Returning to school and considering DPT vs Anesthesiologist Assistant

[kaybie]

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I am returning to school after about 10 years since graduating. I finished my BS in Health Fitness and Kinesiology with a 3.96 GPA. I have not taken the GRE yet.

I am deciding between DPT and AA.

I think I would really like either one, and I am making plans to shadow individuals in both careers to see what the job is like on a day-to-day basis.

One of the things that is most important to me is being able to find a good job after graduation and being in a career that has flexible hours. I am married with 2 little girls and want to still have time with my family.

It seems that AA's earn more, but that PT may be more flexible. I also have read TONS of debate between AAs, CRNAs and anesthesiologists and it seems to be a messy situation. Is this going to just make things worse for AAs, or do you think that it will eventually improve, that more states will accept AAs, and that it will be a good career choice.

 

[hefe]

Firstly, shadow professions and ask as many questions you feel you need to as many people in the field you're interested.

One issue I've read thoroughly with AA is that while their number may be growing the areas they can practice seems to be limited by state to state. Seems some anesthesiologists can be able to hire AA's even though they'd like to due to laws/regulation from I've seen.

The schools seem limited in number and the hiring positions will be limited to those specific areas with anesthesiologists that can support and hire an AA to supervise. So while AA's have physician support, they have much more ground to cover than CRNA's legal wise. Sadly, many CRNA's seem to be pumping their kind in great number and pushing for practice without supervision which arguably they don't have the proper training. Though I'm sure the experienced ones are rather good at what they do.

Also, some PT schools may not accept pre-requisites that are >10 years or even 7 I've seem. But this is not just PT it's PA as well, I've seen have a time limit as well for pre-reqs. I'm not sure about AA entirely there.

I'm applying PT, so admittedly somewhat biased. Your GPA seems good, but again you're a long time out of school work so depending on the school that may come up. I'm sure you could overcome it however. A good GRE score is a start, but not the whole picture. You'll need some PT volunteer/work experience in various settings and positive extra-cirruculars can help your app.

PT has it's perks and issues and is generally livable money that I hope still continues out. You'll have more flexibility on where you live over AA inherently because of the state laws issue. AA may not be all that bad hours too since you'll need a physician's supervision and they may have good hours? But you should talk to an AA and an anesthesiologist. Heck, try talking to a DPT and CRNA too about it.

More fuel for you to think about on various topics.

 

[kaybie]

Thanks, hefe.

I have an AA school and a DPT school both in the city where I live (Savannah, GA).

The DPT program very surprisingly does not have a limit on the years out of school for the prereqs. Nursing does and AA does, but not DPT (I called yesterday), so while I'm sure I will be a bit rusty, I am hoping I get back in the flow of things quickly.

The uncertainty of all the stuff about AAs is what concerns me too.

Thank you for your input!

 

[markelmarcel]

Kaybie,

Just curious- what are you doing with your degree currently?

 

[kaybie]

Kaybie,

Just curious- what are you doing with your degree currently?

Being a stay-at-home mom to my sweet little girls 🙂.
I had planned to go to grad school (for PT) straight after getting my undergrad but married a US Marine my senior year and went to California (from NC), because that is where he was stationed. Fast forward 9 years and we have two little girls. Neither is school age yet, so I have been staying home with them.

 

[markelmarcel]

Being a stay-at-home mom to my sweet little girls 🙂.
I had planned to go to grad school (for PT) straight after getting my undergrad but married a US Marine my senior year and went to California (from NC), because that is where he was stationed. Fast forward 9 years and we have two little girls. Neither is school age yet, so I have been staying home with them.

Aw, 🙂 That's great! My mommy was a stay-at-home-mom too! 🙂

 

[PT2RN2CRNA]

" Sadly, many CRNA's seem to be pumping their kind in great number and pushing for practice without supervision which arguably they don't have the proper training."

Really? Will you tell me where you got this information? Have you shadowed a CRNA and observe what we do? Are you aware that we deliver 65% of anesthetics each year? And that we are oldest nursing specialty that has a history of 150 years? Nurses have delivered anesthesia years before anesthesiology became a specialty in medicine. We are licensed in every state to give anesthesia independently. The supervision requirement is merely a CMS ruling that prohibits payment by Medicare and Medicaid if we don't have MD supervision. Which means private insurance in any state pays our services without MD supervision. And this only applies in 34 states. There are already 16 states (and counting) that opted out of the CMS requirement for supervision. And if you think anesthesia became safer because MD's started administering them, you are wrong. It's because of the advances in technology in patient monitoring that increased anesthesia safety through the years.
It's sad that you would use this forum to badmouth CRNA's and it's clear you have no clue about our profession. I'm a licensed PT also and you will never hear me criticize one profession over another.
By the way, you are not a Rehab Science Student. You are someone who is just trying to get into PT. Rehabilitation Science is a multidisciplinary entity, wherein PT is just one of the disciplines. It's much bigger than just one discipline.

 

[okramango]

" By the way, you are not a Rehab Science Student. You are someone who is just trying to get into PT. Rehabilitation Science is a multidisciplinary entity, wherein PT is just one of the disciplines. It's much bigger than just one discipline.

On Student Doctor Network, "Rehab Science Student" is the general category that they use for students of PT, OT, Audiology, and Speech Pathology. Unfortunately there is no "PT Student" option on this website.

 

[Azimuthal]

On Student Doctor Network, "Rehab Science Student" is the general category that they use for students of PT, OT, Audiology, and Speech Pathology. Unfortunately there is no "PT Student" option on this website.

You guys are on the same line. I think the reference was to the student applying to PT, for which he or she is not a PT student yet.