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Treating people vs helping to treat people? The question is like "What are the benefits of joining police when you can do nearly the same as a security guard in a shopping mall"
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I understand that treating vs helping to treat would be the biggest difference, but it seems that specialized PAs are running their own clinics, etc? As I said, they seem to be getting a lot more autonomous and no longer having to go through the physicians to make a lot of decisions, unless I have observed/heard incorrectly
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If you want to be a surgeon, you need med school right now. Also, the knowledge that comes from going to med school is far greater than what is learned in PA school. Some people (especially midlevels) may say they know just as much or are "just as good", but they are not.
Another huge difference is earning potential. Ceiling is MUCH higher for physicians than PAs. I know a lot of physicians who make over $500k/year but I have yet to meet a PA who makes $200k (though I'm sure they're out there).
The other big thing is autonomy. You mention that PAs can do many things physicians can, but in almost every state PAs are still very restricted compared to physicians. As a physician you can do literally anything other than own a hospital. I've seen physicians with some very cool jobs which PAs would never be allowed to do, either because of oversight restrictions or the fact that they're not considered experts In their field (and likely never will be in the capacity those jobs require).
Edit: To clarify my "just as good" statement since I realize it could be construed as bashing, I was specifically referring to the foundational knowledge gained in school, not ability to work with patients or do their job.
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What are your goals? Just being somehow involved in medicine? Find the easiest way to get into medical field? People go to medical school because it corresponds to their life path, you don't have to do it, it is your choice.
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I would like to be at the front line of care for the patient and be able to make my own decisions regarding best choice of care. Right now I am particularly interested in surgery. I know medical school is definitely the direction I would like to go rather than PA school; I have just been hearing a lot of talk lately positively talking about PA school and a lot of complaints about time commitment and stress of medical school. I know it will be well worth it, I was just looking for some representation from the other side as a breath of fresh air
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Would you entrust your health to a surgeon who is afraid of commitment and stress? If being your own boss is what really important for you, then you can always start your own business and be very happy. As far as I know doctors are very limited in their decisions, your patients are not your test subjects, you have instruction how to perform each and every action and you have to follow it if you don't want to get in trouble. Medicine is not about physicians, it is about patients. If you want to improve health of other people and be your own boss, you could try medical research position.
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Just a reminder to keep this thread from becoming a mid-level bashing thread. Keep the thread to the differences between the two. There are plenty of threads already on the issues of mid-level encroachment, patient safety, etc. If this becomes another one of those, I’ll close it because we don’t need another.
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Who are the one's constantly talking about the benefits of PA school? In my personal life the vast majority of people praising the midlevel route are those who couldn't hack it as a pre-med. On SDN, when knowledgeable people recommend PA, the benefits they speak of tend to be lifestyle, fewer years in school, etc. These are very different benefits from those of working as a physician, with the 3 biggest being money, more extensive training, and autonomy. Both careers provide great incentives to pursue them, but which is the better option depends entirely on the individual
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I fully understand that and am not at all afraid of the commitment and stress. Being my own boss is not the most important thing, I know patients are the most important and the focus and I would love to be a part of improving patient's lives and health in this field. Perhaps I worded my post wrong, but I was not at all trying to imply that patients are test subjects.
I was not making this post as a way to change my mind at all about my decision to go to medical school; was just trying to breathe some fresh air among the topic amidst all of the other posts being overwhelmed about the long process. Haven't seen many other posts about the "other side of the coin" so to speak. 🙂 Thanks for the input!!
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Being involved in 'the front line of care' in surgery is easier to do as a physician than PA. There are certain PA's who work in the trauma field, but generally speaking they're going to be assisting the physician, not making their own decisions in regards to 'best choice of care'.
A lot of the complaints you're hearing valid. The road to becoming a physician is a long and difficult path with more and more barriers being put into place in the form of educational benchmarks, government/accrediting body policies, and administrative responsibilities. Conversely, the path for PAs (and mid-levels in general) seems to be headed in the opposite direction with less barriers involved and more autonomy and options for practice. So it's easy to see why there can be so much negativity in regards to the physician pathway and the possible future of medicine. Combine that with our generation generally caring more about lifestyle and less about pride in work and desire to truly master a craft and it just compounds the reason for the complaints.
There are many positives though, some of which I outlined above. Knowing that I'll have good job/income security, will have a plethora of career opportunities (partially because of my field), will make my own decisions regarding patient care without a direct supervisor changing my plan, having the most in-depth training and strong knowledge, and even just that I completed such a rigorous process are all things which I value as a physician which I don't think I could say about other pathways (or at least not to the same extent). There are a ton of upsides to the PA route as well, but if I went back to pre-med years, I'd still choose the physician route over other fields even knowing what I do now.
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Ouch hahaha
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I realize you’re speaking anecdotally, but I hope we can get rid of this trope. Say what you will about midlevels, but I know a lot of students who are PA-school bound that could hang with the best of the premed crowd and choose to pursue a different route.
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Ya I need to clarify. I'm saying that because of the type of people I'm most in contact with right now being a recent college grad from a large university with a low pre-med success rate. My poorly described point to OP was that the talk about positives and negatives of the two careers is heavily influenced by who you surround yourself with. That may or may not be a factor in why OP is saying it seems like there's so much praise for PA and hate for med school.
A
AnatomyGrey12
You have heard incorrectly.
These two statements are not congruent.
