PA? Decide a young mans future!

Started by woodthegreat
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woodthegreat

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I am currently interviewing with optometry schools, but I am strongly inclined to drop optometry in favor of PA school. My reasononing is that optometry may become monotonous and being a PA would be anythin but. I am the kind of person who would enjoy stitching up wounds as opposed to refractions which is the vast majority of optometry work (without specialization).

To all of you PAs: If you had the same choice what would you do? Do you like being a PA? Why? And what is your least favorite aspect of being a PA?

This is a major decision I am making and I greatly appreciate any knowledge you may bestow.

Thank you.
 
woodthegreat said:
I am currently interviewing with optometry schools, but I am strongly inclined to drop optometry in favor of PA school. My reasononing is that optometry may become monotonous and being a PA would be anythin but. I am the kind of person who would enjoy stitching up wounds as opposed to refractions which is the vast majority of optometry work (without specialization).

To all of you PAs: If you had the same choice what would you do? Do you like being a PA? Why? And what is your least favorite aspect of being a PA?

This is a major decision I am making and I greatly appreciate any knowledge you may bestow.

Thank you.
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As with anything there are good points and bad points.

If I had the same choice under the same circumstances then I would probably do the same thing again. I was older (30's) when I discovered the medical field and wanted to start a family. If I was in my 20's I would have gone to medical school.

Yes, I like being a PA. That having been said, I work for a great boss who respects me knows what I am and am not capable of. If I worked for a crappy boss who did not let me do anything or who let me run wild I would be a lot less happy.

The things I like about being a PA is helping most people to get well or making the time they have left better and being able to spend more time with them than my doc can. I love my scope of practice. I can see people in the clinic and ER, assist in surgery, do rounds on the floor/ICU, etc. It rarely gets boring.

The bad parts of being a PA are when patients ask "Whats a PA?". When someone decides you are inferior or incapable because your not a doctor. Do not use this board as a reflection of how you will be treated in the real world. There are a lot of opinionated, dogmatic, insecure people and they are a vocal minority. IRL, you will come across a few, but most folks respect me now that I have proved myself to them.

Understand that I knew the good parts and bad parts before I signed up. I'm not bitter, just keepin' it real.
 
woodthegreat said:
I am currently interviewing with optometry schools, but I am strongly inclined to drop optometry in favor of PA school. My reasononing is that optometry may become monotonous and being a PA would be anythin but. I am the kind of person who would enjoy stitching up wounds as opposed to refractions which is the vast majority of optometry work (without specialization).

To all of you PAs: If you had the same choice what would you do? Do you like being a PA? Why? And what is your least favorite aspect of being a PA?

This is a major decision I am making and I greatly appreciate any knowledge you may bestow.

Thank you.
Click to expand...

Honestly, go the PA route; it will provide you with an opportunity to practice real medicine, treat a myriad of conditions, and fully utilize all of your clinical skills. Optometry will always be somewhat restricted and you'll spend the most part of your time doing refraction. Your clinical knowledge will often go under-utilized.

Another option, dentistry or clinical pharmacy. PA seems like a better route. I'm an MD, however, so my perspective might be biased.
 
ProZackMI said:
Honestly, go the PA route; it will provide you with an opportunity to practice real medicine, treat a myriad of conditions, and fully utilize all of your clinical skills. Optometry will always be somewhat restricted and you'll spend the most part of your time doing refraction. Your clinical knowledge will often go under-utilized.

Another option, dentistry or clinical pharmacy. PA seems like a better route. I'm an MD, however, so my perspective might be biased.
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there are several dual pa/pharmd 5 yr programs now too. might be a cool combo in the right setting. also a few pa/mph
 
emedpa said:
u.wa/medex has one.
there was a thread in the pharmacy forum a while ago about these.I think there are around 5 total.
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wow - no labs with their anatomy course. crazy! the pa/pharmd could definitely be useful i think and nobody could argue with prescriptive rights 🙂. I think if I was going to go to school for 5 years though, I'd probably just go to medical school. Length of schooling is one of many reasons why I am going PA over MD.
 
foreverLaur said:
wow - no labs with their anatomy course. crazy! the pa/pharmd could definitely be useful i think and nobody could argue with prescriptive rights 🙂. I think if I was going to go to school for 5 years though, I'd probably just go to medical school. Length of schooling is one of many reasons why I am going PA over MD.
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medex requires a prior a+p class series with labs to gain admission. I precept their students and they are top notch.
nobody can argue prescriptive rights anyway-we have them in all 50 states now and have our own federal dea controlled substances numbers....in many states schedule 2-5, the same as physicians.
the best place for a pa/pharmd would be as an inpt hospitalist or critical care provider( lots of jobs for pa's doing this with new residencies opening every yr...)
 
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