there are more females in PA schools across the country than males. medical schools are also about 50-50 now gender-wise.

Originally Posted by dorisemoore1

Thanks for the feedback. I was curious about a man's view. But I think I want to do the PA anyway. I talk to the Dr.'s at the hosp. I volunteer at and they say NP do have more independent but PA's is the closest thing to medical school than a NP course ( it just doesn't come close) They respect NP input but PA's have a different look on things b/c of the way they were taught.
I respect both professionals but I think PA is for me

thank again Tony

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I think it depends on where you do the schooling. I'm looking at a UW NP program that has many courses required through the medical school. It's heavy on the biology/science. But the school where I received my undergrad (UNC) is more nursing focused, rather than using a medical model. Schools vary.

Originally Posted by Tony35NYC

Dorise,

I'm not surprised that you would get that response from an MD. As I mentioned in my previous post, some physicians prefer to work with PAs because they know they can control everything the PA does, and they can't do that with NPs. Its also misleading for the doctors you're speaking with to suggest that PAs receive more technical training than NPs. PAs are no more qualified than NPs in any area of their practice. The reason PAs have a different perspective on patient care than NPs is because PAs are trained in the medical model of patient care while NPs are trained in the nursing model of patient care. For this reason, I'm inclined to believe that NPs are more wholistic in their practice because they tend to view patient care as much more than just diagnosis of disease and writing drug orders. In any case, both are good career options, and I wish you success in your future plans to become a PA.

Additionally, we learn much of the same material in nursing school (undergrad) that a PA focuses on at the master's level. I think nurses have a real advantage.

Originally Posted by dorisemoore1

I was just talking to a friend of mine's mom and I was telling her my plans. She works as a teacher at U of M in minneapolis and she told me with a BSN in nursing I could go to Medical school. Being doctor is still alive dream in me, and I'm only 20 years old. So how knows maybe after I get my BSN I will go ahead to Medical school.

Thanks everybody for your input
from the twin cities

of course you can! personally, that's what i would do if i were younger. in my nursing program, about 5% of the graduates returned to medical school.