Does PA for psychiatry, OB, or endocrinology make sense?

[Wolvereenie]

Hi everyone,

I am a junior in college and strongly leaning towards PA school for my post-college medical training. As a career, I have been interested in becoming a care provider in either psychiatry, OB, or endocrinology. Specifically, I would be interested in working as a PA in the psych unit of a hospital, working as a PA in an OB-GYN role (probably also in a hospital), or working as an endocrinology PA to help trans teens with hormone therapy, help intersex people with hormone therapy, etc. My interest in endocrinology is very focused on reproductive hormones and sex hormones.

Seeing as most of the PA's that I know go into emergency medicine or family medicine, I am wondering if the PA degree would make sense for the fields that I am interested in? Would these just be a matter of going through PA school and then getting a residency in psych, OB, endocrin? I know from a previous thread that there are not many psychiatric residencies right now. Like I said earlier, I am very interested in working in a hospital, and am okay with the idea of working under the supervision of a doctor. I just want to know if going into these fields would be possible for someone with a PA degree.

Thanks!

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[pamac]

Im sure there are opportunities out there, but you have to get a feel for what the market is like where you want to practice. In my immediate area, I have not run across PAs in OB, nor psyche, but I know they exist. I'm a believer that a PA bent on going into an NP dominated field (or vice versa) can thrive in just about any role of they can go out and make the case that they can perform. A psyche role in a certain area for a PA might not be as common as an NP, but it's rarely impossible across the board. If you have your heart set on a particular facility, you may get it broken, but there are PAs out there in OB and psyche, as well as NPs in surgery, so it can be done. I bet endocrinology isn't picky about whether a PA or NP is writing scripts. I think you might enjoy the freedom of an NP degree in an independent state if you want a very focused approach to something like what you mentioned about hormone provision, as with a PA you will be bound pretty close to what your supervising physician wants you to be doing. Of course, even as an NP you will be doing your employers bidding, but you have the ability to practice independent if you felt you wanted to for some reason. I'm not suggesting that, but saying that with that practice independence, you can have more freedom to mold your career the way you want to.

 

[Wolvereenie]

If I am not interested in independent practice, but am more interested in working in a hospital or a clinic, then do you think that this will be an issue?

 

[pamac]

I know you aren't. I was saying that as an NP, you could have a little freedom to dabble a bit, and use that to add to your palate of experience. So on to what you mentioned about working in a "hospital or clinic". Most likely, you'll find work primarily in a clinic setting for the areas you mentioned, except for when you might be doing rounds in a hospital. OB will put you in a hospital if you are assisting with a birth or surgery. I just see most of those things you mentioned spending most of their time in a clinic.

There are really a lot of different factors that play into what providers are hired in different locales. But I don't see inherent issues with you being able to accomplish what you hope to. There are psyche PAs, OB PA's, and endocrinology PA's. I can't tell you how easy it is to narrow down to a certain niche area of practice, because you are at the mercy of the scope of practice that your supervising physician grants you. You might have to shop around a lot to find an endocrinologist who transitions kids. You may have to share your passion with managing diabetics and folks with thyroid disorders.