I've been involved with interview processes for med school, residency, and fellowship programs, and I can assure you they are not so organized that the admissions committee at a PA program is going to somehow "tip off" the MD admissions committee that you also interviewed with them, etc. I mean it's possible, but highly unlikely.

On an off chance that your name does somehow migrate from the PA to MD programs, it's not the end of the world. You can easily explain that you have been deliberating between the two career paths and wanted to interview to better explore the differences. I think it's a good thing that you haven't been so tunnel visioned into "MD or bust" from day one. There are lots of paths by which you can find an enjoyable, meaningful, and successful career in the health sciences. Becoming an MD/DO physician is only one of them.

 

[BeddingfieldMD]

They are not. But I imagine I would have to disclose if I ever applied to the school before. It would not take much work for the MD program to glean any information on me from the PA program.

Yes, but the question, "Have you ever applied previously to XXX School of Medicine?" would still have an answer of "no" if you had only previously applied to the home university's PA program. Different schools and programs. Same as if you had previously gone to law school somewhere; that doesn't count as previously applying (and presumably getting rejected) by their med school.

 

[ThoracicGuy]

If you interview and get accepted, you can be a PA and still try for med school at a later time in life. If you skip the interview, you might get barred from ever going to a PA school anywhere, and then if you don't get accepted to a medical school, you're completely screwed. Go to the PA interview.

Cancelling an interview will not bar you from any PA school anywhere. If it's late notice, they might not offer you an interview if you reapply again in the future. If PA schools are anything like med school, it you interview and get accepted and then turn that down, is much harder to ever get a future acceptance anywhere...

Don't do the interview.

 

[Overthehorizen]

The PA profession is on a slow but inexorable decline. It may not be in existence in ten years. You should read my longer post on the questionable future of the PA profession. Look at my profile and then look my content. Basically, the best choice is an MD program. If you cannot succeed in gaining admission, go to become an NP or DNP. You will enjoy much higher earnings, a more secure future and the freedom to run your own practice. PAs cannot run their own practice, have lower earnings and have a very shaky future.

 

[libertyyne]

Is deferring for a year a possibility, after acceptance? If you dont have an MCAT you could get murdered by it and burn the bridge to PA as well by rejecting the interview or rejecting the acceptance. The road to Medicine is littered with 4.0 23's.

 

[Overthehorizen]

PA programs are desperately afraid of selecting people who have the intellect and motivation to become doctors. They prefer less intellectually enabled and subservient types. Look at the admission demographics. Almost no minorities, almost entirely women. Military men have the hardest time getting into PA school because they are "type A" guys with enormous self-confidence. That makes PA adcoms very nervous about accepting them. Finally, most PA adcoms will be able to find out if you took the MCAT. They use that as a tool to deselect your application from further consideration. That reason alone should be enough to reject going to PA school. If not, look at my profile and read my sobering post about the future of the PA profession. Study hard and long for MCAT. Do well on it. Go to Med school. You'll be so much happier and richer.

 

[libertyyne]

PA programs are desperately afraid of selecting people who have the intellect and motivation to become doctors. They prefer less intellectually enabled and subservient types. Look at the admission demographics. Almost no minorities, almost entirely women. Military men have the hardest time getting into PA school because they are "type A" guys with enormous self-confidence. That makes PA adcoms very nervous about accepting them. Finally, most PA adcoms will be able to find out if you took the MCAT. They use that as a tool to deselect your application from further consideration. That reason alone should be enough to reject going to PA school. If not, look at my profile and read my sobering post about the future of the PA profession. Study hard and long for MCAT. Do well on it. Go to Med school. You'll be so much happier and richer.

Your post sounds like the ramblings of a mad person. Saying irrational exuberance multiple times doesnt mean anything. Atleast cite some data or real sources.

 

[Overthehorizen]

If you google "irrational exuberance" you will see that it is a warning indicator of markets that are constituted of overvalued assets. An impending bust is inevitable. However, in a boom cycle, revenue, earnings and market caps continue to grow which leads the unwary to invest recklessly against all reason. What I am saying is that the PA profession is being pumped by the AAPA, NCCPA and PA programs. When the market crashes, they will simply exit the business with their handsome profits but the newly minted PA will be left with a worthless asset (his PA-C credential) that cannot be used to generate revenue. I hope this clears up the rambling of my madness.

 

[libertyyne]

If you google "irrational exuberance" you will see that it is a warning indicator of markets that are constituted of overvalued assets. An impending bust is inevitable. However, in a boom cycle, revenue, earnings and market caps continue to grow which leads the unwary to invest recklessly against all reason. What I am saying is that the PA profession is being pumped by the AAPA, NCCPA and PA programs. When the market crashes, they will simply exit the business with their handsome profits but the newly minted PA will be left with a worthless asset (his PA-C credential) that cannot be used to generate revenue. I hope this clears up the rambling of my madness.

This absurd argument could be used for any profession. Including NPs and MDs and DOs. Show me decreasing salaries, show me reduced autonomy, show me something to back this up. I know plenty of PA's and they can literally walk outside and have a 100K job offer smack them in the face.

 

[Overthehorizen]

Today it is true. PAs will graduate and earn 85 to 95 K without much difficulty. I state that these jobs will evaporate in ten years. Ignore the analysis at your own peril.

 

[libertyyne]

Today it is true. PAs will graduate and earn 85 to 95 K without much difficulty. I state that these jobs will evaporate in ten years. Ignore the analysis at your own peril.

Predicting the future is a fool's errand. Alan Greenspan couldn't even predict the economic collapse in front of him.