What do you mean when you say the future of all specialties is PA/NP? Just curious, as I feel like a lot of the specialties are wedded to having patients see physicians, who completed residencies and specialty training. Seems like the future would be more in line with PAs and NPs showing up more as typical primary care, (although I think it's critical to find a way to ensure family practice appeals to physicians).
OP, only you know if you have the academic ability to make the cut. When I was 22, becoming a provider seemed like it was a lifetime away, and getting somewhere 2 years sooner seemed like it was a big deal. It's hard to stay motivated to work hard when you look ahead and feel like you have a tremendous amount of boring studying to get in gear to go to medical school. I imagine that's the big burden you are feeling, and you want to get started with life. I really think a lot of people would be content to go the PA route and never look back, and you might be one of those folks. Obviously, the folks who have done both PA school, and then went on to medical school have a special drive that compels them onward, which isn't common to most people, and I commend them because that is hardcore, and the quality of such a provider is likely to be high. But, you might not have that kind of burning in your belly like they did. You may not have any regrets. By virtue of their pathway, they have self selected themselves as a cut above the rest by achieving both accomplishments. I'm not fueled the same way, and I don't feel bad about it. I can't separate the fact that if I had gone any other route than what I've done, there are some cool experiences that I would have never had. But there is no way you could know what's in store for you right now, just like I wouldn't have. And obviously, I have no idea what I missed out on by not becoming a dentist, or something along the lines of medical school/DO school/(cough)podiatry(cough) school.
For me, I'm out some income with my choices I guess. I didn't want to relocate for medical school and residency, and it's very likely I would have had to. I had lunch the other day with a physician who told me that they felt like they wasted their life and didn't do anything up to this point, and that they thought what I had was what that person wanted. This was very surprising to me as this physician had studied in, worked in, lived in, and traveled to some of the top draws in the United States and nearby. But of course, had this person missed out on that kind of jet set lifestyle, I wonder if they would have played the "what-if" game in reverse....
Anyway... Only you know what drives you. But like someone indicated... at 22, it's hard to not have blinders. Keep asking people their opinions, and dig deep. Ask for examples so you can see if their values and the things they appreciate are similar to yours. To be honest, my physician friend would probably still want things the way they ended up rather than my kind of life, and there was just one aspect they saw in my life that they liked.