PA being a shorter route to the same destination as NP?

[jewelfish]

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Hello everyone,

I have been a longtime SDN lurker and have finally decided it's time to seek the wisdom of the boards. Thank you all for being here and to anyone who reads this. I really appreciate your input.

I am in my mid/late 20s. I dabbled across subjects in college and earned my bachelor's in social science several years back, but have since worked in several clinical settings (~800 hours) and completed a fair amount of pre-health prerequisites (GPA 4.0, with fingers crossed for keeping it that way). I was born with a rare genetic condition, have been in medical care through my life, and my father is a doc, so I like to think I have pretty decent familiarity with the world of medicine from a number of viewpoints. Med school was naturally my first thought, but I am a collaborative, affiliative person, I strongly desire a good work/life balance, and I have long both heard and witnessed the current burdens of physicians. A physician extender role seems better suited to the person I am and the lifestyle I would prefer.

Accordingly, I am currently enrolled in the Nursing program at my university, and my plan was initially to transfer to a neighboring school to do their accelerated BSN (2 years), work for a year as an RN, and then apply to a Nurse Practitioner program. However, it was recently suggested to me by more than one PA who loves their job that I should look into the PA route. As far as I can tell, it would save me two years in both time and money of school, in addition to the year of being an RN, a role I have never really aspired to personally.

I was wondering if anyone may have any advice for my particular situation. I have heard some upsides to NP including a broader scope of jobs that are available and the ability to practice independently in some states, but the physicians I know have voiced that PAs typically seem to have better training and knowledge. The fields that are most interesting to me thus far are dermatology, allergy/immunology, and neonatology. I enjoy solving problems and working with my hands (small procedures); I dislike unpredictable schedules and irregular hours. Outside of purely clinical interest, I could see myself in a health communicator role and/or volunteering in humanitarian aid (MSF, etc.). Would I be more versatile as a NP, or could a PA feasibly flex into those roles as well? Are there any other downsides to becoming a PA that I am not accounting for here?

Thank you so much for any help!

 

[priorities2]

I think PA school has stronger education for what you are looking to go into. As far as political/practice environment when you are done - I can't really speak to that. I'm graduating with a BSN and will be attending psych NP school in the fall. I never had any desire to be an RN but chose this path because I wanted to work in outpatient mental health and liked the idea of being able to do both therapy and prescribing without having to go through med school. NPs are able to specialize as part of their degree and PAs get fairly little psych training so the choice for me was easy. Since you want to do procedures, you might want to look more at the PA route. I think hours will vary depending more on the setting than whether you are an NP or PA. Try to interview as many PAs and NPs as you can to get a better sense. It's not uncommon to get a BSN and then go to PA school. You may not need the year of experience in between if the other areas of your application are strong.

 

[NursePractitionerStudent]

There are key points to consider here one being is FLEXIBILITY. The NP route will probably allow you to work 1-2 years into the program because most are part time programs and therefore it is financially less debt to incur. The PA route is usually full time school and there is no way you can work in these programs. NP school I think may be easier in a sense to get accepted to because they may only look at the last 30 hrs of your BSN and they don't care of other grades that you have…NP School may look at your whole BSN Gpa AND any other classes you have taken…I mean this depends on which school, etc.

Although it is a long road….i think both are great careers.

 

[TORIAmist]

Hey just fee questions if you dont mind me asking~

Anybinsights and advice would be great. Im looking to get my accelerated BSN and alslo apply as a NP as a PMHNP the psych route.
Im trying to finish my pre req at this momemnt
*how long do you need to work as a RN i order to apply for NP school. Yoh said you were graduating can youbapply right away?
* what RN school and NP school did you go? Or going
*can NP practice independently in the state of NY
*i heard that in the medical field, NP are hated on, is this true?
* hoe is the salary like as an RN AND NP
Thank you in advance

 

[AnnoyedByFreud]

Hmm. Your writing is so incoherent I'm wondering if you're trolling. Otherwise, go here: www.allnurses.com and here: http://www.spellzone.com/unit02/page1.cfm

 

[pamac]

I'm not a doubter because I know NPs that do well, but are you saying you make over 200k per year? I don't know of an RN that works 36 hours per week and makes less than 50k doing even low paying stuff. I make well over 70k without overtime. Is psyche so lucrative that an NP can make >300k working 4 days per week? Because I've been on the fence between psyche and FNP, but if income can go that high, I really need to look harder at psyche. I do know a really wealthy psyche NP, but that NP is pretty modest about talking wages. They pretty much just said "don't expect to earn less than $125k if you work full time as a psyche NP". The only thing that kept me on the fence has been the prospect if working full time with the psyche population, but I'm finding almost as many patients in the general population that have psyche issues along with their chronic illness that it's becoming a moot point.

 

[pamac]

Thanks, I'll do that.

 

[W19]

@Psych NP Guy It appears that you are doing really well as a psych NP... According to MGMA, psych doc average salary is around 220k/years... You seem to make close to that, which is impressive... Do you work more than 45 hrs/wk?, which is the average hour that psych docs work.

My spouse would like to become a psych NP, but the problem is that in Florida NP can't prescribe schedule drugs... Do you think a psych NP can properly function with no narcotics prescribing privilege?

 

[fab4fan]

First, I am very privileged, yes. I landed on the pinnacle for PMHNPs in my state. I'm not quite sure how I got here, but you're right on the salary. There are a couple of psychiatrists in my company (not my office or even region) that see over 3 dozen patients a day so they make substantially more than the national average.

In an 8 hour day? Guess they're not doing therapy.

 

[fab4fan]

That's a shame for the people going there who really need therapy. I guess the psychiatrists just push pills.

 

[fab4fan]

So you have to go to the psychiatrist to get your meds, then you have to go to a "talk therapist" to get therapy. I don't know how people who work are supposed to be able to schedule all of those appointments.

"Ain't nobody got time for that!"

 

[fab4fan]

Sure. Most people don't show up for therapy anyway so why would a psychiatrist fill his schedule with theray appointments that will be time consuming with low reimbursement. By doing evals and meds more patients can be served. How is a working person supposed to make any appointments by your logic? You seem to be focused on the minutiae.

I guess you must serve a different population than the people I worked with when I worked in psych. I don't believe throwing meds at people is the best way to help them.

There's a big difference between needing the occasional appointment for a dentist or a doctor, v. ongoing psych. needs.

 

[julie walker]

Tired Retired RN? Hmmmmmm....You hurt your back and now you are retired? The lawsuit didn't work out well for you....hahahahahahahahahahaha