| Should I be a doctor or physician assistant?

Should I be a doctor or physician assistant?

Steve asked:


I just turned 21 years old and I have not started my premedical prerequisites yet. I am currently attending my last year at a community college. I know I would be able to complete my prerequisites with good grades. Currently, I have a 4.0 average in all of my college work. I plan to transfer to UC Berkeley to obtain a degree in Legal Studies. Lately, I have been feeling that I will end up burning myself out if I go to medical school and that I may be 29 by the time I graduate. I don’t care about earning a lot of money, but I will need a god paying job because I live in Silicon Valley. I would rather pursue a medical degree, but I am just not sure about going to school until I am in my late 20s.

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Comments

7 Responses to “Should I be a doctor or physician assistant?”

  1. MELBA1220 on May 5th, 2009 5:11 am

    that’s a great question! I recommend following your heart. If you want to be a doctor, put the time in and do it. What do *you* want to do??? that’s what’s important.

  2. kayakyen on May 6th, 2009 5:39 am

    A doctor makes more $ and does less work.

    Do you really want to work more the rest of your life because you don’t want to invest work for only a difference of a few years?

  3. floripondiodiaz on May 9th, 2009 8:49 am

    It depends on how long you are willing to go to school for, how much money you want, and how much independence you want.

    Schooling is
    PA: 4 years of college + 27-30 months of PA school
    MD: 4 years of college + 4 years of medical school

    Salary is
    PA: 50K to 80K (depends)
    MD: 100K-500K for some very competitive fields

    Independence is
    PA: always work under supervision of a doctor
    MD: you make the decisions, you may work independently (private practice)

  4. mrsergio17 on May 9th, 2009 5:09 pm

    Here’s what I hear. You say you’re going to obtain a degree in legal studies but you’re asking us whether you should be in the medical field. You want to purse careers that take time to obtain a degree, but you don’t want to be in school during your precious late 20’s. You say you don’t care about money but you need it. Are you following this pattern? Before anyone can answer the original question you asked, I think you need to sort out some things out on your own. Good luck. They’re important decisions.

  5. renaissance man on May 11th, 2009 11:13 am

    Listen to Mr Sergio. He makes sense. Why get a law degree
    if you want to be in medicine? DUH!

  6. Wesley K on May 11th, 2009 11:51 am

    be honest with yourself and talk to people who are PA’s or doctors. I am a pharmaceutical sales rep and am friends with MANY doctors and MANY HATE their professions. Due to the healthcare system today, doctors must see more and more patients every day just to cover their expenses (if they are running their own practice). Then after all the work they do per day, there are tons of charts to go over after hours and tons of phone calls to make. Yes it is true they make more money than PA’s but if you base it on how many hours and how hard they work, some doctors say that if they could do it all over again they would NOT have picked being a doctor as a profession. Keep in mind this is mainly primary care doctors, if you get into specialty you enjoy your life much more, and are stressed out less. If you don’t believe me, talk to and ask the “succesfull” doctors in your area. Basically the more you work, the more patients you see, the more hours you put in, then the more $$$ you make, but it all comes at a cost of your personal time, sanity, and relationships. On the other hand PA’s I know enjoy the money they make, with less acountability and responsibility…. thats just my experience with it.

  7. cybergirl802000 on May 12th, 2009 4:12 pm

    I have seen that the more education and the more experience you have, you make alot of money (especially in the medical profession). So if you want a good paying job you will have to work hard for a while. I was currently pre-med but I have decided to go into the PA career. It is not as rigorous and long as a doctor. I feel that Im going to be happy with the salary Im going make and I’ll also have time to be with my family. Im only 20 years old. These are my priorities.

    I suggest you do what you enjoy and not what pays more. You may end up not liking your profession. I suggest you shadow a doctor and see how it goes from there!
    Also, its never to late to start your pre-med requisites!!

    Good luck!