PA vs MD (or other) for a Mom!??

[Huey133]

Hi All! I have read *thousands* probably responses regarding PA versus MD. But I have some specific differences that may effect the answers and wanted some professional opinions!

I am a 33 year old mom with a 9 year old son and recently married.

Here’s my question - PA school? MD school? (Considered pharmacy but I’m an extrovert and love human interaction), DDS, Optometry?? Etc - I have a preferences but an open mind.

Here’s my background and why I’m going back to school at this age.

1) I have an outstanding and lucrative career as a commercial helicopter pilot (helicopter-logging). I have the ability to make up to - between 120 and 250,000 a year at my current job, working 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off year round. I love so much about my job! It’s outside, in the mountains, in the most gorgeous places in the country, it’s challenging, demanding, rewarding and extremely intense.

But the downfalls ..
i) I am the only female in the country who does it (there’s a reason no other female does this)
And In order to make the possible salary, I must be gone (out of state, away from home) 192 days a year. I dread leaving my son and my husband that much, so I choose instead to only work 1/3 of that ( drastically limitibg my income) so that I can be home with my family instead. (Leads to poor future financial stability)

ii) I am in one of the most dangerous jobs in Aviation. Hence how competitive it was to get in, (there are less than 30 of us in the country who do this job) and why it pays well. I have already had 2 crashes, (one severe one 2 years ago) and, frankly, I am scared to leave my son without a mom if something happens.

3) My son is turning 9 in a couple days - I’m realizing half of his child hood is past. His first 9 years were spent at college with me as single mom, in flight school and traveling around the country with me in this career until he started school. I have only 9 precious years of his childhood left and I want to be home more consistently.

(I want to work, I love working, plus my family is used to my income and I want to be more stable financially as we enter our older years. So quitting work and being a stay at home mom is not an option.)

Why switch to medicine?

a) I spent 8 years in the medical field, with the intention of doing prenatal cardiac, or neuro surgery but also considered radiology and medical examiner. (Love the investigating job, hate the standard pathology in hospitals)
I floated to every unit of the hospital including autopsies (loved!), psych, radiology,(loved!) ED, EMT on ambulance and fire station, pharmacy, home health care but majority was an Anesthsia Tech. (Loved the trauma on night shift).

I Switched to Aviation when I got pregnant and MD’s told me I’d miss the first 8-12 years of my sons life with the specialties I wanted at the time.

My current desires and goals for a career:
aa) not travel for work.

bb) have a somewhat reliable schedule (call doesn’t bother me, although no call is okay too)

cc) make 100k + a year minimum (But the more the better considering I already have that ability with no extra debt or schooling) (money is not why I am choosing this but it is a relevant factor as it relates to length of schooling versus income vs reward.)

dd) **live in a very small town. 200-5,000 people ideally. States I want to work in are Montana Idaho, or Alaska.
I am from towns with less than 2000 people and one that I graduated HS from had less than 300.
I emphasized this point because so many forums on here are regarding larger towns or what some people call small towns which are 100,000 people. This is a very different aspect.

ee) my current job is so physically demanding, if I hurt ANY body part or limb, I lose my income for time being. So security, and a job that I can do well into my late 60’s. (I will not do that in my current job)

ff) though I LOVE intense jobs, since my goal at this point is family stability, I would do Family Medicine. I do not want to work in surgery or big hospital either (at this point) due to desire to live in a small town.
I love the idea of being a “jack of all trades” Practitioner and See and do a little of everything. Ideal for my small town desires.

My Qualifications:

GPA (no recent hx yet - old one is 3.5+ and deans list)
I have a bachelors of science in Helicopter Aviation
I was home schooled for part most of k - 10th
I have extensive volunteer time in a busy and intense search and rescue (I do K9 SAR also)
I interview extremely well. (Not so good with written tests:-(
I am grounded, settled, and have proven (to myself) I can beat the odds in a very competitive profession.
I am from Montana (extra points for PA or Med app)
I graduated with a class of 13 students (extra points to WAAMI or PA)
I have no recent medical experience other than search and rescue.


Finally, Here are my Questions!!

1) PA? Or MD? Or other? (Dental? Etc)
Or PA then MD after my son graduates?

2) how is either program as a mom? (Keeping in mind the purpose behind this is to have some quality time with my family though I am prepared for schooling and hard work, and my husband is extremely supportive and encouraging of either MD or PA (or other advanced schooling).

3) I have Americans with disabilities from a major MVA I was involved in as a young child - I have never used this in college but wondering if that would give me any edge on pa/med school apps or would hurt me?

4) I heard there is a push to remove PA’s from small primary practice ? True? Anytime soon?

5) Pre Reqs are the same, Should I apply to both Med and PA?

Okay I am especially looking for moms opinions but I want and appreciate EVERYONES opinion!

Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this novel!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ERDOC555]

Hi All! I have read *thousands* probably responses regarding PA versus MD. But I have some specific differences that may effect the answers and wanted some professional opinions!

I am a 33 year old mom with a 9 year old son and recently married.

Here’s my question - PA school? MD school? (Considered pharmacy but I’m an extrovert and love human interaction), DDS, Optometry?? Etc - I have a preferences but an open mind.

Here’s my background and why I’m going back to school at this age.

1) I have an outstanding and lucrative career as a commercial helicopter pilot (helicopter-logging). I have the ability to make up to - between 120 and 250,000 a year at my current job, working 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off year round. I love so much about my job! It’s outside, in the mountains, in the most gorgeous places in the country, it’s challenging, demanding, rewarding and extremely intense.

But the downfalls ..
i) I am the only female in the country who does it (there’s a reason no other female does this)
And In order to make the possible salary, I must be gone (out of state, away from home) 192 days a year. I dread leaving my son and my husband that much, so I choose instead to only work 1/3 of that ( drastically limitibg my income) so that I can be home with my family instead. (Leads to poor future financial stability)

ii) I am in one of the most dangerous jobs in Aviation. Hence how competitive it was to get in, (there are less than 30 of us in the country who do this job) and why it pays well. I have already had 2 crashes, (one severe one 2 years ago) and, frankly, I am scared to leave my son without a mom if something happens.

3) My son is turning 9 in a couple days - I’m realizing half of his child hood is past. His first 9 years were spent at college with me as single mom, in flight school and traveling around the country with me in this career until he started school. I have only 9 precious years of his childhood left and I want to be home more consistently.

(I want to work, I love working, plus my family is used to my income and I want to be more stable financially as we enter our older years. So quitting work and being a stay at home mom is not an option.)

Why switch to medicine?

a) I spent 8 years in the medical field, with the intention of doing prenatal cardiac, or neuro surgery but also considered radiology and medical examiner. (Love the investigating job, hate the standard pathology in hospitals)
I floated to every unit of the hospital including autopsies (loved!), psych, radiology,(loved!) ED, EMT on ambulance and fire station, pharmacy, home health care but majority was an Anesthsia Tech. (Loved the trauma on night shift).

I Switched to Aviation when I got pregnant and MD’s told me I’d miss the first 8-12 years of my sons life with the specialties I wanted at the time.

My current desires and goals for a career:
aa) not travel for work.

bb) have a somewhat reliable schedule (call doesn’t bother me, although no call is okay too)

cc) make 100k + a year minimum (But the more the better considering I already have that ability with no extra debt or schooling) (money is not why I am choosing this but it is a relevant factor as it relates to length of schooling versus income vs reward.)

dd) **live in a very small town. 200-5,000 people ideally. States I want to work in are Montana Idaho, or Alaska.
I am from towns with less than 2000 people and one that I graduated HS from had less than 300.
I emphasized this point because so many forums on here are regarding larger towns or what some people call small towns which are 100,000 people. This is a very different aspect.

ee) my current job is so physically demanding, if I hurt ANY body part or limb, I lose my income for time being. So security, and a job that I can do well into my late 60’s. (I will not do that in my current job)

ff) though I LOVE intense jobs, since my goal at this point is family stability, I would do Family Medicine. I do not want to work in surgery or big hospital either (at this point) due to desire to live in a small town.
I love the idea of being a “jack of all trades” Practitioner and See and do a little of everything. Ideal for my small town desires.

My Qualifications:

GPA (no recent hx yet - old one is 3.5+ and deans list)
I have a bachelors of science in Helicopter Aviation
I was home schooled for part most of k - 10th
I have extensive volunteer time in a busy and intense search and rescue (I do K9 SAR also)
I interview extremely well. (Not so good with written tests:-(
I am grounded, settled, and have proven (to myself) I can beat the odds in a very competitive profession.
I am from Montana (extra points for PA or Med app)
I graduated with a class of 13 students (extra points to WAAMI or PA)
I have no recent medical experience other than search and rescue.


Finally, Here are my Questions!!

1) PA? Or MD? Or other? (Dental? Etc)
Or PA then MD after my son graduates?

2) how is either program as a mom? (Keeping in mind the purpose behind this is to have some quality time with my family though I am prepared for schooling and hard work, and my husband is extremely supportive and encouraging of either MD or PA (or other advanced schooling).

3) I have Americans with disabilities from a major MVA I was involved in as a young child - I have never used this in college but wondering if that would give me any edge on pa/med school apps or would hurt me?

4) I heard there is a push to remove PA’s from small primary practice ? True? Anytime soon?

5) Pre Reqs are the same, Should I apply to both Med and PA?

Okay I am especially looking for moms opinions but I want and appreciate EVERYONES opinion!

Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this novel!

Super interesting post and that sounds like a really neat job you have!

I think you should 100% go PA especially with your family, age, experiences and goals. It's exponentially shorter, far easier, and you can have a wonderful work life balance. You'll make 100k easily and if you work in the states you listed I could see it being much higher (~150,000). You'll have ample time for your son and husband and could realistically be making money 2-3 years from now. With medicine you'll have to sacrifice the next 7-10 years of your life with crippling debt and risk depriving your family of the time that you want to spend with them (which is the main reason for changing jobs in the first place). I think you'll be much happier as a PA!

 

[SterlingMaloryArcher]

Go P.A.

By the time you are done with medical school and residency (required for M.D.'s) the other half of your son's childhood will have passed (He will be 18+). By the time you finish P.A. school he will be 11 or 12.

Consider DDS or DPM as an in-between - no long residency.

 

[Robin-jay]

Get prepared for real talk from many SDNers.

The first "red flag" for medical admissions committees is that you haven't been solely interesting in becoming a physician throughout your entire life. This means that you have to convince them you are really passionate about becoming a physician.

You have to retake pre-reqs and almost only get A's, study for the MCAT, do community service volunteering, have clinical volunteering/employment, and so much more.

By the way, that's if everything goes smoothly and you get accepted, most people don't.

Your timeline is something like, study 3-4 years before medical school(you should be busy 60-80 hours a week), spend 4 years in medical school (80+ hours a week for 200-400k debt), then you start residency (3-4 yrs.) for a 50k/yr salary for working 80+ hours a week. Then you become a physician, who, still, works a lot.

If you can stomach 9-12 years of studying before making money, then go for it. Many people do, and if its your passion. Don't hesitate.

Most people also don't have a straight clear ride to their path in med. school, especially non-trads. Once your say, 4 years in, and you haven't got that acceptance yet, would you have been happy with the path you took? It could take you longer, if ever.

 

[BigRedBeta]

Your timeline and desire to be with your son more make this a really terrible option.

First, undergraduate science courses come with an expiration date. Many professional schools across many different fields do not accept anything older than 7 years (since the knowledge base is considered obsolete), so you're going to need to go back and take undergraduate courses for a year or two before you would even have the necessary credits. A post-bac program may be beneficial in this regard, but others will have to weigh in on how well they fit with non-MD goals.

Second, any professional school is going to require full time hours plus "overtime" on nights on weekends to really meet even the lowest standards. My mom went to law school when I was in 4th grade (so the same age as your son now)...we still, 25 years later, refer to those three years as the "lost years". She didn't go to soccer games, she didn't eat dinner with us, she didn't plan birthday parties, and it was more than . She studied. She did exceptionally well (made Law Review, had a comment published, earned a clerkship with a federal judge) but there was sacrifices made. Medical school is equally as bad, if not worse. The first two years are roughly identical to anything a law student goes through, and third year is it's own special form of schedule havoc, which seems terrible until you become a resident and then it just seems quaint that you used to complain about having to "work" one weekend a month on your inpatient medicine rotation.


I'd recommend nursing school quite honestly and aim for either the ED or the ICU's to get the intensity up a few notches. Given that you have an interest in going to really small towns, you may find the compensation close to your goals. Definitely has the lowest barriers to entry and probably makes the most sense.
The only other option that comes close is PA school, but you'll still need the time beforehand for clinical experience and retaking the science prereqs, thus extending your timeline.

 

[deleted480308]

the med school pathway will consume you for at least 7yrs, and that's if you got in this year....which won't happen. If the goal is time with your kid, either take a less demanding pilot job and make less money or consider something a little more along the lines of nursing/pa.....

 

[chaim123]

Having worked with many MD and PA, every single PA I've worked with (or lets say most, it's just a common thread I've seen) has told me, "I thought about medical school, but then blank happened, such as I met the right guy/girl and wanted to slow down". It sounds like you also need to slow down, and PA would be the perfect way to do that! In the states you mentioned it can be an awesome career with lots of autonomy, and also lots of time to be home with your son.

 

[Microbug]

For those suggesting PA schools, the ones I’m aware of some of them that have strict volunteering hours (1000+). Neither of these path is going to be easy or conducive to your timeline. After reading a post, I still don’t really get why you want to do medicine besides the financial stability (even tho you have to spend years paying back your loan).

What do you mean when you said you spend 8 years in the medical field? What was your position? People who say they want to do prenatal cardio and neuro from the getgo scares me, because they tend to be of a certain personality.

 

[ciestar]

Do a BS to RN program. You can then get your BSN online through many programs and then go for your CRNP. Much less rigerous pathway and that doesn't have the requirements MD/DO and PA does.

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

Definitely go the PA route. Majority of PA's have higher job satisfaction compared to nurses. You'll likely be called "doctor" by many patients as a PA --- nice perk!

Spending the next 7+ years in a med school classroom and hospital means you will miss out on all the special moments with your son and hubby, which are priceless. By the time you finish residency, your son will be heading off to college and wont be around anymore. Not to mention med school will eat up a HUGE chunk of all that heli-logging money you saved up? Why not spend that money on your son's education?

Finding a PA program in Montana should be easy. Where did you get the false idea that PA's are being forced out of primary care? If anything, they will only INCREASE as a cost-saving measure for dwindling healthcare reimbursements. Plus, there will ALWAYS be a shortage of primary care providers in small town and rural settings so you should never have any problems finding employment no matter where you live.

Since you're already licensed as a heli pilot --- why not become a part-time EMS pilot during your PA training? It would maintain your flying skills and it's less dangerous than logging, right? Not to mention heli pilots make nice wages.

 

[Huey133]

Thanks for everyone’s replies so far!

I Understand about pre reqs and am retaking those sciences now as we speak at a good university (not C.C.). I have figured that into my timeline.

8 years in the medical field, as I listed in my first post were as a CNA, mental health worker, EMT, ED tech, radiology tech, anesthesia tech (certified), Pharmacy Tech, Autopsie (intern/shadow), home health care. I have about 17,000+ paid healthcare hours.

**Does volunteer search and rescue count? I do between 500-1000 hours per YEAR of volunteer in my community per here for that and am on the board at search and rescue and have Seach and Rescue K9’s. Many of the “teams” within search and Rescue I am on, are certified. So though it’s all volunteer for me, the certifications that many of us have are real qualifications we just don’t get paid for that knowledge or training we have.

I am interested in working in the medical field again because I am people oreiented, I absolutely Love, crave and thrive on helping people. To a fault that becomes annoying to my husband when we consistently change plans and go out of our way to help people in some kind of need, respond to every single SAR call, etc. always. It makes me feel good and it makes me happy to do that.

I love puzzles (not literally but the process of analyzing and figuring things out) I’m extremely detail oriented.
Being a PA would help my “career” in search and rescue as well.

Being able to work locally, and to be safe, and work in a small town are all benefits to me. I definitely want to have as much autonomy as possible.

That being said I am not interested in nursing, after having worked with them for so many years, that is not a particular side of medicine I am interested in doing.

There is no way in few words we can ever explain all details of decisions or life to everyone to make exactly perfect opinions - why I wanted pre natal cardiac surgery? Because my childhood doctor did that, he was incredible - his work intrigued me. Why neuro surgery? Because I had a near fatal car accident st 8 years old and believe I am still here because of my surgeon, it’s detailed and precise and intense.

Back to the point of pa versus md versus dental, Optometry, etc.

Thoughts?

Thanks again everyone! Helps to hear other outside perspectives!

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

It's OK to be turned off by nursing. I've known family members who became nurses and they are ALL miserable being over-worked and under-appreciated.

It's easy to be fascinated by cardiac surgery and neurosurgery for all the intracacies and challenges involved. Who wouldnt wanna do delicate bypass surgery with a $2 million robot? But once you start looking at the 10+ year commitment just to become a cardiac or neurosurgeon, that should give you nightmares

Family-friendly professions like dentistry and optometry are viable options but the reasons pro/con are very lengthy and you can find that debate on other threads.

If your main goal is to make a comfy 6-figure salary helping people in a small town in Montana and still have free time to spend with son and hubby -- PA is about as perfect a job as I can think of. Most primary care PA's are given a lot of autonomy and can practically function on their own with minimal MD supervision. But seriously give that part-time EMS pilot a consideration, too --- you already got the license and there's always a need for good MedEvac pilots.

 

[Huey133]

Do a BS to RN program. You can then get your BSN online through many programs and then go for your CRNP. Much less rigerous pathway and that doesn't have the requirements MD/DO and PA does.

This is an interesting thought. I was under the assumption that you had to work as a nurse for a minimum of 5 years before being able to go do NP?

Do you have to get accepted to NP school? Or just take classes like Any other grad school?

 

[ciestar]

This is an interesting thought. I was under the assumption that you had to work as a nurse for a minimum of 5 years before being able to go do NP?

Do you have to get accepted to NP school? Or just take classes like Any other grad school?

Five years is no longer the norm. Most programs now seem to want one or two. (Before I applied to med school, I thought about this path, so I am only familiar with programs in PA. UPenn only wants 1-2 years for their MSN programs, the more, the better, but you want family time soo, that is why i suggested it lol)

And you have to enroll in a NP program.

 

[Huey133]

Five years is no longer the norm. Most programs now seem to want one or two. (Before I applied to med school, I thought about this path, so I am only familiar with programs in PA. UPenn only wants 1-2 years for their MSN programs, the more, the better, but you want family time soo, that is why i suggested it lol)

And you have to enroll in a NP program.

Looking online, seems like I would need to (like you said) get BSN, (which may be more pre reqs than I currently need)
And then do a Masters and then doctorate/DNP.
I love the idea of being independent - but this seems like a much longer route although guaranteed acceptance to school?

 

[Huey133]

Definitely go the PA route. Majority of PA's have higher job satisfaction compared to nurses. You'll likely be called "doctor" by many patients as a PA --- nice perk!

Spending the next 7+ years in a med school classroom and hospital means you will miss out on all the special moments with your son and hubby, which are priceless. By the time you finish residency, your son will be heading off to college and wont be around anymore. Not to mention med school will eat up a HUGE chunk of all that heli-logging money you saved up? Why not spend that money on your son's education?

Finding a PA program in Montana should be easy. Where did you get the false idea that PA's are being forced out of primary care? If anything, they will only INCREASE as a cost-saving measure for dwindling healthcare reimbursements. Plus, there will ALWAYS be a shortage of primary care providers in small town and rural settings so you should never have any problems finding employment no matter where you live.

Since you're already licensed as a heli pilot --- why not become a part-time EMS pilot during your PA training? It would maintain your flying skills and it's less dangerous than logging, right? Not to mention heli pilots make nice wages.

This is all great information, I appreciate the input and honesty!
Yes I will fly in the summers (which is what I do now) through pre reqs and until my clinical phase of school.
EMS is week on week off year round (not conducive to a class schedule).

 

[deleted480308]

This is an interesting thought. I was under the assumption that you had to work as a nurse for a minimum of 5 years before being able to go do NP?

Do you have to get accepted to NP school? Or just take classes like Any other grad school?

There are direct NP programs now iirc

 

[Blanky]

I have not read others posts but I did read yours entirely. While I typically want to push for MD/DO it seems your goals line up better with PA. You already have a bachelors and once you take the GRE and a couple prereqs you can apply PA without the worry of much additional EC hrs/ MCAT. You also face a much shorter period for schooling 2 years vs 4 years +3-7 for residency before you can find a job/ area you want to stay and enjoy your family time which from your writings is top priority. PA will expose you to patient care directly and the interactions with humans that you enjoy, also the PA salary is easily in your range of comfort.
Final thing to consider is if your professional drive is greater than you think you may outgrow PA and wish to drive foreword towards MD which would cause a huge loss in income and time.

 

[Goro]

1) PA? Or MD? Or other? (Dental? Etc)


I suggest the easier path of PA

Or PA then MD after my son graduates?
Only you can answer this. But I've had student who had kids IN med school. If they can handle it, so can you.

2) how is either program as a mom? (Keeping in mind the purpose behind this is to have some quality time with my family though I am prepared for schooling and hard work, and my husband is extremely supportive and encouraging of either MD or PA (or other advanced schooling).
You can do either. But for MD/DO, you family needs to get used to this conversation:
Them: What are you doing?
You: Studying


3) I have Americans with disabilities from a major MVA I was involved in as a young child - I have never used this in college but wondering if that would give me any edge on pa/med school apps or would hurt me?
It might help as it appears you have a compelling story.

4) I heard there is a push to remove PA’s from small primary practice ? True? Anytime soon?
You heard wrong. If anything, the role of midlevels is increasing. Witness the wailing and gnashing of teeth on this subject in the MD students forum.

5) Pre Reqs are the same, Should I apply to both Med and PA?
Your call. Personally, I think being a doctor is a calling. What does your heart tell you?

 

[deleted480308]

ADA? You can still pass a flight physical... I don't know how much that will play into anything

 

[Huey133]

ADA? You can still pass a flight physical... I don't know how much that will play into anything

Yes I pass a first class flight physical every year. I am very healthy. Have never heard of whether ADA would help or not.

 

[workaholic181]

Unless you think you’d always wonder ‘what if’ I’d go PA. You’ll be making a good salary and be a provider by your mid 30s, conversely in med school you’d just be starting clinical rotations.

People have gotten their md/do later in life with kids though so you’d be far from the first. Did you ever work with PAs? Seeing their role in action could help you decide.

 

[Durty-Trixxx]

Yet another perk to help you make a choice --- PA's are almost totally immune to malpractice lawsuits --- the supervising MD takes 99% of the brunt of that pain!

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Honestly your current job sounds cooler than medicine, but I’d definitely target PA, especially if you have enough clinical hours for the older programs.

 

[RNthenDoc]

PA is a *much* shorter path than even the the least-intensive Walden NP degrees from the Internet, but their programs tend to be harder to get into.

...but EVERY program director is going to want to interview the helicopter pilot. Cuz helicopters are neat.