Should you become a PA [physician assistant/associate] or MD/DO [physician, medical doctor]?

I was recently asked by a premed whether she should pursue PA school or medical school, so I was inspired to make a video about it!
PA = physician assistant/associate [there has been a recent push to change the name]. PA school is generally 24-27 months long and in order to practice medicine, PAs must take a certification exam [PANCE]. Course pre-requisites for PA school are similar to medical school, but the expectation for PA schools is ~2,000 of medical exposure/experience [which is much more than for medical school].
A couple of advantages/disadvantages:
Advantages
▸ Shorter time in school [there are also combined BS/MS programs so school is only 5 years instead of a total of 6]
▸ Overall cheaper tuition [especially since time in school is shorter]
▸ On the job training [no need for residency & this also means you start making money earlier]
▸ Ability to change specialties
▸ Great job market
▸ Always part of a team
Disadvantages
▸ Salaries may not align with other advanced practice providers [e.g. NPs]
▸ Income potential might be a bit lower; there's a plateau in salary
▸ Must work with physician
▸ Public/patient understanding of PA role can be limited
I go into much more detail about these pros/cons of the PA route versus physician in the video. I'd love to hear your thoughts/questions below in the comments!
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DISCLAIMER: I never record videos during active patient care. Opinions in my videos are mine and not representative of the organizations I am part of. Videos are meant for education and are not medical advice. Links included in this description may be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my channel!

[@marleneamaya1938]

Simply AMAZING!! I learned sooooo much in one 15 video than I've learned in my own research. You touched on points that I had not thought of. Thank you so much!!!!

[@waliahwyatt2659]

Great job describing the PA profession! Awesome video

[@AmandaSXiMD]

I appreciate that!

[@diamondgarcia]

I’m a PA student about to graduate in about a month and I think the video is very well said!

[@tonniatran5681]

Very good info👍

[@Dylan-jn3dq]

Also guys I believe there is this thing called locum tenens, where in addition to working in your regular workplace for like 40 hrs regularly every week you can work for a completely different practice in overtime which You increase your salary significantly by doing this and be able to work in multiple specialty at once. A great option if you are willing to hustle and put in the work. Especially as a PA you will have less responsibility than a doctor so it shouldn’t be that bad. Depending on the specialty and location you can be making easily over 220k+ doing this method.

[@arias7977]

Yes, but you will have to work well over 40 hours a week to make even close to 200k, doesn't seem worth it. Sacrificing your weekends

[@MHSMagicLuver]

Locum tenens basically would be a travel PA. This is different than just having a second job. Usually to get the money for locum jobs you have to have a residence (can be an apartment or something) but then get hired at a different place. Usually a different state but can possibly work even a different city. Usually these are 3 months at a time and you get paid a lot. You don’t get benefits I don’t think usually. Same thing as a travel nurse. As a PA you can Definitly work two completely different jobs for more money. No issue there. But won’t be locums unless it’s somewhere you aren’t living at. Locums is good if you don’t have a family so you can easily move different places for 3 months or so at a time. We had a locums DO come work at the practice I was at with my first Pa job. She left after those 3 months.. as did a lot of us left around the same time.

[@MHSMagicLuver]

Also you don’t always have less responsibility. At my first job I was seeing all my own patients with just as many patients as the physician. They have to sign off on our charts but I feel most of the time after they get used to you they will just sign off and not even read them. And that’s not needed in every state.

[@topplayer7580]

Thank you, Dr. Xi. You are helping me write my personal statement

[@AmandaSXiMD]

Thank you for watching and I'm glad to hear it! Good luck with the application process!

[@marybethsingh2953]

I thought about going to PA school but decided on NP school. Glad I did ,pay is significantly higher as an NP than PA especially at the mghbrigham. Although I recommend to nurses to consider CRNA school.

[@AmandaSXiMD]

Thanks for sharing! I agree that there are definitely additional opportunities for career growth as an NP and through the RN route (like becoming a CRNA), however, the process of becoming an RN also has its own challenges!

[@yohickey]

I'm a practicing PA and the flexibility can be concurrent. I work in emergency medicine and urgent care but plan to work part-time in ortho, family medicine, or the public health realm.

[@garrisonboehl258]

How is PA in emergency medicine? Whats your schedule like if you don't mind me asking?

[@littyyachty9456]

Hi Dr. Xi, appreciate the informative video. Any recommendations for PAs wanting to go to medical school? About to graduate PA school in a few months, and been having ongoing thoughts about going to medical school. Currently just 25 years old so I do have some time to think about pursuing more school. I know it's uncommon but wanted to hear your thoughts, thanks!

[@AmandaSXiMD]

Hi there! One of my current residents was a ES PA prior to medical school and one of my fellow anesthesiologists was also an ED PA! My colleague worked shifts while she was a medical student to help support her medical school costs. So it’s definitely a real path. And with a couple years of clinical experience as a PA, it’ll help with some of the medical school/residency learning. Feel free to email me and I can ask if my resident would be willing to chat with you about questions you might have! Good luck!!

[@a.i1594]

Hi Dr.Xi!! I’m a high school student still thinking about different career paths. I’m leaning toward PA/AA. I might change my mind later though, but thanks for your help!

[@AmandaSXiMD]

I'm glad that you're exploring various career paths and that you're open to the potential that you could change your mind. Check back here on the channel for more videos in the future on various medical pathways and good luck to you!

[@earthlingaves]

What would it look like being a PA and going into medical school? What is the typical route/steps to take?

[@AmandaSXiMD]

The nice thing about being a PA first before medical school is that many of the premedical requirements could potentially be met with PA coursework. This being said, I wouldn't recommend PA school as a path to medical school because it's an expensive degree to get and would delay your ultimate completion of medical training. I think that there are some individuals that are not satisfied with the scope of practice or limitations with practicing as a PA and may consider going to medical school as a result of this. Most of medical school is pretty busy so it'd be challenging to work a significant amount as a PA during medical school. Hope this helps!

[@firstlast5137]

One of the things I am struggling with on making my decision: if you are a pa interested in working in surgery, don’t you have to work the about the same hours as a MD? I only wonder about this since I’ve heard you have better work/life balance as a pa but it seems if you are in surgery you don’t have that option.

[@samanthacloutier2534]

I am a medical assistant in an outpatient orthopaedic surgery center. In my specific company, PAs are a 1st assist in surgeries when needed, which is more common with certain surgeons who do bigger cases. The rest of the time they work in our walk in care, doing the history & physical appointments for the surgeries, or doing post op appts. So they aren’t completely restricted to the surgeons schedule. But of course I am sure this works differently depending on type of surgery, if you work at a hospital vs a private company where I work, etc etc.

[@MHSMagicLuver]

Yep. First assist. Now it all depends. I had some interviews with a general surgery job and this is actually office only so like new patients, post ops, etc. and the hours are 8-4:30/5. In surgery it all depends. If you’re with only that physician then yea, most likely. If you’re OR only you would most likely be working with various physicians and have set schedules just like a first assist. When I was on my general surgery rotation I worked the same hours the physician did.

[@yewin3494]

I am graduated PA five year medical program in Burma (Kawthoolei), Our PA Earth Mission Asia medical program from US supporter but the training is like a MD.

[@NO1xANIMExFAN]

The PA program there takes 5 years?

[@MHSMagicLuver]

@@NO1xANIMExFANcould be like the 5 year path in the US which is basically undergrad + PA school in 5 years compared to 6-7 years.

[@anjus6602]

Do PA have to renew their licence every 4 years

[@MHSMagicLuver]

Every 2 years we have to have 100 hours of CME and pay our fees. Every 10 years we retake our board exams.

[@SarangiNepali]

Every 6 years

[@miriamcastellon4328]

Hi doctor! I am currently on the path to becoming a PA, I’m still working on my bachelors as health science major. However, I work at a pediatrics clinic and the doctor sort of hinted that I chose the wrong career and that Nurse practitioners s are better than PA’s so now I feel like I’ve made the wrong choice.

[@NO1xANIMExFAN]

NPs literally do the same job as PAs, and their education is less standardized... Pay is also comparable. that doctor clearly doesn't know what they're talking about.

[@MHSMagicLuver]

@@NO1xANIMExFANageee. I would not want to be a NP. I just feel like as you said their schooling is not up to par.