physician assistant to dental school

[hotinwoof]

My friend asked me if that was possible. He's halfway done with being a PA but he doesnt like it too much. He's done well in class but he feels like a glorified nurse. Anyway he wanted to go to dental school but didnt think his grades wre good enough, 2.9, so he went to PA school instead.

I dont know what admissions might think but what are his chances of getting in?

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[rkamsterdam]

Man, i just dont see how you can turn down 80k/year and go back to school and accumulate a 6 figure debt. It seems that he should have better researched the career in PA before entering school. He would have found that PA's are basically glorified nurses--working nearly side to side with nurse practitioners. What's wrong with nursing, anyhow?

Your friend, like many, seems to have a very discontented personality. Before he drops out of his current promising field, he definitely needs to reevaluate himself. I'd start by shadowing a dentist before applying to dental school at a whim because based on his previous albeit unsuccessful career decision making, he may get too far into dental school to realize that it isnt right for him.

 

[Regmata]

He may have to retake some pre-reqs to get his stats where they need to be and he would definitely have to review all of the basic sciences for the DAT...pretty big pain in the ***. How much time does he have left in the P.A. program? Hell, my internist has a P.A. working with him. She works more or less as an internist seeing patients all day in his private practice. Maybe he should explore his own field and the options for practice within it before he passes judgment. Either way, he would probably benefit from finishing the current program that he is in.

 

[hotinwoof]

He just started last fall. I think PA school is 2 years long. He was a bio major so I'm pretty sure he's got all the prereq classes. He's been getting a 3.5 average in PA school. I'm not sure what they take but it's prob the same classes med students take. Biochem, chem, bio, etc. He's really not enjoying PA school and regrets going that route instead of going for dental. I dont think his heart is in it, and I dont think it would matter what specialty PA he goes into. I dont know what to tell him, I would've just stuck with trying to get into dental school until I got in. But it is what it is.

 

[Regmata]

A 2.9 gpa and dropping out of PA school isn't going to make him a very desirable candidate for dental schools. He chose poorly, he would be wise not to do it again...or he may end up really screwed.

 

[blankguy]

I agree with Regmata.
A low undergrad GPA will put him on thin ice. Finish the course for PA and then consider dentistry if he wants to switch careers. It's bad enough that he did not do his homework before going to PA school.

 

[primadonna22274]

"Your friend" doesn't know much about being a PA if he thinks he's a "glorified nurse". I've been a PA for 7.5 yrs now and I've never felt like a nurse at all. It's a very different role.
If he's so unhappy in PA school, it will either get better or get worse. First year is tough but a lot of students find their stride once they hit clinical rotations. But IMO 3.5 GPA is lowball for first year. He should strive for 4.0..."know all you can".
If he really wants to be a dentist, completing a PA program with a strong record and good clinical recommendations may help a lot and IMO a strong medical background could only help a dentist long-term. But dropping out might be the better financial choice if he's really not commited to practice. PA education is expensive these days and if he's not going to practice as a PA it's a lot of money for nothing.
And yeah, he should've known what he was getting into. Dumb move. And dumb move for the adcom accepting an inexperienced student who didn't know what a PA is/does.
Rant over.

 

[sarah_bellum]

Man, i just dont see how you can turn down 80k/year and go back to school and accumulate a 6 figure debt.

It's not hard, particularly if you're going into a field you'll enjoy from a field that sucks out your soul.

 

[TucsonDDS]

Coming from a nurse I don't think of PAs as glorified nurses, just unglorified doctors. From my experience working with PAs and NPs I found that there was no way I was going to have all the responsibilities of being a physician with none of the benefits. A lot of my friends and family asked me why not just stay in nursing and get my NP or CRNA but I found that the one reason that I really didn't like either of those fields was no autonomy, something that Dentists have. Now I am not saying that being a PA, NP or RN isn't a good career, you can make 100k/year in any of the three pretty easily with great benefits, but it wasn't for me and I think your friend is learning that it isn't for him either. I do agree with one of the above posters in that having a strong medical background will make dentistry much easier and you will find that it makes it a lot less stressful. It is hard to kill a patient doing dentistry, it isn't hard at all titrating cardiotonic drips. I hope your friend figures out what he wants and how to get it.