Thursday, July 2, 2009
It was worth a try...
lol! "June 30th, 2009 marks the day Irene decided to go for an MD!!" and then I said, "June 30th marks the day Irene was wrong and she still wants to become a PA" It was an exciting day. After finding out that I'll probably need to take another year of science classes before entering a PA program, I was bumbed out. I informed Dr. M, and he said, "no! You might as well go for your MD, Irene!" He pointed me to all the right people, schools and their websites, but then I found out that I'd have to stay in school for another year anyway. I think I'll love my job any way it goes, because I know I'm working darn hard for it.
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Hi Irene,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Lucy, and I have been thinking about PA school. I was wondering how you came to the decision to become a PA rather than an MD?
Thanks so much :)
Hey Lucy!
DeleteGlad you're considering going the PA route as well! After being a PA for 3.5 years, I still don't regret becoming a PA rather than an MD. But, I really feel it's because of the priorities that I've set myself.
I knew that I didn't want to go through school for that long. PA school is 2.5 years versus 4 years for medical school + at least 3 years of residency.
I wasn't too keen on taking a course to prepare for the MCAT. I had rather just study for the GRE for a couple of weeks on my own at the library.
PAs have the flexibility to work in different fields unlike MDs. For example, currently I work two part time jobs. One in Pediatrics and one in Asthma and Allergy. I love both jobs and I love the idea of doing both in a week because it keeps my mind stimulated and I don't feel like I'm doing one job over and over again. As an MD, if you're trained through residency and fellowship to do Asthma and Allergy, you're limited to just that. If you've only gone through Pediatrics residency, you're restricted to children.
To me, I don't bring home stress from my jobs and I attribute a lot of that to the face that I'm just a PA. Yes, I don't necessarily have the salary or respect as an MD does, but that doesn't matter to me. If it does to you, you should look into becoming an MD. If you're like me and would be happy treating patients at the clinic or hospital and then come home to your family with time to make dinner, clean and spend time with your family, then I would encourage you to continue considering becoming a PA.
I hope this helps! Good luck!