Would you do it again?

[aj_qwert]

I hate to ask this question in fear of what I might hear, but I will anyways. I will begin PT school shortly and after reading the posts in this forum I am slowly questioning if it is worth it. After hearing complaints about the financial ceiling, increased loan debt, and abundance of PT to MD switches I am wondering how many of you would get your PT again if your were given the chance to start over?

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[Buckeye4life]

I'd do it again because I don't think I would have been accepted into medical school without the clinical experience and grade boost from the program. Also, if for some reason med school does not work out, I still have a solid profession to fall back on.

 

[PT2MD]

Ditto to the Buckeye...from an Orange Blood T-Sipper!

 

[dubpt]

I personally would not do it again.

I have my DPT and the debt that comes along with it. I realized once in the middle of PT school, while observing ortho surgeries, that I would prefer to practice medicine and be involved in surgical cases. I additionally do not enjoy dealing with all of the political battles that the PT profession is facing (direct access, POPTS clinics, continued declining reimbursement, and the move toward DPT education).

I am now 2 years into practice and have decided to attend PA school for the ability to practice medicine, although with supervision, and the opportunity to be involved in surgery and to perform various medical procedures.

If I realized this before PT school I would have went directly to medical school, but with my current life circumstances I decided to go the PA route vs. MD/DO at this time.

 

[blast7]

This is a difficult question to answer. I really enjoy what I do and my current job schedule. Also, in college the professors paint a very pretty picture of what your job will be like. In reality there are a lot more stressors. This includes shrinking reimbursement rates and rising productivity rates to create PT factories for patients. This is not a good move for the profession. I think most of all I am disappointed in my salary to debt ratio. Now that I have a wife, kid, and am looking for a home I am realizing that salary really was a lot more important than I thought. My back up plan was to be a PA but after working alongside PA's it looks to be much more stressful. The MD's do not treat them very kindly and it seems as though they always are trying to prove their worth. I would not want that kind of headache either. So I suppose in a perfect world I would continue my PT career but make twice as much.