- Joined
- Jun 19, 2016
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 15
Hey all,
Long-time reader, first-time poster I've done a fair bit of searching on this topic and nothing truly addressed my specific situation!
I'm currently a practicing PA x4.5 years with my time split 50/50 between ER and ICU (our hospital is trialing an "upstairs care downstairs" model, so there's a lot of crossover). I have a fair bit of autonomy ranging from the initial resuscitation, lines, running codes and (rarely) airway management. It's great and all but often feels a bit protocolized at times with LOTS of physician oversight (as it should be in this environment); some individuals at the hospital refer to us as "the tacticians, not the strategists." Nevertheless, it's a good gig--sounds crazy to want to leave and take on a huge financial/time commitment, right? Hear me out.
I wanted to go to med school initially in undergrad. Graduated with chem degree, 4.0 GPA and completed all pre-reqs for med school. I was killing it. My husband and I were married pretty young (20) and we (intentionally) had a kid at 23. All was well until little one was unexpectedly dx'd with Down Syndrome the year before I graduated (lots and lots of doctors, therapies, surgeries...).
Everything was overwhelming at that time and the thought of entering med school/residency/fellowship was pretty much impossible in my mind. I abandoned my dream, bit the bullet and used my prereqs to get into PA school so I'd be able to finish faster, support our little one and have time to be home. In hindsight, was this the smartest choice? Probably....definitely not. I'm aware of the mistakes I made but it's done and it made perfect sense to me at the time.
Now that I'm in my 30s, I find myself completely dissatisfied with my work life. I can give 500 logical reasons/arguments if needed but I really don't want to take the thread in that direction. The bottom line is that I'm just not happy and I KNOW that I want to go the MD route (and have for a long time). Love the patients, love the medicine but I hit a glass ceiling at 2 years; I certainly can't do this forever.
I gave up on my dreams.
Now that I'm older/wiser, have more support & the little one is more self-sufficient I feel ready to start again. Anyone else out there make the PA-->MD switch?
Next steps will be refreshing all that basic science knowledge and studying for the MCAT...
Someone tell me I'm not crazy.
Long-time reader, first-time poster I've done a fair bit of searching on this topic and nothing truly addressed my specific situation!
I'm currently a practicing PA x4.5 years with my time split 50/50 between ER and ICU (our hospital is trialing an "upstairs care downstairs" model, so there's a lot of crossover). I have a fair bit of autonomy ranging from the initial resuscitation, lines, running codes and (rarely) airway management. It's great and all but often feels a bit protocolized at times with LOTS of physician oversight (as it should be in this environment); some individuals at the hospital refer to us as "the tacticians, not the strategists." Nevertheless, it's a good gig--sounds crazy to want to leave and take on a huge financial/time commitment, right? Hear me out.
I wanted to go to med school initially in undergrad. Graduated with chem degree, 4.0 GPA and completed all pre-reqs for med school. I was killing it. My husband and I were married pretty young (20) and we (intentionally) had a kid at 23. All was well until little one was unexpectedly dx'd with Down Syndrome the year before I graduated (lots and lots of doctors, therapies, surgeries...).
Everything was overwhelming at that time and the thought of entering med school/residency/fellowship was pretty much impossible in my mind. I abandoned my dream, bit the bullet and used my prereqs to get into PA school so I'd be able to finish faster, support our little one and have time to be home. In hindsight, was this the smartest choice? Probably....definitely not. I'm aware of the mistakes I made but it's done and it made perfect sense to me at the time.
Now that I'm in my 30s, I find myself completely dissatisfied with my work life. I can give 500 logical reasons/arguments if needed but I really don't want to take the thread in that direction. The bottom line is that I'm just not happy and I KNOW that I want to go the MD route (and have for a long time). Love the patients, love the medicine but I hit a glass ceiling at 2 years; I certainly can't do this forever.
I gave up on my dreams.
Now that I'm older/wiser, have more support & the little one is more self-sufficient I feel ready to start again. Anyone else out there make the PA-->MD switch?
Next steps will be refreshing all that basic science knowledge and studying for the MCAT...
Someone tell me I'm not crazy.