Is the PA Path Right For You: How To Know
I bet you are expecting 3-4 nicely summarized points of action, wrap them with a bow, and give you the answer to life in this post. I wish I could do that, but I think it would be doing a disservice to you, someone who is TRULY trying to discern if becoming a Physician Assistant is right for them.
I’ve talked about how I finally decided to become a PA in this post. Please have a read, after this. It might make you feel less alone and confused in this process. Alas, here are some questions to consider. I will start with the fluffy yet important questions, and end with the boring but practical.
What do you like your role on a team to be?
The leader? Side kick? Planner? Visionary? Start thinking about what role on a team you prefer. I thought I liked to be the leader of the group (if you can believe it, I was my high school Student Body President!), but what I really discovered was I really like to play a specific role on the team that ~no one~ else can do, be respected for that role, be looked up to for my actions, and be a VITAL part of the team, that didn’t necessarily mean I had to be the actual LEADER. This took years of discernment and introspective thinking. But try to put in that work. A PA is a member of the medical team that works in collaboration with physicians and other medical professionals. Their role REALLY looks different based on the state, specialty, and individual practice. This is THE reason (I’m convinced) that people have such a hard time *knowing* what a PA is. It’s because their role can look so different. Try to shadow or study what a PAs role is in the specialty you like and the state you are living in.
What do you want your training to look like?
This is a relatively straightforward question. Do you like rigor and detailed in depth training in school and residency? Or, do you prefer a shorter course of rigor with training on the job? Shockingly, I have always been in camp one. I prefer extensive training in school. Guess what? I didn’t get that with the PA route. I knew that going into it, and knew it was a challenge that while not my favorite, would work fine for me in the long run. In fact, I think it was a challenge that I personally needed to grow not only as a provider, but as a person.
What do you want your job to look like?
What do you want your day-to-day to look like? This is where shadowing or phone conversations with providers REALLY sheds light on what the actual mundane daily tasks look like for a doctor vs a PA. While sometimes this question leads to, “They do kind of the same daily tasks,” I think it will still give you an idea of what your day-to-day will look like with each profession.
What do you want your long-term career to look like?
This is a fun (read not at all stressful!) question…NOT. But, dream a little. What do you want your career to look like? Heavy opportunities for research? Teaching? Precepting students? Want to start your own clinic? Run a non-profit? Do medical mission trips? Become clinic director? An attending? Surgery boss? What are you hoping to do? While not as readily seen, I believe a PA can do just about everything on the above list (with only a few exceptions). Find PAs who are emulating what you want to do. Find that it is possible, because I bet it is. For the longest time, I thought the PA route might limit me in some way, or cap me. As a relatively ambitious individual who really wants to do what I want to do when I want to do it in regards to my career, I grieved the idea of hitting a “ceiling”. I found that other than objective ceilings of your degree (you can’t be the surgeon in the OR, you must work with a supervising physician, etc) there aren’t really any ceilings when it comes to what you can do with your degree (i.e. opening a clinic, completing medical mission trips, being at the forefront of research).
Practical questions:
How much money would you like to make?
How much dept are you comfortable going into?
What does your own personal physical/mental health situation need?
How much schooling are you willing to complete?
Does that state you live in or needs of your community play a factor in any way?
Do you have the pre-requirements to get into PA school?
I hope you found these questions useful. Bookmark this page, jot down the answers, figure out a way to save some of these questions. I challenge you to take a deep dive into these questions. I am confident these questions will help you discover the path that truly is your best fit. Whether that is PA, MD, DO, NP, PT, or any of the other alphabet soup of medical professions, I am thrilled you are curious about the PA route and hope you find clarity in the coming weeks, months, and years.
