DO/MD vs. PA?

[guest794]

I'm a slightly non-traditional student looking for advice. I was pre-vet in undergrad then switched as a junior after realizing caring for animals wasn't my passion. I took most pre-med requirements and almost changed majors when I got cancer, took a few years off and am now in remission at 25 and became interested in oncology. I'm very interested in a healthcare-related field but also have other interests such as music. I've shadowed oncology docs and while many of them have been great, doctors in general seem to be completely consumed by their work to me, even when they go home they are researching or working on cases, and some seemed burned out or tell me that their job is their life, and they wouldn't do anything different. Would being a PA give you more flexibility to work a regular job and do other things whereas with Mds/Dos it's essentially a 24/7 job apart from vacations?

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[calbear0959]

Just an observation. I work in an ED as a scribe and scribe for both PAs and MD/DOs. The PAs do seem to be less burned out and seem to have a much better social life. I think it's because they work in triage all day and don't really see the more serious/difficult cases. If I wasn't at the end of my premed route I might have considered PA school years ago.

 

[adrian710]

Answer you your question, yes. PA's do not have to deal with as much stress due to the ultimate decision not being on them but rather the radiologist, the surgeon, etc. Fraction of the pay though, if money is what you are into.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Definitely PA's work less hours and tend to have a better social life going on. However, you need to take into account 2 things about doctors: 1) who becomes a doctor, and 2) how much money you want to make. People that become doctors tend to be the same students that worked hard in high school, harder in college with a million activities and so on. The majority tend to fall into type "A", and because of the stereotype, workaholics gravitate toward the field. Also, in medicine it's more likely you're making money out of your labor, which is seeing patients, operating, etc. Now the trick here is that as a doctor nobody is forcing you to get a job where you have to work an insane amount of hours or that you must make 200k+. Because of the shortage of doctors, you can certainly work whatever hours you want (except some surgical specialties), but the tradeoff is how much income you make. So if you want to just become an internal med or family doc and work 9-5, you certainly can (provided you take the hit in income). The only part where you'll be screwed is during training though. There's no way around it, unless you do Psych or PM&R, which is basically just a vacation and making money.