BSN to PA?

allnurses Guide · Oct 22, 2015

I know many nurses who went to medical school. There isn't a bias against RNs (with a bachelor's) or BSNs in admissions.

Nurses actually do statistically worse in medical school than many other majors. I will have to find the citation for that as I can't remember where I saw the data.

FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN · Oct 23, 2015

I started this journey into the healthcare field at age 37 with a bachelor's degree in English/Philosophy. PA school was an option, and so were several nursing school options, ADN, ABSN, direct entry MSN. Either way I had about three semesters of prereqs to do, but not exactly the same ones. After my prereqs I could go into an ADN for 2 years or ABSN for 15 months and come out as an RN. Do an entry level msn program for 3 years and come out as MSN Or I could go to PA school for 2 years and come out as a PA.

I mulled it over quite a bit and took many things into consideration in making my decision. I eventually chose ABSN, work a bit, then get the NP if I still want it.

Now given that I, as an English major only with experience working in a mental health day program could become a PA about a year faster than an NP, and about the same amount of time as an RN, I really have to wonder about people who think the training for PAs is superior. Where are you getting this info? Your butt called and it wants it back.

Did you think I couldn't get into PA school? Wrong. The PA school is not more difficult to get into than the nursing school at my university. I had my pick as does anyone else with my GPA.

NPs and PAs are consistently thought of as being on the same level, and I don't really give a poppy about that, but the *fact* is that NPs have more responsibility, more training, more independence. NPs are responsible for themselves. But the supervising MD is responsible for everything the PA does. If your PA screws up, the physician gets sued. In this way PAs carry less responsibility than RNs. This could be a plus for you, and if it is, go for PA.

So, given that NPs have longer and better training and more clinical because all NPs go to nursing school first, why is it that PAs make slightly more money on average?

Plain and simple, the explanation is that nursing is still a female dominated field and women make an average of 79% of what males earn for the same work. Wage gap. That is all.

AuDDoc · Oct 23, 2015

Did you think I couldn't get into PA school? Wrong. The PA school is not more difficult to get into than the nursing school at my university. I had my pick as does anyone else with my GPA.
NPs and PAs are consistently thought of as being on the same level, and I don't really give a poppy about that, but the *fact* is that NPs have more responsibility, more training, more independence. NPs are responsible for themselves. But the supervising MD is responsible for everything the PA does. If your PA screws up, the physician gets sued. In this way PAs carry less responsibility than RNs. This could be a plus for you, and if it is, go for PA.
So, given that NPs have longer and better training and more clinical because all NPs go to nursing school first, why is it that PAs make slightly more money on average?
Plain and simple, the explanation is that nursing is still a female dominated field and women make an average of 79% of what males earn for the same work. Wage gap. That is all.

I would like to know the name of your university since I had a 3.7 overall GPA from undergraduate in pre-med and a 3.95 in Psych major and a 3.97 GPA in graduate school and with over 4k clinical clock hours I still had difficulties getting into PA programs when I was applying (applied to 3 of them).

I think the salary difference has less to do with wage gap (I know more female PA's than male PA's) and more to do with who is lobbying for each group. PA's are under physicians. The physicians have more clout so they can get higher salaries. Also most PA's do not function as just a general practitioner. Most specialize and most specialties pay more than general med.

allnurses Guide · Oct 23, 2015

I think the salary difference has less to do with wage gap (I know more female PA's than male PA's) and more to do with who is lobbying for each group. PA's are under physicians. The physicians have more clout so they can get higher salaries. Also most PA's do not function as just a general practitioner. Most specialize and most specialties pay more than general med.

What is your assumption based on?

A quick look at the national PA and NP salary survey data shows that the average salary is broken down as follows:

Female PAs: $99,914

Female NPs: $97,797

Male PAs: $116,575

Male NPs: $107,065

Average PA: $107,268

Average NP: $98,817

PA gender distribution: 58% female, 42% male

NP gender distribution: 90% female, 10% male

The PA's had an average of 2 years more experience in practice which may explain the salary difference between NPs and PAs within the gender.

I am not sure physicians are wasting their lobbying dollars on PA wages but I could be wrong.

AuDDoc · Oct 23, 2015

Are physicians lobbying for PA wages? No, but their wages are tied to physicians so when they lobby the PA's get to tag along.

One thing I noticed about nursing very early on was the state and national organizations can't seem to agree on much. Lots of confusion.

Like I said I think it has more to do with specialization in medicine than anything else. PA's specialize more so usually are paid more.

Look at ortho, ENT, derm, etc. and you see they usually have PA's as their mid levels. The places I usually see NP's in specialties are Psych and peds.

Farawyn · Oct 23, 2015

My old hospital is very NP friendly, as well as their private practices. PA, only within the last 2 or 3 years.

I wonder if that's because PAs make more money.

AuDDoc · Oct 23, 2015

My old hospital is very NP friendly, as well as their private practices. PA, only within the last 2 or 3 years.
I wonder if that's because PAs make more money.

I think it's really more the specialty and what the physicians want.

FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN · Oct 23, 2015

I would like to know the name of your university since I had a 3.7 overall GPA from undergraduate in pre-med and a 3.95 in Psych major and a 3.97 GPA in graduate school and with over 4k clinical clock hours I still had difficulties getting into PA programs when I was applying (applied to 3 of them).
Rutgers University--Camden campus. They also have a 2+3 program. You get an associates degree from county college (2 years) then do a 3 year PA program. Boom. You're a PA.

meganec17 · Oct 23, 2015

Just like med school you can major in anything including nursing provided you do the pre reqs.
I have quite a few friends who majored in history or political science and went to med/PA school.

Of course. I'm not sure if I didn't explain myself well enough. I went straight from high school to a bachelors program, so I went in as a freshmen as a nursing major.

After four years, I want to have a degree in the medical field, with patient contact. If I decide to go back to school, good - if not, I still have a job in the medical field after four years.

AuDDoc · Oct 23, 2015

I would like to know the name of your university since I had a 3.7 overall GPA from undergraduate in pre-med and a 3.95 in Psych major and a 3.97 GPA in graduate school and with over 4k clinical clock hours I still had difficulties getting into PA programs when I was applying (applied to 3 of them).
Rutgers University--Camden campus. They also have a 2+3 program. You get an associates degree from county college (2 years) then do a 3 year PA program. Boom. You're a PA.
Wow. I checked it out. Too bad that's far away from me and it's not about 5 years ago. All the programs in the Midwest are super competitive.