Undergrad interested in becoming a PA

[spice7]

I'm very interested in this career, however I have noticed that many PA's in this forum seem discontented with their chosen careers and are looking for ways to be become a MD/DO. Why the discontent? Would becoming a PA only make me wish I had gone to medical school?

Some reasons I'm considering PA school over med school are the more reasonable work hours, less liability, less schooling, and more flexibility of being able to work in different areas of speciality. I've done some research and have talked to some of my PA's (derm and family practice), but I know I am still quite naive. I would really appreciate any insight you practicing PA's have!

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[bradt9881]

What makes you think PAs have better working hours than MDs?

You better get over that myth in a hurry. I get in to work before my MD counterparts, leave after they do, pull 100% of the telephone call, and am required to work Saturdays when they are at home.

 

[spice7]

What makes you think PAs have better working hours than MDs?

You better get over that myth in a hurry. I get in to work before my MD counterparts, leave after they do, pull 100% of the telephone call, and am required to work Saturdays when they are at home.

Some of PA's I've talked with have said there's good opportunities in private practices, as PAs are cheaper associates. One of the PAs I know works for a dermatologist at a private practice. She definitely puts more time into that practice than her supervising MD does, but she still works a nice 40-45 hour week. I do understand that derm is one of those lifestyle specialties, however. So she probably lucked out getting hired there. The family practice PAs I've spoke with said they never work more than a 50 hour week, only do call with patients they've personally seen, and alternate weekends with their MD associates.

But I've heard the flip side, too. PA's who work in large hospitals, especially, seem to have the most insane schedules. I've heard they basically do the responsibilities the doctors don't want (early morning rounds, call, weekend).

What setting do you work in? Would you say that's more representative of what I can expect, rather than my what my private practice PA's have been saying? Like I said, I'm naive.

 

[princekc]

What makes you think PAs have better working hours than MDs?

You better get over that myth in a hurry. I get in to work before my MD counterparts, leave after they do, pull 100% of the telephone call, and am required to work Saturdays when they are at home.

....True!

 

[core0]

I'm very interested in this career, however I have noticed that many PA's in this forum seem discontented with their chosen careers and are looking for ways to be become a MD/DO. Why the discontent? Would becoming a PA only make me wish I had gone to medical school?

Some reasons I'm considering PA school over med school are the more reasonable work hours, less liability, less schooling, and more flexibility of being able to work in different areas of speciality. I've done some research and have talked to some of my PA's (derm and family practice), but I know I am still quite naive. I would really appreciate any insight you practicing PA's have!

The distribution for PAs is like any other population. It is normally distributed. On either side you have people that should never have been admitted to PA school. On one end you have people that are dissatisfied being a PA because they find it limiting (despite being told before and in school the potential limitations) or never understood the profession. On the other end you have people that never had the inclination or talent to be a PA but still managed to scrape through school. Both of these tails represent a very small percentage of all PAs. They are probably overrepresented here though. For thought consider that 87% of all PAs that can work as PAs are working clinically as PAs. That's a statistic that few other fields can claim. Yes there are those that are dissatisfied just like any profession but the great majority like what they are doing (just like most professions).

As far as your other questions you are correct that you will have more flexibility (as far as professional fields) and shorter schooling than a physician. On the other hand the liability is a toss up (PAs pay less for insurance but proportionally probably get sued as much as physicians) and hours and lifestyle are highly variable. You can get shift work in fields such as surgery that surgeons can't get but in general you work hours that are similar to the physicians.

Ultimately you have to do what you want to do. If you understand the PA profession, its limits and its strengths then its a great job and profession. If you don't you will probably be miserable.

David Carpenter, PA-C

 

[princekc]

I'm very interested in this career, however I have noticed that many PA's in this forum seem discontented with their chosen careers and are looking for ways to be become a MD/DO. Why the discontent? Would becoming a PA only make me wish I had gone to medical school?

Some reasons I'm considering PA school over med school are the more reasonable work hours, less liability, less schooling, and more flexibility of being able to work in different areas of speciality. I've done some research and have talked to some of my PA's (derm and family practice), but I know I am still quite naive. I would really appreciate any insight you practicing PA's have!

....this issue had been discussed extensively here. Do a search. Also, you can find help at http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/forums/forum.php

 

[bradt9881]

What setting do you work in? Would you say that's more representative of what I can expect, rather than my what my private practice PA's have been saying? Like I said, I'm naive.

I work in a general internal medicine practice.

Don't get me wrong, I have a great job. But the physicians that hire us are not doing it to give you better hours than they have. You are hired to do the things they don't want to do, the scut work of the practice, in addition to the normal routine of scheduled patients. The trend in primary care is to extend the hours of the practice to include evenings and Saturdays. The MDs I work with do not ever have a patient appointment scheduled beyond 3:15 PM; my scheduled appointments end at 5:45 PM. While they are off on Saturday I am seeing anywhere from 20-35 walk-in patients from 9 AM to 1 PM.