Physicians Assistant or MD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And with a high MCAT score, a 3.5 absolutely will get her into medical school. Maybe not Harvard. But an MD program for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Um, there is no “residency” for PAs or NPs. They are 2 yr programs. That’s it. Then off to work and being a PIA to some physician who has to teach you to be competent for the first year or two. Even then, they are only good with normal things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Curious why you think engineers would have a "much better lifestyle" than NPs or PAs?? They're completely different things.

[Anonymous]

My radiation oncology PA (and my nurse practitioner) was awesome in their depth of knowledge and experience. Way better than less experienced/less specialized MDs. In today’s multi-faceted high tech world of medicine, labels don’t matter, cutting-edge knowledge and experience do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

I'm sure those English-major Physician Assistants could at least put together a coherent paragraph.

[Anonymous]

I’ve always felt that NPs have better training than PAs, bc NPs have to earn their RN first - it’s the prerequisite for NP school I believe. But correct me if wrong…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve always felt that NPs have better training than PAs, bc NPs have to earn their RN first - it’s the prerequisite for NP school I believe. But correct me if wrong…

I work with NPs from very top programs. All NPs get their RN degree as part of their NP training but never work or have any bedside experience as an RN. They aren’t even trained to draw bloods or put in an IV. They have no knowledge in pathophysiology and their education consists mainly of memorization of basic protocols. In some NP programs, the vast majority of their education is online with little to no clinical experience and they definitely don’t do a residency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve always felt that NPs have better training than PAs, bc NPs have to earn their RN first - it’s the prerequisite for NP school I believe. But correct me if wrong…

I work with NPs from very top programs. All NPs get their RN degree as part of their NP training but never work or have any bedside experience as an RN. They aren’t even trained to draw bloods or put in an IV. They have no knowledge in pathophysiology and their education consists mainly of memorization of basic protocols. In some NP programs, the vast majority of their education is online with little to no clinical experience and they definitely don’t do a residency.

I guess if you go into NP directly, but most of the NPs I know, including some family, worked as RNs before deciding to continue their education and going to be NPs. So saying "all NPs....never work or have any bedside experience as an RN" isn't correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I'm sure those English-major Physician Assistants could at least put together a coherent paragraph.

Weirdly enough, I never questioned any of my very competent doctors about their writing ability. Never occurred to me.
NP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve always felt that NPs have better training than PAs, bc NPs have to earn their RN first - it’s the prerequisite for NP school I believe. But correct me if wrong…

I work with NPs from very top programs. All NPs get their RN degree as part of their NP training but never work or have any bedside experience as an RN. They aren’t even trained to draw bloods or put in an IV. They have no knowledge in pathophysiology and their education consists mainly of memorization of basic protocols. In some NP programs, the vast majority of their education is online with little to no clinical experience and they definitely don’t do a residency.

I guess if you go into NP directly, but most of the NPs I know, including some family, worked as RNs before deciding to continue their education and going to be NPs. So saying "all NPs....never work or have any bedside experience as an RN" isn't correct.

In the past, many NPs worked as RNs for years before getting their NPs but with the new generation of NPs that is really no longer the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve always felt that NPs have better training than PAs, bc NPs have to earn their RN first - it’s the prerequisite for NP school I believe. But correct me if wrong…

I work with NPs from very top programs. All NPs get their RN degree as part of their NP training but never work or have any bedside experience as an RN. They aren’t even trained to draw bloods or put in an IV. They have no knowledge in pathophysiology and their education consists mainly of memorization of basic protocols. In some NP programs, the vast majority of their education is online with little to no clinical experience and they definitely don’t do a residency.

What are you talking about? The vast majority of NPs worked as RNs for years before entering NP school, majority having a BSN. Nursing school alone gives clinical experience for 3 out of the 4 years. In fact, most NP programs require you to be at least an RN and with experience. There are a few programs where you can go from an unrelated bachelors degree onto a MSN-NP, with zero prior clinical experience, but that is not the typical pathway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

FWIW some of my providers are PAs and I have gotten better care from them than from my actual doctors. A PA figured out what was causing my migraines and how to stop them. That's just one example. I love PAs and respect the heck out of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve always felt that NPs have better training than PAs, bc NPs have to earn their RN first - it’s the prerequisite for NP school I believe. But correct me if wrong…

I work with NPs from very top programs. All NPs get their RN degree as part of their NP training but never work or have any bedside experience as an RN. They aren’t even trained to draw bloods or put in an IV. They have no knowledge in pathophysiology and their education consists mainly of memorization of basic protocols. In some NP programs, the vast majority of their education is online with little to no clinical experience and they definitely don’t do a residency.

What are you talking about? The vast majority of NPs worked as RNs for years before entering NP school, majority having a BSN. Nursing school alone gives clinical experience for 3 out of the 4 years. In fact, most NP programs require you to be at least an RN and with experience. There are a few programs where you can go from an unrelated bachelors degree onto a MSN-NP, with zero prior clinical experience, but that is not the typical pathway.

Not the case for program at Columbia University, not to mention the online programs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I'm sure those English-major Physician Assistants could at least put together a coherent paragraph.

I use talk to text.
I stand corrected--PA/NPs do NOT have to do a 1year residency. They can go and treat you right away.