Becoming a PA, is it worth it?

[Devildoc]

As a lowly nurse, some subspecialties are more deployable than others. Critical care nurses, ED nurses, enroute care nurses. I did more deployments as a nurse than as a FMF corpsman. I imagine with physicians it's the same way.

[notdeadyet]

Originally Posted by ussfpa

Physicians owe 2 years for every year of school. Say you do your own undergrad (Pre-med)...$100K, then you have to be accepted into med school. Once accepted, they put you through 4 years of med school (you now owe EIGHT) and whatever your residency roulette gets you (3-8 years) - one for one for residency so another 3-8. SO on the hook for 11-16 as a Dr.

Not quite.

The main scholarship for physicians for the Army is HPSP, which is the one the OP's daughter would likely be looking at. This is a 1 for 1 obligation (one year of service for every year of scholarship). She would get free tuition, books, and a living stipend of about $2200/month. She would owe four years of active military service.

But...

She would also need to do a residency of 3-7 years (vast majority are 3-4 years). These are typically done as a full-time O-3 military resident (drawing full O-3 salary). Better pay than you get as a civilian resident. But your payback clock is not yet ticking. You also accrue obligation on a 1:1 for every year you take of residency.

Then...

Once you finish residency, you enter payback. Your payback obligation is your med school obligation (4 years) OR your residency obligation (3-7 years), whichever is longer (you actually pay back both, but they are paid concurrently).

Not a bad gig. Whether it's financially a smart move depends a lot on which specialty you go into. For the more lucrative ones, you'd be better off paying back the loans yourself given the difference in pay between military and civilian. There's also the issue of being required to do a military residency. They aren't bad, but aren't on par with civilian offerings at better programs.

[notdeadyet]

Last piece, OP- NP, CRNA, PA, or MD/DO: None require a BA in biology or chemistry. All require good grades and basic pre-requisites. I advise undergrads and tell all the pre-health folks that your choice of major is FAR less important than how well you do in your classes. So just make sure she works hard at whatever her passion is and as long as she does the prereqs, she'll have the possibility of going down any of these career paths. All are good, all have drawbacks for the reasons mentioned above.

[Devildoc]

Originally Posted by notdeadyet

Last piece, OP- NP, CRNA, PA, or MD/DO: None require a BA in biology or chemistry. All require good grades and basic pre-requisites. I advise undergrads and tell all the pre-health folks that your choice of major is FAR less important than how well you do in your classes. So just make sure she works hard at whatever her passion is and as long as she does the prereqs, she'll have the possibility of going down any of these career paths. All are good, all have drawbacks for the reasons mentioned above.

NP and CRNA require BSN. There are some weird programs that are RN (2 year ADN)-DNP but they are few and far between.

[justamedic]

PA schools also require a bachelors degree. Hard sciences preferred, but every program will have its own requirements.

Another option is to just pay for school yourself or through federal loans or private loans. The income from said professions will be enough to pay back whatever debt you have in time. It’s just a matter of how much debt to want to accrue (ex MD>PA).
THEN join the military (active/reserve/guard) if that is where your heart is or wants to be. Depending on the current needs when you apply, you could get some pretty sweet deals and have your pick of the lot.

[Expatmedic]

Further, a degree in sciences is a marketable degree to be used in Forensics, Chemist, Pharmacist. Far better than a liberal arts, English etc degree.

A plan must be there if she decides she does not like health care.

[litepath]

Originally Posted by Expatmedic

Further, a degree in sciences is a marketable degree to be used in Forensics, Chemist, Pharmacist. Far better than a liberal arts, English etc degree.

A plan must be there if she decides she does not like health care.

This like a Mofo!

Originally Posted by leopardprey

So my 17 year old neice now is seriously talking about becoming a PA. Her motivation: very high salary and less time in school than being an MD or Vet she had talked about.

I question that (Bold) as motivation. Hopefully just an oversight on your part about what her initial motivations were.

I remember when I chose to go to nursing school. I was chuffed when I found out they made decent money. Money was the last thing on my mind.

Further. Don't discount Nursing should she choose it.

When my wife quit travelling last year her thru-the-door-buy-beans-with-it-money was $7k per Month & less than half was taxable. Which ain't slouchy for an ADN, aka 2 year degree.

[ussfpa]

Originally Posted by notdeadyet

Your post...

My information is clearly dated from before I retired. My apologies to the OP and the others I may have provided information to that is not up to day and therefore incorrect and inappropriate.

Thank you for the clarification and correction.

[Jong]

Originally Posted by Devildoc

NP and CRNA require BSN. There are some weird programs that are RN (2 year ADN)-DNP but they are few and far between.

I might be wrong but I think he is referring to the Army programs for NP and CRNA.

[Devildoc]

Originally Posted by Jong

I might be wrong but I think he is referring to the Army programs for NP and CRNA.

Then they absolutely require a BSN.

[CAVmedic]

I know of at least one associates RN-NP school. I'm pretty sure there's a few more around Ohio.

This would benefit anybody that just wanted to get working and earing a paycheck while finishing grad school part time.

http://www.otterbein.edu/graduate-sc...p-adn-msn.aspx

[Devildoc]

Originally Posted by CAVmedic

I know of at least one associates RN-NP school. I'm pretty sure there's a few more around Ohio.

This would benefit anybody that just wanted to get working and earing a paycheck while finishing grad school part time.

http://www.otterbein.edu/graduate-sc...p-adn-msn.aspx

Those are awesome programs, that were not around when I went through nursing school. Part of the challenge is, some facilities won't hire NPs unless they have the DNP (stupid-ass, useless degree). Most private practices or groups will hire MSN-prepared NPs. But yeah, RN-to-MSN (NP) is great.

[DvlDoc8404]

Originally Posted by notdeadyet

I went through the same decision process and opted the MD route. Not the best choice for everyone.

The PA route is BA/BS + 1.5-2 years master's --> work. You can do further advanced specializing, but don't need to.

The MD route is BA/BS + 4 years medical school + 3-7 years residency. You come out with typically over double the debt that you'd incur for a PA program (~$200-300K). The 3-7 years residency are technically for pay, but you're earning $45-60K/year. Sounds like a good bit of money, but often times you are working 80 hours per week (literally) and you are pretty much an indentured servant.

Advantage of PA > MD is lower debt and a bit benefit that you can work in any field. If you get tired of working as a PA in a family clinic, you can go work in a neurology clinic. You can work pretty independently in many fields, but are very restricted or excluded from others (PAs function as PCPs all the time, work in Derm offices but the Dermatologist is going to be point on many cases, and you will not be doing neurosurgery).

Advantage of MD > PA is higher pay and you will be head of care teams. Complete independence. Big downside is that you are restricted to the specialty you spent 3-7 years of residency in. If you want to switch, you start over.

Those are EXACTLY the reasons I chose PA over MD. Not as much money, but some of the lifestyle trade offs and career flexibility were more important. Besides, you can certainly support a family on a PA salary lol.