Physician assistant why not doctor

If you're already in med school, the undergraduate degree you earned to get there means you can apply for the physician assistant program right away. Becoming a PA is very rewarding Some individuals find that the work environment of a physician assistant is more suited to their personality.

While doctors and physician assistants perform many of the same duties, PAs have a greater focus on patient care. They don't need to worry about budgets and bureaucracy, so a greater percentage of their time is taken up by the work that drew them to medicine in the first place.

Physician assistants also feel like part of a team. Doctors are leaders, who often find themselves running a department or a practice. This extra responsibility naturally separates doctors from their co-workers. PAs get paid well Physician assistant salaries might not be on par with doctors, but they are still fairly compensated. PAs have flexible careers Doctors train hard to get the skills they need to work in the specialty of their choice.

But once they're there, they're pretty locked in. An orthopaedic surgeon who decides he'd rather work in pediatrics will need to spend several years receiving additional education before making the switch. However, once you obtain your physician assistant license, you have the qualifications you need to work in any medical specialty you like.

That means you can transition from obstetrics to oncology without heading back to the classroom. PAs work shorter, more regular hours It can be tough juggling a personal life with the demands of being a doctor.

These professionals often spend time analyzing a practice's revenue and expenditure once patients have gone home, and they're required to be on call after hours. PAs keep more regular schedules. They can work their required shifts and clock out without having too much spill over to their off-duty hours. PAs have excellent job prospects We all know that doctors are always in demand, but PAs rarely struggle to find work either.

In fact, many clinics where surgeries are not performed prefer to hire physician's assistants to save cash. Busy physicians are often on the lookout for skilled physician's assistants to attend to their noncritical cases. The future also looks bright for physician assistants as this occupation is projected to grow 37 percent from to , much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the BLS. Review our list of the highest paid doctors to get an idea of how much doctors make in the US and Canada.

With the higher salaries of MDs come the costs of owning and operating a practice, as well — costs that PAs need not cover, as they do not run their own practices.

PAs are also in high demand, as they can tend to less critical though often more frequent cases, freeing up physicians to handle surgeries and more specialized or complex procedures for which one needs the MD degree.

Some PAs do work autonomously, conferring with physicians in more complex cases; others work directly alongside physicians at all times. MDs often run their own practices, and thus also control their own businesses, which has both benefits and drawbacks.

As noted above, what PAs lack in autonomy, they make up for in a bit more control over their own schedules and considerably more flexibility in their specializations.

As MDs treat more complex cases, perform surgeries, and take on less-common illnesses and injuries, they are more frequently required to be on-call. But physicians are more likely to take on the kinds of hospital positions that require on-call and shift work. PAs certainly can choose positions that include things like being on-call or having overnight shifts, but they often have more choice in the contracts they accept.

Check out this video summary of the information you've learned here:. As medicine begins moving more consciously away from a top-down hierarchical model to an intentionally collaborative, team-based approach to healthcare, new dynamics are emerging to ideally ensure each patient gets the kind of attention and treatment they need, with various, overlapping professionals providing a web of care, rather than a singular life-line. While, historically, the physician-at-the-top model has been the norm, the growing understanding of patients as diverse, complex, and requires individualized care necessitates a multiplicity of approaches to assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and management.

MDs, PAs, nurses, nurse practitioners and a wealth of other healthcare providers, from highly specialized surgeons to dietitians to medical social workers, all form the larger collaborative framework of patient care that drives early 21st-century medical practice.

Both paths — the PA and the MD — bring with them a heavy burden of responsibility, work, and stress, but also rewards that often far surpass the toll of either profession. If you are willing to exchange reduced autonomy for less time and money spent on education and more flexibility in terms of your long-term career trajectory, then you may want to consider the PA path.

Both are valuable, interconnected-yet-distinct, components of the wider healthcare team. As you are deciding on your path, check out common PA school interview questions and medical school interview questions.

You will find that the two are closely connected. There is a lot of overlap between PA vs MD duties. PAs directly participate in patient care under the supervision of MDs. They take patient histories, examine and diagnose patients, develop treatment plans, and perform many of the same tasks as MDs.

However, generally, PAs do not take on some of the more complex medical cases and tasks, and in some states, they cannot prescribe medication. PAs typically spend less time and money on school and can switch specializations more easily than MDs. Most PAs begin practicing after 2 or 3 years of education and enjoy comfortable starting salaries. PAs are overseen by MDs. In this way, they have less independence. They often perform comparable tasks and work long hours at lower wages than MDs. Additionally, the PA profession is fairly new, so the laws around their practice vary widely state to state.

If you are looking to apply to PA programs, you must have an undergraduate degree, science prerequisites, and all the necessary experiences. Similar to applicants to MD programs, PAs must have strong academic background to be able to take on the rigors of PA education.

MD programs generally require less clinical experience of applicants. You should have around hours of hands-on patient care experience. You can gain these hours through paid work or volunteering. Many applicants to PA programs are former nurses, paramedics, medical assistants, etc. Typically, PA programs are 2 to 3 years in length.

Remember, the cost of PA programs in the US will depend on your residency status. PA generally work in primary care; however, they can specialize. Since PA tends to be more of a hands-on profession, specialization usually means training on-the-go, rather than getting additional certification after general PA training. This is where PAs typically voice a greater satisfaction than MDs. Most PAs have consistent work schedules.

It takes four years to obtain an undergraduate degree from medical school , another two years to obtain a medical degree or MD and then three to seven additional years of residency training before you can obtain a license to practice medicine or surgery. Doctors are board-certified on the national level and must obtain a state license where they practice. While becoming a physician assistant is no mean feat, it requires fewer years of schooling than a fully-fledged doctor.

PA qualifications vary slightly from one state to another but obtaining a license to practice usually requires a four-year degree and completion of an accredited physician assistant program , which is generally a month course. To obtain a PA license you will also have to have successfully completed a one-year clinical rotation where you will gain hands-on medical experience. As a practicing PA, you will be required to complete ongoing continued education classes and you will be subjected to regular re-testing of your medical expertise.

Both the doctor as well as the PA, share patient care responsibility. The main duties of a PA overlap with that of a doctor across several aspects; except for a few major procedures such as surgery.

Physician assistants may assist doctors in surgical procedures but they themselves are not licensed to perform surgery. Other than that, the major difference in job functions between a doctor and a physician assistant is that a doctor works autonomously whereas a PA always works in conjunction with a doctor.