NP or Pa?

pedspnp · Sep 28, 2008

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

Editorial Team / Admin · Sep 28, 2008

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.

core0 · Sep 28, 2008

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

core0 · Sep 28, 2008

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

westcoastgirl · Sep 29, 2008

it's not clear to me from your post if you have a Bachelor's in another field. If you do mayb do a fast-track RN program first, typically done in 18months, and then work as an RN. It will help pay the bills too.

That way after a year you are a more competitive candidate for either PA school OR NP school and probably will have had a lot more exposure to those positions in healthcare.

NaySway · Jan 15, 2009

Join the Army Reserves and attend their PA program. Once you have your 60 college credit hour prereq's it takes 24 months and after the first year you will be awarded a Bachelor's degree and once you finish your second year

internship you will graduate with a Master's Degree in Physician Assisting. In the reserves you must make a 6 to 8 year commitment. You can join the Army with NO PRIOR SERVICE up to age 40! If you decide to go Active Duty,

your military obligation in 2-3 years.

http://www.usarec.army.mil/armypa/

patrick1rn, MSN, RN, NP · Jan 15, 2009

Join the Army Reserves and attend their PA program. Once you have your 60 college credit hour prereq's it takes 24 months and after the first year you will be awarded a Bachelor's degree and once you finish your second year
internship you will graduate with a Master's Degree in Physician Assisting. In the reserves you must make a 6 to 8 year commitment. You can join the Army with NO PRIOR SERVICE up to age 40! If you decide to go Active Duty,
your military obligation in 2-3 years.
http://www.usarec.army.mil/armypa/

Easier said than done... Although it is a route to go. This person would have to enlist as a medic, probably deploy once for a year in Iraq or Stan , get some clinical and field experience as a medic under the belt and then apply to the Army PA program.

just_cause, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2009

...patrick - good point. Also be aware you have time constraints of when you can apply to the program... usually after fulfilling 3 year initial obligation - then program has an annual time line which you need to apply for... then you need to meet all pre-reqs and be selected, released by current branch. OR you could do pre-reqs as a civilian while working pt to get experience..then apply to a PA program and then apply to military and have them pay pack loans... or gain bonus... or go to work as a civilian.

...keep in mind the Army PA is much different animal then the typical PA.

NaySway · Jan 18, 2009

Yeah, I know. But, they are hurting so bad that now if you are already in the Army Reserves like I am, then you wouldn't have to be released from Reserves to Active Duty for your 3 year obligation as in the past. I would attend school in an ADT (Active Duty for Training) status and I would return back to Reserves soon as I graduated with an 8 year Reserve obligation with at least 3 being in a "drilling" status and the other 5 could be IRR. Course, in reality, I would probably have deployment orders waiting on me soon as or before I passed the exam!