Switch from premed to PA?

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vickyrawly

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I'm feeling really discouraged recently with my chances of passing the MCAT. I've already taken it twice, receiving a 18 the first time and 19 the second time. Obviously, both scores are way below what I need them to be and with a cGPA of 3.2 I need to be scoring above average.

I've worked at as an ED scribe for 1000+ hours and shadowed both doctors and PAs noticing little difference between the two. Most of the doctors encourage taking the PA path instead of medical school.

I've been studying on and off for my MCAT since Feb and I've already moved the date of my MCAT twice this year. Its currently scheduled for July 22nd, but again I feel like I won't be prepared by that date.

So, I'm starting to consider if being a PA would be a better option for me. I'm only 22 and I have plenty of time to study for medical school, but I'm not sure if I want to spend 7-8 years of my prime trying to be a doctor. I want to have a family and as a female I feel like medical school and children would be hard. Time and cost 200k+.

Should I cancel my MCAT and take the GRE for PA school? I feel like I would be happy as a PA, but I was hoping to get other options on the matter.


As someone who has done both I would recommend you exhaust all stateside options for entering medical school. You will regret it, believe me.


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As another person who has done PA school, now in med school, you will definitely regret your decision if you change now. Especially since being a physician was your initial goal. Its just very simple, you have to suck it up, postpone the MCAT and find a better way to study, even if you postpone your plans a year, its a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things. Especially if you go to PA school for years, and realize you want to go back. You're 22 so I doubt you'll truly take this advice, but again, suck it up and find a better study plan for MCAT, and go to med school.
 
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The future of all specialties with the exception of a few (radiology, pathology, surgical specialties) is PA/NP. I would save yourself the time, effort and money of medical school unless you specifically want one of those specialties I mentioned. The PA/NP is a shorter route, better lifestyle, less obstacles and similar pay. It's the smart thing to do and if (God forbid) my children wanted to work in medicine, what I would recommend to them.
 
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.
 
So I'm in the same boat as you right now. I'm 22, and am retaking my MCAT, and feel as if I don't have an intense drive towards the MD anymore. It's not 100% certain though, but I am still on the fence, nonetheless. What I would probably do is just weigh your options: Do you want to marry medicine? Is it your #1 most valuable potential asset? Or is it just a smaller part of your interests? Personally, I'm well-rounded in many things/talents and I feel that medicine will rip me apart from all the things I love doing. It'll turn me into a bland, monotonous, and robotic self-hating crybaby (basically what the MCAT is doing to my soul right now). I'm not melodramatic by any means, but I do know myself. Even though we're both young af females, we are still able to weigh in on what we care about most. If you honestly value the family life/relationships over medicine, then I'd say go PA (or at least shadow one) before drastically changing your plans. And for that July MCAT, I hope you aced it or changed that date to later. Or since it's like a year late, you probably already took it. But I hope you made up your decision at this point, and just go forward with no regrets! :)
 
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