PA or PT?

[danishmaximus]

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Hey guys,

I am a 4th year undergrad graduating in May 2007. I was certain that I wanted to go to medical school until now. After talking to my dad and my stepmom, who are both in the healthcare field, I recently decided that medicine may not be the right profession for me. I am now strongly thinking of either pursing a PA or a DPT degree. I am leaning towards DPT but I haven't thrown out the PA yet. Either way, I eventually want to go into academics and teach.

I want to go into a profession that has a lot of patient interaction and is relatively stress free. My stepmom's brother is a PT in Chicago and he is one of the several PTs that sparked my interest in the field. He loves the field and is extremely successful. He was working in a hospital full time and now he just started a Home Health practice with a few partners. He makes well over 100k and is financially well off.

What I ultimately want to do is to graduate and take a year off and apply to either PA or PT schools and hopefully start grad school in Fall of 2008. After receiving the degree, I want to work around 5 - 10 years to pay off loans and make some savings. Then if I want to pursue a medical degree then I will go for that or if I want to continue being a PA or PT, then I would either go straight into academics or get a Ph.D. and then go to academics.

My ultimate question for you guys is: what is the benefits/disadvantages of pursuing either a PA or DPT? Is my plan feesible? Thanks for your Feedback!

 

[heat85]

Do you have patient care experience? Most PA programs require at least 1000 to 2000 direct patient care hours before applying. I suppose a good plan for you would be to get those hours on your year off. Do you have any training?
I don;t know much about PT school so someone else here will have to help you with that. Good luck!

 

[primadonna22274]

Trust me, being a PA is NOT stress-free. The least stressful part of my night was my 61 yo altered mental status lady who got really crazy and started singing at the top of her lungs for 3 hours..."I'm not CRAAAAAZZZZYYYYY, I want a CELL PHONE.....that's my MOTHER.....I wish my HOUSE WAS PAID OFF....I've DONE THIS BEFOOOORRRRREEEE....." until she got some Haldol after she was medically cleared and we all got some peace.
She actually sounded a lot like Loretta Lynn.

 

[njbmd]

Hey guys,

I am a 4th year undergrad graduating in May 2007. I was certain that I wanted to go to medical school until now. After talking to my dad and my stepmom, who are both in the healthcare field, I recently decided that medicine may not be the right profession for me. I am now strongly thinking of either pursing a PA or a DPT degree. I am leaning towards DPT but I haven't thrown out the PA yet. Either way, I eventually want to go into academics and teach.

I want to go into a profession that has a lot of patient interaction and is relatively stress free. My stepmom's brother is a PT in Chicago and he is one of the several PTs that sparked my interest in the field. He loves the field and is extremely successful. He was working in a hospital full time and now he just started a Home Health practice with a few partners. He makes well over 100k and is financially well off.

What I ultimately want to do is to graduate and take a year off and apply to either PA or PT schools and hopefully start grad school in Fall of 2008. After receiving the degree, I want to work around 5 - 10 years to pay off loans and make some savings. Then if I want to pursue a medical degree then I will go for that or if I want to continue being a PA or PT, then I would either go straight into academics or get a Ph.D. and then go to academics.

My ultimate question for you guys is: what is the benefits/disadvantages of pursuing either a PA or DPT? Is my plan feesible? Thanks for your Feedback!

Your best course of action, at this point, is to shadow both of these professions and get some first-hand knowledge. Since you have a family contact in PT, ask to shadow him and see if you like the scope of his practice. You can do the same with a PA (check out academic centers). Good luck!

 

[fbplayr75]

I am going throught the exact same decision.

I was really intersted in becoming a PA until I started working as a student athletic trainer for my university. I've really grown to enjoy rehab

There seems to be pros and cons with both professions.

Because PA school require experience and honeslty I don't know if I would feel comfortable practicing medicine after only two years of experience and poor previous health care experience.

I guess my idea is to become a DPT work in that field for however long I enjoy it and when the time is right, go to PA school.
It's only 2 more years.

It's just an idea

 

[JimmyG]

Hi Danish,
I'm just a measly OT but I work hand in hand with PTs every day so I'll give you this gist that I know.

Regardless of your level of education you receive (MSPT or DPT), you begin life as an entry-level PT with the salary as such. In talking to my many DPT friends, their salaries are not one bit more than a PT who just got their Master's. Also, your stepmom's brother is one in a handful of PTs who makes 6 figures. It can be done, I'm not discouraging you from that, but only with years of experience and lots of hard work. A lot of my PT friends are in it for the money but they work 6-7 days a week. Luckily, PT jobs are very easy to come by and you can easily find high paying PRN work anywhere. And, yes, home health will always pay high wages.

However, recognize that PT is VERY hands on while being a PA is less hands on. You will do quite a bit of lifting and mobilizing and you really really need to enjoy your patients. Rehab is a very reward field to enter but I strongly suggest you visit ALL the different arenas you could work in as a PT (home health, acute care, rehab hosptial, outpatient, pediatrics, etc.) to get a good feel. As an OT, I will tell you that I have looked a lot into continuing my education to become a PA, because of the many nights I cannot sleep due to my back hurting from working with patients. And I've only been an OT for 5 years!! So, good luck to you!

 

[danishmaximus]

Do you have patient care experience? Most PA programs require at least 1000 to 2000 direct patient care hours before applying. I suppose a good plan for you would be to get those hours on your year off. Do you have any training?
I don;t know much about PT school so someone else here will have to help you with that. Good luck!

I have been volunteering at a Pediatric Physician's office since January of this year helping the nurses with their procedures and shadowing pediatricians. I volunteered as a camp counselor for a camp for kids with type 1 diabetes. As a counselor, I took care of all of their medicial needs (gave insulin shots, took blood sugars, treated hypo/hyperglycemia, etc). I volunteered at a VA hospital as a patient escort for a couple of years. Those are my patient care experiences so far. I plan to obtain a EMT or CNA license in the spring and start working this upcoming summer if I decide to pursue PA. Thanks for your response!

 

[danishmaximus]

Trust me, being a PA is NOT stress-free. The least stressful part of my night was my 61 yo altered mental status lady who got really crazy and started singing at the top of her lungs for 3 hours..."I'm not CRAAAAAZZZZYYYYY, I want a CELL PHONE.....that's my MOTHER.....I wish my HOUSE WAS PAID OFF....I've DONE THIS BEFOOOORRRRREEEE....." until she got some Haldol after she was medically cleared and we all got some peace.
She actually sounded a lot like Loretta Lynn.

Hahahaha. That's pretty funny. You live for those crazy moments in healthcare. I don't mean that I want to pursue a stress-free profession. I know there is a certain level of stress involved with being a PA or PT, but it is not nearly as much as other professions such as medicine. Thanks for your response!

 

[danishmaximus]

I am going throught the exact same decision.

I was really intersted in becoming a PA until I started working as a student athletic trainer for my university. I've really grown to enjoy rehab

There seems to be pros and cons with both professions.

Because PA school require experience and honeslty I don't know if I would feel comfortable practicing medicine after only two years of experience and poor previous health care experience.

I guess my idea is to become a DPT work in that field for however long I enjoy it and when the time is right, go to PA school.
It's only 2 more years.

It's just an idea

Thanks for your response. Going to DPT first then possibly going to PA later is a good idea. I am not sure if I can obtain the 1000 or 2000 hour requirement before I apply for Summer 2008 admission. I could technically take another year off and get those hours done but I don't think I should wait that long since I am graduating from undergrad in May 2007. I'll have to wait and figure that out.

 

[danishmaximus]

Hi Danish,
I'm just a measly OT but I work hand in hand with PTs every day so I'll give you this gist that I know.

Regardless of your level of education you receive (MSPT or DPT), you begin life as an entry-level PT with the salary as such. In talking to my many DPT friends, their salaries are not one bit more than a PT who just got their Master's. Also, your stepmom's brother is one in a handful of PTs who makes 6 figures. It can be done, I'm not discouraging you from that, but only with years of experience and lots of hard work. A lot of my PT friends are in it for the money but they work 6-7 days a week. Luckily, PT jobs are very easy to come by and you can easily find high paying PRN work anywhere. And, yes, home health will always pay high wages.

However, recognize that PT is VERY hands on while being a PA is less hands on. You will do quite a bit of lifting and mobilizing and you really really need to enjoy your patients. Rehab is a very reward field to enter but I strongly suggest you visit ALL the different arenas you could work in as a PT (home health, acute care, rehab hosptial, outpatient, pediatrics, etc.) to get a good feel. As an OT, I will tell you that I have looked a lot into continuing my education to become a PA, because of the many nights I cannot sleep due to my back hurting from working with patients. And I've only been an OT for 5 years!! So, good luck to you!

Thanks for your response. OTs are just as awesome as PTs! haha. I have several friends that are OTs and they love their job. Your advice is great and I will definately look into all the different areas of PT. I really like the hands on aspect of PT and I love creating friendships with patients and talking to them through my clinical experiences in college. And if I end up not liking PT, I can always switch to another field like PA and still have a good profession under my belt.

 

[bigdan]

Jimmy-

Three cheers for OTs! Got my degree in OT in '98, but stopped working in 2005 to go back to school, seeking a bit more academic/scientific rigor than I could find in OT.

Danish-

Good luck in whatever you choose. Both are great fields.

dc

 

[guetzow]

That is a very personal decision, and if you do not know what you want, no-one can help you. I have to take exception to your aspersion that PAs don't practice medicine...."stress involved with being a PA or PT, but it is not nearly as much as other professions such as medicine". PAs "DO" practice medicine, and "That" is the major difference between the two professions (Doing rehab vs practicing medicine). It's also not a profession to "Fall back on", as the loose bits are quickly weeded out in PA school. Granted, there are a few PAs who run around in lab coats with organizers that act more like Personal Assistants, than practice medicine, but there are exceptions in every field.

 

[danishmaximus]

That is a very personal decision, and if you do not know what you want, no-one can help you. I have to take exception to your aspersion that PAs don't practice medicine...."stress involved with being a PA or PT, but it is not nearly as much as other professions such as medicine". PAs "DO" practice medicine, and "That" is the major difference between the two professions (Doing rehab vs practicing medicine). It's also not a profession to "Fall back on", as the loose bits are quickly weeded out in PA school. Granted, there are a few PAs who run around in lab coats with organizers that act more like Personal Assistants, than practice medicine, but there are exceptions in every field.

Before critizing me, maybe you should read what I wrote BEFORE responding. In my initial post I stated: "My ultimate question for you guys is: what is the benefits/disadvantages of pursuing either a PA or DPT? Is my plan feesible? Thanks for your Feedback!" Where do you see me asking people what profession I should choose? I just wanted to see what people's perspectives are for the PA and PT profession. Is that a bad thing? The decision for going to either profession will be up to me and only me. As for PA's not practicing medicine, I didn't mean that. When I said medicine I meant M.D.'s in comparision to PA's.

 

[guetzow]

pretty clear cut, me thinks.

 

[DocWagner]

Hey,

I was a PT prior to medical school. I got out of PT primarily because I felt I was doing the same thing over and over and over. The job offered alot of free time and was low stress. I made some great friends, and it provides for a good living, though there is definitely a ceiling, and the cost of tuition today is nearly prohibitive.
You can send me a private message if you like. I am very happy in medicine and being a Doc, is ALOT different than being a PT, worlds apart. But both have their draws.

Best of luck

 

[oldpro]

Hey guys,

I am a 4th year undergrad graduating in May 2007. I was certain that I wanted to go to medical school until now. After talking to my dad and my stepmom, who are both in the healthcare field, I recently decided that medicine may not be the right profession for me. I am now strongly thinking of either pursing a PA or a DPT degree. I am leaning towards DPT but I haven't thrown out the PA yet. Either way, I eventually want to go into academics and teach.

I want to go into a profession that has a lot of patient interaction and is relatively stress free. ..................

I have to ask this, PA is the medical profession and is stressful, you are still liable for your actions.

I do agree PT is less stressful.

Good for you to know that Medschool is not for you, the first test is that everyone tells you not to become a doctor and you listen to all the negatives about medicine. There are some negatives, but there are many MD's that tell people horror stories about MD then get into their 60K car and drive to the exclusive country club to play golf and then go home to a 1mil+ home and oh may get a call about a patient and they will have to order a med over the phone, Terrible isn't it?

As far as shadowing Did you ever do it for an extended time? Having people in the family in health care is not the same as this. In fact most Nurses I worked with laughed and said they were "Just as good as Doctors" "they knew more" and they had less stress. Yeah right rationalizing works for awhile. You have to want to be a Nurse, a PT, an OT a PA and love the work but do not do it if you really want to an MD, thats the thing, It is awesome to be happy and I know many happy RN's and PT and OT's some of the best in the world! And I respect them but I know a lot of unhappy PA's and NP's because they really really want to be MD's, How do I know? They told me thats how.

 

[Buckeye4life]

If you want a looooooooooooooooooooot of patient interaction, go for your DPT. I am a MPT, and if you get a patient where your personalities clash, it can make for some very long sessions. I often have to take the high road professionally so as not to get terribly annoyed with people. But there are some patients that are really great.

 

[PT2MD]

I've been a practicing PT for five years. I love it but there's a ceiling....a big one in terms of clinical responsibility and money. I certainly don't want to tell you what to do, BUT do not go PT to PA. I would hang in there and go right to MD and save time and money.

PT is a great profession but for many reasons I am moving to medicine. I will always support the physical therapy profession for the things I've been able to accomplish.

 

[deleted6669]

we had several pt's in my pa school class. they all seemed to do well and got what they wanted out of the program-broader scope of practice, more money, and the opportunity to change specialties whenever they got bored.