which PA program to pick?

[littleemt]

Yet another question to all,

I've been accepted to two PA programs and a foreign MD school - Pace University and NYIT, both in NY and Ross Univ MD program. I've been battling with the decision, which to choose.

Pace :
- PA
- located in NYC (20-40 mins travel)
- 26 months
- about 80K total cost
- no need to take extra classes
- shorter and less detailed didactic phase (i.e. prosection)

NYIT:
- PA
- located in Long Island (40-90 mins travel time)
- 30 months
- about 100K total cost
- need to take 2 classes in the summer
- longer and more detailed didactic phase (i.e. dissection)

Ross:
- MD program
- 4++ years
- 200K total cost
- far from home and family

I'm looking for opinions on which one you guys would pick. I've spent 4 years trying to get into MD program and it seems that is the only one I can get into. SO now that I'm in all these programs, I'm not sure which path to take anymore. It seems that PA has much more flexibility than MD.
Thanks

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[sylvanthus]

Don't let prosection versus dissection be a deciding factor. Quite frankly I think gross anatomy lab was largely a waste of time. I can't count the number of hours I have spent dissecting away fat and fascia. I learned very little from that experience.

The real question should be, do you want to be a physician or physician assistant?

The whole "flexibility" thing is largely a myth by the way. You may be able to switch "specialties" as a PA, but it is because you do not have to know as much as a physician to function in that specialty. Hope that made sense w/o coming across as arrogant.

 

[deleted6669]

Don't let prosection versus dissection be a deciding factor. Quite frankly I think gross anatomy lab was largely a waste of time. I can't count the number of hours I have spent dissecting away fat and fascia. I learned very little from that experience.

The real question should be, do you want to be a physician or physician assistant?

The whole "flexibility" thing is largely a myth by the way. You may be able to switch "specialties" as a PA, but it is because you do not have to know as much as a physician to function in that specialty. Hope that made sense w/o coming across as arrogant.

well, here's an opposing arguement.
1. a+p with dissection is one of the most important parts of your medical education. I wouldn't miss it if doing it is a reasonable option. ask yourself why all medschools do dissection ....because it's a foundation piece for the rest of your education....I took a+p twice. once with dissection and once without. it makes a lot more sense and really sticks in your memory when you do the dissection yourself.
2. the flexibility is real. right out of school you are ready to step into primary care(fp/peds for the most part) as a pa but after a few years it is easy to transition to other specialties either by doing a residency for a yr(www.appap.org) or through on the job training. I have lots of friends who manage complex pts on a variety of subspecialty medical and surgical services who have worked in several different specialties through their careers.they do more than "just the basics". they are the primary consultants for a variety of complex pts. with minimal input from the md specialists once they are up to speed in their new specialty.
the bread and butter( 80-90%) of any non-operative specialty can be learned on the job in 2-3 yrs fairly easily. and with time many pa's become experts on a particular disease process and manage all pts seen for that disorder within the practice. for example I know pa's who see ALL the headaches in a neuro practice and others who only treat MS, HIV, lupus, HEP C, etc.
my buddy who runs the headache clinic did a headache fellowship at mayo and has presented numerous times at cme events for the american neurological association. he reads EVERYTHING written about headache in the english language every yr and is up on all the clinical studies and new treatments. he even wrote a text on headache management.

all that being said you obviously want to be a doc as you went through the trouble of taking the mcat and applying to medschool. you should go to medschool.
pa school really should be a second medical career(as it was designed to be), not something you do right out of undergrad.

 

[BruceBanner]

all that being said you obviously want to be a doc as you went through the trouble of taking the mcat and applying to medschool. you should go to medschool.
pa school really should be a second medical career(as it was designed to be), not something you do right out of undergrad.

I actually did the same---MCATs twice and med school apps twice--and I decided on PA school. Not because I couldnt get into med school, but because I'm a little older and dont want the whole time/money sacrifice that comes with the MD/DO.

Also, I'm sure this varies by school, but I am amazed at how many 22-24 year olds there are in my PA class. Some of these kids JUST turned 22...crazy. I'm just under 30 and I feel old.

 

[Narnian]

There is someone who is 22 in my class... but... there is also someone who is 54. Both ends of the spectrum are always dabbled with people here and there. I know the ADCOM knows what they are doing. I have a 25 year old brother that acts like he is frikin 15... age does not always mean maturity and experience.

 

[lov2xlr8]

Am 22 and will be starting at Stony Brook in August; somehow, I feel like I will be the youngest person in the class (not that it matters much to me). I have a friend in Nova and she is in class with a lot of 22 and 23 y.o.'s. I think it depends on the school (required experience filters a lot of young ones in most cases).

 

[deleted6669]

. I think it depends on the school (required experience filters a lot of young ones in most cases).

there are lots of 22 yr olds with thousands of hrs of solid hce. at 22 I had a bs in medical anthro and >4000 hrs as an er tech. by 24 I had completed paramedic school and had another 3000+ hrs of medic experience.
anyone who works part time in a health care field during college and full time in the summers can easily rack up some serious hrs.
volunteering or shadowing 4 hrs/week just isn't going to get one the # of hrs or level of experience needed to do well in pa school.

 

[lov2xlr8]

there are lots of 22 yr olds with thousands of hrs of solid hce. at 22 I had a bs in medical anthro and >4000 hrs as an er tech. by 24 I had completed paramedic school and had another 3000+ hrs of medic experience.
anyone who works part time in a health care field during college and full time in the summers can easily rack up some serious hrs.
volunteering or shadowing 4 hrs/week just isn't going to get one the # of hrs or level of experience needed to do well in pa school.

I think it depends on the school (required experience filters a lot of young ones in most cases).

Agree that it is possible for lots of exp. I have plenty in terms of school apps, not quite 4000. Many kids don't however, Nova I think has a req of like 400 or something, but I'm not sure how well that is enforced even.