Ex-PT Student, Turned Med Student--- AMA

[DPTinthemaking15]

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I’ve seen a few of these floating across the PT forums and I figured I would share a different perspective. It has been around 2 1/2 years since I withdrew from PT school and made the switch med school (Currently a DO student, bone wizards ftw). If you are deciding between med school and PT school, hopefully I can give some insight/thoughts on why I made my decision. Before I kick this off, I will answer one question that seems obvious: Why did I switch?


To be honest, my first job during undergrad was a PT tech. After watching patients go from immobile to walking was unbelievable, and it was something I wanted to do. Yet, there was something missing and it wasn’t until PT school that I realized all of this. After speaking with my advisors about how much I love rehab, and my curiosity for medicine, they told me about Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Look it up. I can’t describe it/do it justice lol). Shortly after that, I finished up the semester and started preparing for the MCAT.


If I don’t answer in a timely manner, I apologize. We have finals coming up and I am procrastinating lol.


Edit: I just noticed that someone else posted their disdain for AMA post and I will agree that it can get annoying. Hopefully this AMA post serves as a resource for some poor sap like myself. Because when I was applying to med school, there were a few PT's that previously made the switch, but none were foolish enough to withdraw and apply lol.

 

[MartialArtDPT]

You hooked me! Can you tell me more about your journey and the differences that convinced you to switch (other than salary, of course!)?

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

You hooked me! Can you tell me more about your journey and the differences that convinced you to switch (other than salary, of course!)?

Definitely! I was a normal traditional student that decided to apply to PT school. I had a lot of observation/clinical hours and I was certain PT school was the answer, but I always had my doubts. Our PT clinic was involved in outpatient and inpatient services, so I was in the hospital 2-3 days a week, and it was great seeing what life was like as a physician/nurse/PA/etc.. After speaking with a few of the doctors, I realized it was a career field I was interested in, but I was beyond scared of taking Orgo and Biochem, because my friends told me it was too hard.

So, I decided to complete my application to PT school and if I wanted to shoot for med school, I would do it after PT school. After the first few months of PT school I kept second guessing myself and decided to checkout a local med school. I walked into their open house and met a professor that told me "If you don't apply now, you will regret this decision." And he was absolutely right. If I wouldn't have applied, I would have finished PT school and asked my self the rest of my life "What if?"


Here are the differences:

- I wanted to incorporate multiple realms of healing for my patient. Don't get me wrong, PT's are able to do a crap ton of stuff, but I like the idea of prescribing medications for things that manipulation, therapeutics, or modalities cannot fix.

- There are so many fields in medicine that I have the option of applying to. If I like patients, I can always choose family medicine or internal medicine, or if I detest patients, I can always pursue radiology/pathology. I guess I just like having my options open.

- Salary (like you said lol). This is a touchy subject in medicine, because you aren't supposed to go into it for the money, but I don't know many careers where you start out at such a high pay rate (I come from a poor family, so anything about 50k a year seems incredible lol).

- This is going to make me sound like a d-bag, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard PT's complain about this. I didn't like the idea of having to schmooze a physician for referrals. No one likes having to suck up to another human being (even though I know I will have to do this during clinicals/residency), but I just couldn't force myself to do it.

- Lifestyle. I met multiple PT's that worked 60-70 hours per week and still complained about how much they were being compensated. Of course, the grass is always greener on the other side, but they told me to pursue PA or medical school, because you can work half the hours and make similar salaries (depending on the medical specialty).

 

[MartialArtDPT]

Thanks for the reply. How are you liking medical school? My main problem is with long, unpredictable hours during residency and the like- I need my sleep! Plus, it'd be 7 years or more before I could really earn any money, whereas with PT I can be practicing in 3 years. I'm kind of like you were- I figure it's maybe something I can pursue later if I'm not satisfied. The reason I got some interest in the med side is that I am interested, mostly, in the research side of PT and can't wait to do research on neurological disorders.

Are there any parts of it that you're finding to be less or more fun than you expected?

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

I don't think you will be too excited about prescribing these medications for long. There aren't that many of them and dealing with pain-meds isn't that fun. NSAIDs, pain-meds, and muscle relaxers. If PTs banded together they could probably get licensure to prescribe some of these things as part of their scope of practice.

Haha I never said I was excited about it, I just like the idea of having additional tools in my arsenal for treating patients. This post wasn't a knock at PT's, it is just my outlook on how I hope to practice medicine.

As for your second statement, possibly, but it will be a long time coming. In most states (that I know of) Physical Therapist cannot order a simple MRI or have the ability to implement Direct Access, which befuddles me. This was another reason I decided to leave PT school, because it seems the APTA are dragging their feet on many issues that are at hand.

Thanks for the reply. How are you liking medical school? My main problem is with long, unpredictable hours during residency and the like- I need my sleep! Plus, it'd be 7 years or more before I could really earn any money, whereas with PT I can be practicing in 3 years. I'm kind of like you were- I figure it's maybe something I can pursue later if I'm not satisfied. The reason I got some interest in the med side is that I am interested, mostly, in the research side of PT and can't wait to do research on neurological disorders.

Are there any parts of it that you're finding to be less or more fun than you expected?

I'm not gonna lie, it is rough at times, but it is usually due to my own downfalls lol. You have plenty of time to do stuff (if you manage accordingly), but there are weeks that are worse than others. I still have plenty of time to spend with my wife, workout, play video games, hang out with friends, etc. But if you slack off, it can be a slippery slope and hard to catch up. For instance, this week has been our easiest week and I took full advantage of it, even though next week is going to be our hardest week. You just have to figure out if you value your mental health or if you would rather get ahead in your studies.

From my understanding (about unpredictable schedules), it depends on which specialty you pursue. If you decide surgery is life, then you should be prepared for crazy hours. But if you like the idea of Family Medicine, psychiatry or PM&R, the hours are actually fantastic. I spoke with some psychiatry/PM&R residents, and they said they rarely hit 50-60 hours per week.

WHAT!?! Thats crazy lol. I am looking forward to neurological disorders too. My mom deals with grand Mal seizures and it is something I've always wanted to research. I guess it just depends on how you look at life. Yeah, it sucks the next 7+ years are going to be stuck in school/residency, but whenever I finish, I know I followed my dream. If you are questioning whether or not you will like PT or med school, go speak with a neurologist and pick their brain.

 

[PsyPT]

Hey man I'm glad you made this thread. I assume you're a pretty smart guy and catch on to things pretty quick. Did you find pt school to be too easy to the point that you wanted something more challenging? Currently in pt school now, but as a non kines/bio major it's my first time being exposed to a lot of these materials compared to my classmates, so I can't imagine what med school would be like. Med school has definitely popped in my mind a few times especially as I was volunteering in the hospital, but I just want to start my career already in something I like.

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

Hey man I'm glad you made this thread. I assume you're a pretty smart guy and catch on to things pretty quick. Did you find pt school to be too easy to the point that you wanted something more challenging? Currently in pt school now, but as a non kines/bio major it's my first time being exposed to a lot of these materials compared to my classmates, so I can't imagine what med school would be like. Med school has definitely popped in my mind a few times especially as I was volunteering in the hospital, but I just want to start my career already in something I like.

Thank you for the compliment! Saying that, I've gotta compliment you, because this is one of the most difficult questions I've ever received lol. It is ALMOST like comparing apples to oranges (in my opinion), but med school has proven to be more difficult. Hopefully this next part will explain why. During PT school I had plenty of time to fully digest and learn the material, and the professors would test us accordingly. If there were any knowledge gaps, it was usually the difference between a letter grade. Compared to med school, where if I don't know a specific subject, I saved myself from studying low-yield information. And I know everyone hypes med school up as this difficult journey, but the classes aren't difficult per se, it is just the amount they throw at you. In PT school, when a class said it was five credit hours, I trusted that it was genuinely five credit hours. And I studied for that class like it was five credit hours. But a class in med school may be 1-2 credit hours and I am studying like it is a five credit hour course.

I 100% understand your pain about being exposed to the material for the first time lol. Most of my classmates are Bio/Chem majors (I am an exercise science major), and they understand most concepts quicker than I do. I'm usually sitting in class looking at embryology and immunology like it is a foreign language haha. Definitely follow what you enjoy/like, and you can always come back to med school in the future. We have Physician Assistants, nurses, PhD's, etc.. in our class, and they are more mature because of having a career before med school. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!