PA/NP to MD Bridge??

[Joebird21]

Does anybody think that there will ever be a bridge program like that? I think it would be a great idea. Anybody else?

[Jstand]

The medical model is a strong basis on basic sciences (pharm, path, phys etc) with tens of thousands of hours of clinical training where you work admitting and working up patients.

Tens of thousands? Give me a break man. Sounds like you "fluffing" a little yourself there buddy. I would be careful saying something like that if I were you. Your buddies might ask you to prove that.

[dgenthusiast]

Tens of thousands? Give me a break man. Sounds like you "fluffing" a little yourself there buddy. I would be careful saying something like that if I were you. Your buddies might ask you to prove that.

It's pretty simple math actually. Med students, during clinical years, are expected to work the same hours as the residents. Even if we counted only 75 hrs/week for med students (to keep below the 80 hr avg limit), 75 hrs/week x 49 weeks (there's usually a couple of weeks of break, but not much) = 3675 hrs during third year alone. Fourth year, hours are pretty similar (especially with sub-I's, aways, etc), but there's more vacation time (around 8 weeks if you look around at various curricula). Once again, 75 hrs/week x 40 weeks (accounting for maybe a research elective taken) = approx. 3000 hrs. So, a med school graduate, without even going through residency has around 6000 hours of clinical training, if not more.

Then, we get to residency, where even though there's an 80 hr/week avg restriction, residents often go over this limit. However, let's assume 80 hrs/week for easy calculations. 80 hrs/week x 49 weeks/year x 3 years = 11760 hours of clinical training, if not more. So, 11760 hrs + 6675 hrs (from med school) = 18510 hours of clinical training. Here's the same info presented in a more organized way:

M3: 75 hrs/week x 49 weeks = 3675 hours

M4: 75 hrs/week x 40 weeks = 3000 hours

Residency: 80 hrs/week x 49 weeks/year x 3 years = 11760 hours

M3 + M4 + Residency = 3675 + 3000 + 11760 = 18510 hours of clinical training.

That's just for the 4 years of med school + a 3 year residency and it's assuming that no one ever goes above the work hour restrictions (and we know residents go over the limit very often). Add on several thousands of hours of clinical training when longer residencies and/or fellowships (which are pretty common these days) are undertaken. You can easily see physicians approaching/exceeding 25000 clinical hours of training before practicing independently. So, wowza was pretty accurate in his statement. No fluffing up there. Hope this clears things up for you.

[BS, NP]

Perhaps I did fly off of the handle a bit. My bad. Nonetheless, everything in my post was correct.

It's cool....sorry if I sounded like a jerk myself...

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

Well, another one shot in the foot.

This thread is so far off-topic that it will take a little bit to re-right it.

Closed for a while.........