Physicians Assistant or MD?
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Anonymous
| Niece is a junior at a top-20 SLAC on a pre-med track. She had a rough start and her GPA is 3.5 overall, biology major. Her father is a Harvard educated doctor and they always talk of her following in his footsteps. I don’t think her GPA is competitive and she may do better trying for a PA program. Anyone in similar situation? Is 3.5 too low for respectable MD programs? |
Anonymous
| dental or optometry school |
Anonymous
| OP again. Would her college try to sway her to not apply to med school, to help their med school admit success rate? Maybe counsel out of applying to med school? |
Anonymous
|
She does not want to do a PA program.
She needs to get an A in every class from here on out, prepare to do as well as possible on the MCAT, and then if she does not get in to med school, she should do an A&P grad program like this one, and then apply again. https://smp.georgetown.edu/ I work at Georgetown's med school, and each class has many grads from that program. She can also look into applying to some Carribean med schools. It is true that folks who attend school there don't have the easiest time matching and don't get the respect of their peers who attend med school in the US -- but they get a hell of a lot more respect than PAs do. PA programs aren't really something to just go into anyway, they are really for people who have worked in the medical field and want the responsibility and respect and pay they deserve but won't get with out the PA degree. |
Anonymous
| She could also get into DO schools, like the one in Philly. You are still a doctor, won't get into the very highest paying specialties, but I know a DO who does very well for himself. |
Anonymous
|
She can the MCAT and see. A top score can up your odds of admission tremendously. Ultimately it’s more what she wants to do with her career. PA is very different than MD. I struggle with jealously for the PA lifestyle sometimes but ultimately it’s nice to be an MD be the ultimate decision maker (plus feel well trained)
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Anonymous
| She needs to crush the MCAT. |
Anonymous
It's possible, but I highly doubt it. If she has an advisor trying to talk her out of applying to med school they are probably just trying to get her to be realistic based on her stats. Either way, it doesn't really matter. Like I said at 17:06 above, she needs to get it together with her grades and MCAT, and accept that she may need to do a master's program and that she may need to apply to Caribbean med schools. DO programs are an option as well -- they are a smidge less selective, but only a smidge. |
Anonymous
OP. I don’t think she’s a great test taker. 1420 SAT. She did get her EMT credential to help her application. |
Anonymous
The EMT license won't be enough to help much, if at all. If she isn't a good test taker and you suspect she won't do well on the MCAT, she's going to have trouble. Here is a chart that tells some of the story: https://www.aamc.org/media/6091/download |
Anonymous
| I’m a physician and if my daughter were in this position I’d advise her to go to PA school (provided she were on board, of course.) |
Anonymous
| NP - my daughter at top 10 SLAC and was in same boat as a sophomore pulling B's in two biology classes. She was quite despondent but pulled up her grades after that in all the remaining premed requirements. She is now a senior and did well enough that she will be going on to an allopathic med school without gap year. So, basically its doable. 3.5 not too shabby but she should try to pull it up to at least 3.6. |
Anonymous
This sounds encouraging to me. May I ask how well she did on the MCAT? |
Anonymous
I hear this over and over again with real doctors. Glad you chimed in. |
Anonymous
| As a physician who has taught NPs, I think being a PA/NP is a perfectly fine profession as long as you accept that there are some limits to your authority and what you can do. Just the fact that PAs are fighting to change their name from physician assistant to physician associate says a lot |