PA vs MD for disaster medicine

[naosh]

Hey all, I know PA vs MD is a common question but I couldn't find any threads on disaster medicine specifically.

I'm a third year undergrad currently; I want to go into a healthcare career specifically doing domestic and international disaster response. I am interested both in patient care and in the logistics/incident command side of disaster medicine. In terms of the day-to-day work I want to do, I envision myself doing hands-on patient care, managing field hospitals/treatment centers, and helping manage logistics and coordination between different teams.

Autonomy as a healthcare provider is important to me -- I want to be able to diagnose and prescribe, which afaik PAs and MDs can both do -- but I'm not sure I would mind working "under" a physician. I have seen people on here advise against PA school because PAs tend to be "like junior residents" who don't get to care for the sickest patients, but it seems like this dynamic might not necessarily hold under austere conditions like a disaster site.

The advantages I see of PA school are less debt, greater flexibility if I want to change specialties, and a faster path to doing what I want to do (if I became a physician, from what I know, I'd have to complete my entire EM residency before getting to do disaster work). The advantages I see of MD school are greater autonomy (which I'm not sure is as true in the environment I want to work in) and a deeper education and understanding of the science behind medicine.

Can anyone speak to the different roles an MD and PA might play in medical disaster response specifically? Thanks very much in advance!

** edited to add I have worked as an EMT-B and have volunteered doing disaster response with Team Rubicon - these experiences are what motivate my interest in both emergency/disaster healthcare and general disaster response incl. logistics and incident command.

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[Mr.Smile12]

I'm presuming you have never been a medic in the military. It also seems you have exposure to many professionals who enjoy being responders. If medicine is where your heart lies, I urge you to go for an HPSP or get involved with military medicine. I cover this in Becoming a Student Doctor.

Read

How PAs Can Use Their Skills in Disaster Medicine

Interested in using your skills to help communities in need after a disaster? Four PAs offer their best advice for getting involved, from participating in trainings and minimizing harm to being patient throughout the process.

www.aapa.org

Osteopathic Physician - WADEM

The establishment of the Osteopathic Physician SIG was approved by the WADEM Board of Directors in December 2010. The SIG is open to all members of WADEM in good standing. Osteopathic Physician SIG Leadership

wadem.org

 

[Fluidity of Movement]

Jumping off Mr Smile, National Guard in particular respond to national emergencies and disasters, but I would be surprised if you couldn't volunteer for as many other deployments as you wanted.

Would ask some of the officers in the milmed forum. But from what I hear from EM milmeds, things can be pretty boring on standard deployments.



This is an interesting thread but I think ultimately everybody wants some acuity and adrenaline but it may not necessarily be available all the time. I'd think places like MSF etc would also have opportunities.

But really, this is a foreign and unknown field to me so I have 0 clue and hope this thread brings some useful information to everyone.


EDIT: Supplemental thought that may not be relevant / accurate:
There are also provisions for servicemembers (to include reserves / guard) where if called to duty you wouldn't have to handle the logistics of interrupting your current job, whereas if you were a civilian who wanted to "drop everything" to go respond to something you may not be able to do so.