Today a friend told me he was switching to PA school to avoid the lifestyle that accompanies a doctor. He claimed that all the docs he shadowed told him PA was the way to go due to better lifestyle, increasing wages, etc. Is this really true? Could some people with first hand experience weigh in on this? I appreciate any and all responses.
-
CycleTrack and SDN are teaming up to make medical school admissions more transparent and accessible! Read the announcement to learn how we’re supporting the future of CycleTrack’s free application-tracking tools .
Question about lifestyle
Started by KyleJames
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/pa-vs-md-do.1037506/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/md-vs-pa-what-is-the-best-option.1071538/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/yet-even-more-on-the-pa-vs-md-question.178533/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/honest-second-thoughts-md-vs-pa.953189/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/md-or-pa.1139374/
This has literally been discussed ad nauseam
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/md-vs-pa-what-is-the-best-option.1071538/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/yet-even-more-on-the-pa-vs-md-question.178533/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/honest-second-thoughts-md-vs-pa.953189/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/md-or-pa.1139374/
This has literally been discussed ad nauseam
What appeals to you about being a doctor? What appeals to you about being a PA? What are you looking to get out of your career?
For physicians, it depends on the specialty and type of practice. Many physicians maintain good work/family life balance.
Not all PAs work nice hours either. There are many PAs that work 50-60 hours a week.
Know that any individual physician, though insightful, is limited in perspective. So do talk to more physicians, read more articles, and peruse both the MD/DO and PA forums. Take information with a grain of salt and... good luck. And hey, wedgedawg already got you started. How nice. : P
Not all PAs work nice hours either. There are many PAs that work 50-60 hours a week.
Know that any individual physician, though insightful, is limited in perspective. So do talk to more physicians, read more articles, and peruse both the MD/DO and PA forums. Take information with a grain of salt and... good luck. And hey, wedgedawg already got you started. How nice. : P
Stop scaring the kids away, allantois!
Isn't psychiatry and FP/Peds also pretty good in the hours department? They may be the lower-salaried ones, but honestly- you're going to be making solid money as long as you match.
Once you've completed training and have gotten established in a job, or are looking for a job, you have some choice to trade off a higher income for more leisure time. It's tougher to choose time off, though, when faced with high educational debt. And some established practices won't want a part-timer (at least to start), so job options are more limited.
One time I was shadowing a doc and this PA told me that being a doc was the way to go, because you want to avoid the low salary, less autonomy, and the "what if?" feeling that comes with being a PA.
As in, the two careers are very different and there are pros and cons to each.
Don't go off what your one friend told you. For all you know, the reason he is switching to PA is because he couldn't hack the grades needed for getting into medical school but wanted to rationalize it in some other way so he didn't feel so bad about himself.
As in, the two careers are very different and there are pros and cons to each.
Don't go off what your one friend told you. For all you know, the reason he is switching to PA is because he couldn't hack the grades needed for getting into medical school but wanted to rationalize it in some other way so he didn't feel so bad about himself.
And to finish the trinity, when I was shadowing in college I had 10 year+ PAs when I was in college talk to me about how awesome it was being a PA.
As said above, it's a totally different job with different responsibilities. The best comparison to being an MD is probably "being a senior resident for the rest of your life but with 2.5-3x the salary" In the great scheme of things, that's not a bad gig.
Though I fully expect a certain poster (you all know who) to burst in with some variant of "PAs are stupid doctor wannabes who all wish they were doctors like I'm going to be someday!"
Ok
The personality of psychiatrists gravitate them towards low-moderate number of hours. Psychiatry actually has ridiculous earning potential and is a well-kept secret.
#Ivesaidtoomuch
Except R=Radiology, and they work (if they can even find a job, as the job market is tight) 55-60 hours per week due to cuts in reimbursement, and A=Anesthesiology, which has you working 50+ hours a week under increasingly bad conditions and wages due to AMCs.
Meh, psychiatry is a very niche field because it really isn't for everyone, both so far as the work and the patient population.
In regard to the OP, keep in mind that many doctors are having a "grass is greener" moment when they say being a PA would be great. While being a physician isn't all sunshine and rainbows, neither is being a PA.
It's very easy for a physician to say being a PA would be better when they don't actually have to be a PA, potentially make 3X+ less, not have nearly as much autonomy or ability to do things, and not be able to do all of the things that drew them into being a physician if they were a PA.
I'm not sure it's the personality of us so much as the work itself can be mentally taxing in a way that other specialties aren't. I know plenty of psychiatrists who put in an insane number of hours per week (and there are plenty of examples of similar people over in the psychiatry compensation thread on that board).
