some scary concerns (PA)

[jwtaylor]

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Good day all! Im a philosophy major who is also taking the course requirements for PA school and medical school. im coming to the point where i have to choose. I have shadowed a PA and i absolutely cannot imagine doing any job but that. the clinic is where i want to be. however, i have other values that are important to me. at heart, i am an academic. I want to research, write, and teach. I'm interested in public health, global health, AIDS, social activism, and bioethics. in fact, i will be pursuing a masters degree in bioethics at some point in my career. so my question is, how do PA's work out in academics? i have to be honest, all of the things i read are written by MDs or PhDs (which i have not ruled out). I'm just really unclear about the role of PA's in academics. any thoughts?

 

[core0]

Good day all! Im a philosophy major who is also taking the course requirements for PA school and medical school. im coming to the point where i have to choose. I have shadowed a PA and i absolutely cannot imagine doing any job but that. the clinic is where i want to be. however, i have other values that are important to me. at heart, i am an academic. I want to research, write, and teach. I'm interested in public health, global health, AIDS, social activism, and bioethics. in fact, i will be pursuing a masters degree in bioethics at some point in my career. so my question is, how do PA's work out in academics? i have to be honest, all of the things i read are written by MDs or PhDs (which i have not ruled out). I'm just really unclear about the role of PA's in academics. any thoughts?

There is a lot of room for PAs in academics. Many PAs work in research and if you work in an academic center you can participate in the research. Public health and bioethics are really separate areas but there are PA there at NIH and CDC. The nice thing from an academic perspective is that in an academic institution you can choose to do only clinical work or have some research roles. The physicians are frequently forced to do research whether you like it or not.

That being said it is pretty much impossible to become a program head without a PhD or MD. There are a number of PAs that have PhDs that work in research. Public Health is common. I am not aware of an PAs that do bioethics but it would not be out of the question.

The other academic area is PA education. There is a lot of work to be done in this area and several interesting research options. There is a lot of very good data on PA trends because of the fact that there is only one certifying organization, one credentialling organization etc.

You may also want to look at http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/forums/
for more info about the PA profession.

The biggest issue with academia is always money. Even teaching you make a lot less than if you are in a good specialty.

David Carpenter, PA-C

 

[darkjin6920]

well there is the possibly that PA's in time will be moving forward towards their PhD program, since NPs are already on their way and should be finished by 2015. A lot of other health care professions as well have moved towards PhDs.

 

[RAMPA]

well there is the possibly that PA's in time will be moving forward towards their PhD program, since NPs are already on their way and should be finished by 2015. A lot of other health care professions as well have moved towards PhDs.

PhD is academic, NPs have moved towards a clinical doctorate, just as the pharmacists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, etc. the clinical doctorate adds only a few courses onto the existing degree requirements.

RNs already have a doctorate in place... its the PhD in nursing which is academic and involves research, unlike the DNP which will be clinically focused.

 

[darkjin6920]

ah yes sorry about that doctorates

 

[core0]

well there is the possibly that PA's in time will be moving forward towards their PhD program, since NPs are already on their way and should be finished by 2015. A lot of other health care professions as well have moved towards PhDs.

The core of the PA profession is clinical competence. The way the profession ensures this is by having all PAs pass the PANCE and by having all PA programs accredited by ARC-PA (this ensures that all PAs are trained in a similar manner). The education is conducted at a graduate level. This happens whether the program provides certificates, an associates, bachelors or masters degree. There is no current discussion about a doctorate and probably will not be for the near future. If a PA wishes to get a doctorate the easiest way is probably the DHSc from a number of universities. There are a number of PAs with PhDs and DPH. The PA profession has reiterated that the profession will continue to be defined by clinical competence not the degree.

David Carpenter, PA-C

 

[RN wanna be DOC]

If what you really want to be is a PA then by all means go for that. By no means will that exclude you from academics later on. In the future you can still pursue an academic career in the areas you listed, however, you will likely want to obtain a doctorate in those areas. Since your academic/research intrests are in the realm of public health or bioethics you may eventually wish to obtain either a PhD or DrPH in a public health field. Being a PA will only strengthen your credentials when you apply to doctoral programs as well as when you try to break into academics.