Physicians Assistant or MD?

[Anonymous]

I think it matters why she got the so so grades in college-just having a great time and once she started trying not a problem for med school but if she was trying hard keep in mind med school is much harder and having trouble keeping up wouldn’t stop her from getting a residency but would be pretty miserable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did your niece ASK for your advice????

OP. No she did not. I am just anticipating she may not become an MD. I will support her in whatever she does.

But really that's her dad's job.
He needs to be the one to support her in whatever she does or she will always feel like she let him down.

OP. Yes, he will do a better job supporting her if he has all the relevant information. He is “old school” but he’s practical (he’s footing all the tuition bills!) about education and the world of medicine.

I am torn between advising my niece to pull up GPA to a 4.0 going forward and devoting her life to the MCAT or seeing her lower her sights to a PA program or even a bridge to medical school like the Georgetown one. I’m getting a lot of good info. here. Thank you.

I'm really unclear on why you think this is your job. Back off and let her decide what she wants to do with her life. Did she directly ask you for advice or are you just being a busybody? If you're not in the medical field (and it sounds like you're not) then you should very definitely butt out and keep your profoundly ignorant opinions to yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.)

I hear this over and over again with real doctors. Glad you chimed in.

Me too. I recently asked an anesthesiologist married to a gyn surgeon if he would want his kids to be doctors and he said he would actively discourage them (not having anything to do with their ability) and encourage becoming a nurse practitioner instead, if they were really passionate about medicine.

[Anonymous]

PA route is great, less time, less effort, less debt, less stress but so is trade school. What matters is finding what makes you happy and pay your bill, not what impresses other people or fulfill parental expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did your niece ASK for your advice????

OP. No she did not. I am just anticipating she may not become an MD. I will support her in whatever she does.

But really that's her dad's job.
He needs to be the one to support her in whatever she does or she will always feel like she let him down.

OP. Yes, he will do a better job supporting her if he has all the relevant information. He is “old school” but he’s practical (he’s footing all the tuition bills!) about education and the world of medicine.

I am torn between advising my niece to pull up GPA to a 4.0 going forward and devoting her life to the MCAT or seeing her lower her sights to a PA program or even a bridge to medical school like the Georgetown one. I’m getting a lot of good info. here. Thank you.

Or maybe MYOB might be a good idea?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did your niece ASK for your advice????

OP. No she did not. I am just anticipating she may not become an MD. I will support her in whatever she does.

But really that's her dad's job.
He needs to be the one to support her in whatever she does or she will always feel like she let him down.

OP. Yes, he will do a better job supporting her if he has all the relevant information. He is “old school” but he’s practical (he’s footing all the tuition bills!) about education and the world of medicine.

I am torn between advising my niece to pull up GPA to a 4.0 going forward and devoting her life to the MCAT or seeing her lower her sights to a PA program or even a bridge to medical school like the Georgetown one. I’m getting a lot of good info. here. Thank you.

Or maybe MYOB might be a good idea?

OP again. Okay! End of discussion. Have an awesome day!

[Anonymous]

I am an anesthesiologist married to a neurologist. Our child thankfully has no interest in anything medically related but if he did we would both heavily discourage him from the MD path. Medicine in this country is a literal dumpster fire with a mostly miserable lifestyle. What about having her get a BSN and then become a CRNA? They make the bucks and have a great lifestyle and are in HIGH demand. Great mommy track job as well if she is so inclined.

[Anonymous]

We are a two physician couple and would strongly support our kids if they wanted to be physicians, as long as that is what they want to do. Sure, being a doctor has its challenges but what profession doesn’t? I’ve used my skill set to literally save lives while in public. Physicians can do well by doing good. The younger generation of physicians are (wisely) demanding a work life balance and getting it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did your niece ASK for your advice????

OP. No she did not. I am just anticipating she may not become an MD. I will support her in whatever she does.

But really that's her dad's job.
He needs to be the one to support her in whatever she does or she will always feel like she let him down.

OP. Yes, he will do a better job supporting her if he has all the relevant information. He is “old school” but he’s practical (he’s footing all the tuition bills!) about education and the world of medicine.

I am torn between advising my niece to pull up GPA to a 4.0 going forward and devoting her life to the MCAT or seeing her lower her sights to a PA program or even a bridge to medical school like the Georgetown one. I’m getting a lot of good info. here. Thank you.

I'm really unclear on why you think this is your job. Back off and let her decide what she wants to do with her life. Did she directly ask you for advice or are you just being a busybody? If you're not in the medical field (and it sounds like you're not) then you should very definitely butt out and keep your profoundly ignorant opinions to yourself.

+1
Be careful OP. I had an aunt like you when I was growing up and for a time I tried to convince myself that "she does this because she loves me" the end result of my relationship with her was not goog at all. You need to mind your own lane and stay out of other people's business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At some schools systems with their own medical schools, post baccalaureate or grad programs are actually guaranteed pathways to those medical schools.

Not the case any longer. For most you have to apply to the program when you apply to undergrad. You need a specific high school gpa and sat plus go through an extensive interview process. Then new to maintain an overall threshold gpa in the program, plus some had additional gpa requirements for pre-med classes. You undergrad is three years - so shave a year off of tuition, plus don’t have to take mcat.

All of the ones my niece looked into I our area she would have to apply in Nov of her senior year of high school.

[Anonymous]

I'm a physician and one of my kids wants to go into medicine I told her that it's a long road however I told her to get her bachelors in something that can be a career by itself like engineering. I definitely told her not to become a nurse practitioner physician assistant because today's nurse practitioners and physician assistants can major in English for 4 years then go to a two year PA or NP school and then do one year residency. so basically they will only have three years of medical training compared to physician who does 4 years of medical school and four years of residency I think society deserves better medical professionals treating them than somebody who has only had three years of any medical experience -yet they can make life and death decisions. Now NP/PA who are in their 50s/60s- that is a totally different story because most of these people worked as nurses for years so they have medical experience and then later went on to college together PA or NP. I'm very surprised that some MDs up here on this board think that their child would get sufficient education in 3 years of medical training. I personally would mandate being a nurse 5 years before you can go to PA/NP school-for patient safety.

[Anonymous]

PS I also told her that making a salary in the 100Ks(which is guaranteed for almost all engineers and Np/PAs) is a much better lifestyle to do that as an engineer than an NP or PA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re asking whether your adult niece (whom you didn’t raise) should change her course of study and career path when your niece has not asked for your input, guidance or advice?

Is that right?

OP. Actually I am expecting her college, with its high medical school placement record to gently guide her. Again, I will support whatever she does but I know there will be disappointment (mainly from her dad) if she’s not an MD. I think it’s naive to say otherwise. The comments about PAs here kind of reinforces that.

No, I had it right the first time. Your orig. post said (besides the obvious title): "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?"

You weren't expecting her college to guide her. YOU want to guide her despite her not asking for your input. That was the purpose of the post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it matters why she got the so so grades in college-just having a great time and once she started trying not a problem for med school but if she was trying hard keep in mind med school is much harder and having trouble keeping up wouldn’t stop her from getting a residency but would be pretty miserable.

A 3.5 is not a "so so grade." WTAF?

I realize that it may be insufficient for incredibly competitive fields like medicine. Fine. But it is not a so so gpa. Lord. It's cum laude for christ's sake. In a tough curriculum, to boot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re asking whether your adult niece (whom you didn’t raise) should change her course of study and career path when your niece has not asked for your input, guidance or advice?

Is that right?

OP. Actually I am expecting her college, with its high medical school placement record to gently guide her. Again, I will support whatever she does but I know there will be disappointment (mainly from her dad) if she’s not an MD. I think it’s naive to say otherwise. The comments about PAs here kind of reinforces that.

No, I had it right the first time. Your orig. post said (besides the obvious title): "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?"

You weren't expecting her college to guide her. YOU want to guide her despite her not asking for your input. That was the purpose of the post.

Who cares?