how do you decide which one to become? (a PA or a doctor)?

Question

so i am trying to decide which one to choose, but i cant figure it out. a PA has better hours and has less school, but its like being a resident your whole career. A doctor has alot more school and worse hours but at leaset your in charge. Is it worth the more school to become a doctor? am i forgetting some other variable? please help me

Answer 1

Firstly, doctors salaries are falling. For example, medicare is reducing physician reimbursements by 5% every year until 2012. Most people agree that in the forseeable future, there is going to be a sustained and continuous fall in physician salaries.

Doctors definitely are more "in charge," but that is changing as well. There are many ways in which doctors are monitored and forced to do certain things by Medicare, Medicaid, and insurance companies. And the current push is to try to change physician behavior through penalities and bonuses in their reimbursement (if you don't know what I'm talking about, read some about the current "Pay 4 Performance" initiative being undertaken by the goverment and most insurance companies.)

Medical school is tough and expensive. Residency is at times abusive, and you usually make less than minimum wage if your figure your hours worked. I think the outlook for doctors in this country is at best murky - yearly declines in reimbursements, yearly increases in costs, demands, and expectations, and the ever-present threat of law suits hovering over you.

Personally, I think a PA is a fine way to go as you have invested less time and an money in your training, make a good salary when you leave, will like be in high demand, and are less liable for things that happen.

Answer 2

You have to consider pay. Both make pretty good pay, but a doctor does get significantly more.

You also must consider your personal abilities. Are you the type that tends to take charge in emergency situations, or are you the one that takes direction and performs procedures (you do things that are routine best). A doctor decides treatment and acts on his own. A PA oftentimes works under supervision of the doctor.

PAs usually get more patient contact/interaction, if you like that type of thing.

Hmm.. what else? Doctors can open up there own practices, while PAs can't-I think.

PA school is only 2 years... Admissions is less selective.

Hope that helps...

Answer 3

I became a doctor; it is my third career. I am where I should be; I hate long hours, but I love the work, so there it is.
I do not like not being in charge.
If you are the type that likes less responsibility, be a PA. But if responsibility does not scare you, go for it.
Medical school was the worst and the best thing(s) that I have ever done. I made really good friends that I am anxious to see at conferences.
The money is very good, but I have less time to spend it, though my wife can always find someplace to put it.
Good luck to you.

Answer 4

The above points are good; however, PA programs are not necessarily any less selective than med schools because there are fewer positions for PA's ( a point that you should also consider when looking at the long haul- you will always need to be an employee vs. being self-employed as a doc). www.studentdoctor.net has forums with a lot of discussions of these issues...