NP or Pa?

Welcome to allnurses.com.

To see some differences/similarities of NP/PA, check out this thread about Differences (Educative/Clinical) between NP & PA

Good luck with your nursing career plans and we hope you enjoy allnurses.com.

I am trying to decide to go with the NP program or PA program. Is there a difference? I am 35 and always wanted a career in health care. I am finally able to go to school after caring for my ill father for many years. I am trying to find the fastest way to attain my degree since I am 35 and not getting any younger. I don't now if I should get my LVN,RN, then my NP or get into a 2 yr PA program at a private school that cost around 60,000. They will give you a AA degree for the PA program but its not transferable to a college. Any advice would be so great. Thanks

I'm somewhat confused about your reference to the PA programs. Assuming that the bay area refers to California, there are only two associates programs in California. Both of these offer transferrable credits and if I am not mistaken both of these offer graduate credit for a Masters (assuming you have a bachelors already). Knowing a little about these programs, I'll also tell you that these both require a minimum of one year of paid medical experience to apply. In reality you are going to need 3-5 years to be competitive.

For a short version on PAs:

http://www.aapa.org/geninfo1.html

You can also visit the PA forum for more discussions on PAs:

http://www.physicianassistantforum.com/forums/

For NPs:

http://www.npfinder.com/faq.pdf

The only direct comparison that I am aware of is this one (caveats it has several items specific to Wisconsin and was written by the WI PA academy - ie not without bias) it has several mistakes but is generally accurate:

http://www.wapa.org/pdfs/np-pa_chart.pdf

The issue that you have to deal with is right now entry into the medical or nursing field is difficult. Assuming you have the pre-requisites admission to PA school is less than 50%. If you don't have a bachelors and medical experience it becomes even more competitive.

For nursing the limiting factor is nursing school. It is very difficult to get into nursing school right now and some of the CA programs have waiting lists of more than 3 years. There are also direct entry NP programs, however employability as an NP has been discussed here.

Bottom line if you have a bachelors and pre-reqs then your choices are PA (although without medical experience you are limited to less than 90 of the 142 PA programs (realistically more like 60)), direct entry NP program or the more traditional RN (BSN) >> NP. LVN is not really part of the process unless you want to do LVN > RN (BSN) > NP. It would also be an accpetable method to gain medical experience for PA.

David Carpenter, PA-C

You will most likely need a bachlors degree before going to PA school. Until recently, PA programs awarded certificates and associate degrees in addition to master's and bachelor's degrees. Now the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) requires that all programs offer graduate level degrees. Be wary of schools whose credits will not transfer to a college. what school are you looking at that offers a AA in PA

There is no requirement to offer graduate degrees. ARC-PA states:

Institution Accreditation

A1.01 The sponsoring institution must

a) be accredited by a recognized regional or specialized and professional accrediting agency to award graduates of the PA program a baccalaureate or higher degree. 1

b) be authorized under applicable law to provide a program of post secondary education.

It also states:

The ARC-PA supports the sponsoring institution's prerogative in awarding credentials and degrees, and encourages sponsoring institutions to recognize the evolution of the profession as one that requires a graduate level of curricular intensity. Institutions that sponsor PA programs are also encouraged to incorporate this higher level of academic rigor into their programs and acknowledge it with an appropriate degree.

A little less than 10% of programs still offer certificate or associates degrees. Many of these programs are in rural/underserved areas. Most of them have arrangements to award a masters degree with another school.

David Carpenter, PA-C