Personally, I would not recommend to any young kid coming out of high school, with aspirations of working in the medical field, to become a physician assistant. That is just my opinion, if you are young, have the proper grades, score well on the MCAT, and can tolerate eight years of school, then a 3-6 year residency, I would recommend medical school. However, with the cost of school these days, medical school for those eligible, but without the financing, is just a pipe dream. Scholarship money, and grants may take those a long way if they can get into medical school, but just an undergraduate degree in today's world costs well over 25,000 dollars. It is a burden on the pocket book and certainly we need to do more to allow education to reach individuals who may, through no fault of their own, be without the monetary means to pay for school.
I, as a young enlisted man in the Army, had worked with a couple PAs, and heard about PA school, but as a medic, and with little college under my belt, was not interested in my early 20's to pursue any higher educational goals. It wasn't until I was married, had children, and realized I could do much more with my life, that I began to look at options.
In the beginning, in my late 20's I was considering both medical and PA school, wasn't sure which it would be, but knew if I could get into medical school the road would be much longer and painful than PA school. That was part of the decision making process, simply, I was getting older, had to finish undergrad, and then start medical school? No thanks. I deployed to Iraq with my National Guard unit and while there I began to weigh my options, which included not furthering my education at all. The decision came while deployed, it is detailed in my book - Combat Support "The True Burden Of Sacrifice" - unfortunately I did not realize what a stress it would be returning from a combat zone deployment to the role of a student, it was difficult, again, detailed in my book.
I will further compare and contrast medical doctors and physician assistants along with other medical providers. All have their benefits, and some drawbacks. But eventually I will lead to the present day and discuss my current job, that of a Neurosurgical Physician Assistant. The most difficult job to maintain as a PA. But of course, I may be biased. Stay tuned, this will be fun.
Also check my Author/Soldier blog here.
I, as a young enlisted man in the Army, had worked with a couple PAs, and heard about PA school, but as a medic, and with little college under my belt, was not interested in my early 20's to pursue any higher educational goals. It wasn't until I was married, had children, and realized I could do much more with my life, that I began to look at options.
In the beginning, in my late 20's I was considering both medical and PA school, wasn't sure which it would be, but knew if I could get into medical school the road would be much longer and painful than PA school. That was part of the decision making process, simply, I was getting older, had to finish undergrad, and then start medical school? No thanks. I deployed to Iraq with my National Guard unit and while there I began to weigh my options, which included not furthering my education at all. The decision came while deployed, it is detailed in my book - Combat Support "The True Burden Of Sacrifice" - unfortunately I did not realize what a stress it would be returning from a combat zone deployment to the role of a student, it was difficult, again, detailed in my book.
I will further compare and contrast medical doctors and physician assistants along with other medical providers. All have their benefits, and some drawbacks. But eventually I will lead to the present day and discuss my current job, that of a Neurosurgical Physician Assistant. The most difficult job to maintain as a PA. But of course, I may be biased. Stay tuned, this will be fun.
Also check my Author/Soldier blog here.
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