medical school to physician assistant

[Cuongoff]

Just a random thought I had and was wondering if it was possible. If someone decides that they don't want to do residency, can they just take the PA boards and practice as a PA without having gone through PA school? They would have graduated and obtained their medical degree

You hear a lot of stories about people ending up doing consulting or research etc. but I was wondering if this was a possibility.

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[el_duderino]

To be eligible for PANCE, you must graduate from a program accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) as a Physician Assistant Program. PA program graduates will be deemed to have graduated from an accredited program if their PA educational program was accredited at the time of their matriculation.

**Even if you have earned a medical degree from another country, you must still graduate from an accredited PA program to take PANCE.

http://www.nccpa.net/pance-eligibility

 

[PikminOC]

OP can move to Missouri and practice there with no residency

 

[Law2Doc]

Just a random thought I had and was wondering if it was possible. If someone decides that they don't want to do residency, can they just take the PA boards and practice as a PA without having gone through PA school? They would have graduated and obtained their medical degree

You hear a lot of stories about people ending up doing consulting or research etc. but I was wondering if this was a possibility.

No. Although there is overlap these are totally distinct fields with distinct educational requirements and neither qualifies you to skip the schooling of the other. You might get a fair amount of credit in certain subjects in a given PA school -- but that's totally up to the school.

 

[Law2Doc]

OP can move to Missouri and practice there with no residency

Not exactly and not yet.

 

[PikminOC]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/missour...ds-to-work-as-assistant-physicians-1405547613
Under the new law, signed by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon last week, the medical-school graduates must be supervised in person by a collaborating physician for 30 days, and can then treat patients on their own as far as 50 miles away, and prescribe most medications. They must have passed the first two sections of the national licensing exam, though not the final one, and be approved by the state Board of Healing Arts, which issues medical licenses.

 

[mistafab]

Just a random thought I had and was wondering if it was possible. If someone decides that they don't want to do residency, can they just take the PA boards and practice as a PA without having gone through PA school? They would have graduated and obtained their medical degree

You hear a lot of stories about people ending up doing consulting or research etc. but I was wondering if this was a possibility.

Why take a pay cut for no reason when you've already invested 6 figures into the education, just to try to do the exact same thing with less freedom?

 

[el_duderino]

Why take a pay cut for no reason when you've already invested 6 figures into the education, just to try to do the exact same thing with less freedom?

Making more money immediately, poor chances of matching into a decent residency, ease of changing practice environment/specialty, better hours, don't have to go through the grind of residency, less responsibility...

Lots of reasons to go PA over MD.

 

[Zywie]

Making more money immediately, poor chances of matching into a decent residency, ease of changing practice environment/specialty, better hours, don't have to go through the grind of residency, less responsibility...

Lots of reasons to go PA over MD.

should have thought about that before you spent 4 years and 100k+ on your medical education

 

[mistafab]

Making more money immediately, poor chances of matching into a decent residency, ease of changing practice environment/specialty, better hours, don't have to go through the grind of residency, less responsibility...

Lots of reasons to go PA over MD.

These would all be things to think about before medical school. OP was specifically talking about after med school.

 

[el_duderino]

These would all be things to think about before medical school. OP was specifically talking about after med school.

Great idea, but it's a bit late once you're already a couple of years in. It would be nice to be able to change the past.

 

[chipwhitley]

It's funny because PA schools and PA students seem to be trying their hardest to convince people that their curriculum mirrors the MD curriculum as closely as possible, yet when it comes to MD grads working in a PA role and competing with them... all of a sudden their education is totally different and ours doesn't qualify.

 

[el_duderino]

It's funny because PA schools and PA students seem to be trying their hardest to convince people that their curriculum mirrors the MD curriculum as closely as possible, yet when it comes to MD grads working in a PA role and competing with them... all of a sudden their education is totally different and ours doesn't qualify.

I've never heard any PA schools or PA students or PAs say anything like that.

 

[chipwhitley]

I've never heard any PA schools or PA students or PAs say anything like that.

Well that's strange because I hear all the time how we take the same classes as they do, and we do the same rotations side-by-side. If you don't believe me, you can even do some searching right here on SDN or on meddit and you'll find examples of that.

 

[el_duderino]

Well that's strange because I hear all the time how we take the same classes as they do, and we do the same rotations side-by-side. If you don't believe me, you can even do some searching right here on SDN or on meddit and you'll find examples of that.

By all means, link to some.

 

[Stagg737]

You missed L2D's point. The law has been stuck in limbo for nearly two years at this point, with multiple drafting and redrafting of the regulation, and increasing criticism from the state board of health ("healing arts" I guess from that blurb).

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/n...cle_c28e905c-e3e2-11e5-8423-83a296fb0ae8.html

There is no timeline for when it will actually be implemented, and still (despite the Governor's bluster) a decent chance it won't be.

According to Missouri's AOA president that spoke at our school (also part of Missouri's state senate or something?), he made it sound like it's finally going to get pushed through this year and that people that don't match in 2017 will be eligible to practice with supervision without entering residency. His argument was that it'll give people that don't match a way to gain some solid experience during that year and make them better candidates for the next match and provide care to communities that would otherwise not receive timely care. We'll just have to wait and see if it ends up working out or even getting implemented.

 

[chipwhitley]

By all means, link to some.

I would if I really cared about proving it to you. You can go ahead and look yourself if you want to.

 

[el_duderino]

I would if I really cared about proving it to you. You can go ahead and look yourself if you want to.

You made the claim. If you can't support it, don't say it.

 

[chipwhitley]

You made the claim. If you can't support it, don't say it.

Well I did a quick search for the hell of it and here's a thread where two posters claim MD and PA students are taking the same classes: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/pace-of-pa-vs-md-do-didactic-curriculum.1157920/page-3

 

[TBV]

Well I did a quick search for the hell of it and here's a thread where two posters claim MD and PA students are taking the same classes: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/pace-of-pa-vs-md-do-didactic-curriculum.1157920/page-3

LMAO uses an SDN thread as evidence

 

[el_duderino]

LMAO uses an SDN thread as evidence

And beyond that, I see no PA schools, PA students, or PAs in that thread saying their curriculum mirrors the MD curriculum as closely as possible. Some people are claiming that in some schools PA students might sit in the same lectures as MD students, but so what? We had PhD students sit in on our biochem and neuroscience courses in first year. I don't hear any PhD students claiming their training is equivalent to ours.

 

[chipwhitley]

And beyond that, I see no PA schools, PA students, or PAs in that thread saying their curriculum mirrors the MD curriculum as closely as possible. Some people are claiming that in some schools PA students might sit in the same lectures as MD students, but so what? We had PhD students sit in on our biochem and neuroscience courses in first year. I don't hear any PhD students claiming their training is equivalent to ours.

Maybe you hear what you want to hear, but I've heard many a PA student and even actual PAs trying their best to prove that we are more or less equivalent. I don't want to name names, but this person's argument was that the PA schools require that you take many of our first year classes like anatomy and physiology before starting PA school, therefore we get more or less the same education. They also point out that we do the same rotations and have the same responsibilities on those rotations - which is true for the most part, I've had PA students on all my rotations doing basically the same thing I'm doing. Are PhD students coming on rotations with you?

 

[TBV]

Every PA or PA student I have interacted with has been very understanding, helpful when they knew something I didn't and fully appreciated that I would know more than them. They usually say something along the lines of yeah I couldn't do the 10 years of schooling and I'm happy with my role.

 

[W19]

And beyond that, I see no PA schools, PA students, or PAs in that thread saying their curriculum mirrors the MD curriculum as closely as possible. Some people are claiming that in some schools PA students might sit in the same lectures as MD students, but so what? We had PhD students sit in on our biochem and neuroscience courses in first year. I don't hear any PhD students claiming their training is equivalent to ours.

PAs and PA students say that all the time...

Do a little bit of digging here http://www.physicianassistantforum.com and you will see that

 

[NimbleMind]

Well I did a quick search for the hell of it and here's a thread where two posters claim MD and PA students are taking the same classes: Pace of PA vs MD/DO Didactic curriculum

Wow, you found two posters who you assume speak on behalf of the entire PA community. Very scientific. You'll make an excellent MD.

 

[W19]

@chipwhitley has not posted for some months now. I wonder what happened to him. He/she was a good SDN contributor...

 

[W19]

No. Although there is overlap these are totally distinct fields with distinct educational requirements and neither qualifies you to skip the schooling of the other. You might get a fair amount of credit in certain subjects in a given PA school -- but that's totally up to the school.

This is like saying that a RN is not qualified to do the job of a LPN/LVN