Broke my hand a couple days ago so I had to go get it re aligned and casted today, was talking to the doctor, I told hm i wanted to go into nursing. He said its a great idea but to also look into becoming a Physician Assistant ( PA).
I dont know much about them, but he said its very similar to what he was doing. It looks like fun!
I very seriously considered PA and decided to go the RN route with plans to do some kind of NP/CRNA/etc. The prereq's for PA were the same as med school so I had to factor in at least another year of school, plus 3 yrs of PA school. Instead I could do an ABSN and be done in 11 months...then start working (hopefully!), get a couple of years experience and know more of what direction I want to go in...then get the advanced degree. I decided if I was going to do PA then I'd just go ahead and do MD. Plus advanced practice nurses tend to be used more in the areas I'm interested in.
It all depends on what your goals are and what areas you're interested in...factoring in how long you want it to take to reach those goals. Salary-wise, NP and PA are very similar.
Wow thank you so much for taking your time to write all that up, its really appreciated!
I still don't see the difference between PAs and NPs really... NPs work in hospitals, and PAs work in clinics?
I wouldnt mind not being around patients, but youre saying numbers and crazy hours, these things scare me.
I'm so lost =(
PA's can work anywhere an NP can, much of that is based on the state you work in. Where I live, PA's are in demand because surgeons can bill for a PA in the 1st. assist position, making his hours billable, (75% of the surgeons fee) if there were a nurse in that position, they couldn't bill for that time....at all.
My hubby graduated in 03', his 1st job paid $80,000 a year & was general practice clinic work.
He moved into cardiology in 05' & bumped to $100,000.00 a year.
In 07' he took a position with Team Health in a small town ER, he makes a base of 120,000.00 a year now, but with paid holidays & bonuses he brings in 150,000.00+ per year. Because he works 12 hour shifts, he only has to work 12 to 14 days a month to fulfill his contracted hours, anything after that is gravy.
His raise, which goes into effect this month was $1,250.00 a month & an additional 2 days vacation a year (20 days at this point). We predict an income of $175,000.00 for 2009.
Pay scales vary depending on your location, as I'm sure you are aware. We get fliers in the mail 2 or 3 times a month offering far more in the way of compensation depending on the specialty & region of the country.
Heck, you don't even have to be a RN to be a NP. You can have a bachelor's degree in art & if you do well on the GRE be accepted to Vanderbilt's 1 year fast track to NP. Yes, I know, that's insane....art major to nurse with prescription writing privileges in 1 year.
In my state you need to be an RN with a year's experience practicing as one before you can apply to NP school, and need to maintain an RN license to practice as an NP.
An ortho PA once told me as we were dishing, before he brought the Doc in... he said that he also did this as a second career, like me, but says he "definitely is working for -the man-" I see that you must choose your specialty wisely... lots of Docs use their PA's as someone to do all they don't want to do... and that is about it... you can be disappointed at what your day will actually end up looking like.
The job outlook for PA's is pretty good. Like I posted earlier, we see offers from all kinds of specialties, all over the USA, with starting salaries in the $100,000.00 range.
I don't care who you are or what you do, "you can be disappointed at what your day will actually end up looking like." anywhere, any time.
If my day is going to suck no matter what, at least pay me well....
Broke my hand a couple days ago so I had to go get it re aligned and casted today, was talking to the doctor, I told hm i wanted to go into nursing. He said its a great idea but to also look into becoming a Physician Assistant ( PA).
I dont know much about them, but he said its very similar to what he was doing. It looks like fun!
The PA profession is competency based. There are a variety of entries into the profession. Most programs are masters based but there are bachelors, associates and certificate programs out there. The common trait is that all PAs are trained to a specific standard as defined by the PA accrediting agency.
Jobs are still plentiful, but like any position there are areas that are saturated and its definitely harder to find that first job than the second.
So what is the difference between a PA or a NP?
Slightly confused here
You can look at the link that Siri posted although its been going on for a while. From my perspective there are two major differences. PAs are trained broadly in medicine, while NPs are trained in a specific area of advanced practice nursing.
The second difference is in scope. NPs are independently licensed in nursing. Their scope is defined by their training and certification as NPs. PAs are depedently licensed in medicine. While in most PAs have their own license, the scope is defined by the scope of the physician they work with. An NP may not do anything that is outside the training that they have as an NP. The PA may not do anything that is outside of the training of their supervising physician.
The other difference between NPs and PAs is in the workforce. PAs work in all areas of medicine but tend to have more representation in surgery and specialty medicine. NPs generally work in the same areas of medicine but have more representation in primary care.
Thank you, David, for putting that into words, my husband loves the ER. He works with a really good staff & his supervising physicians are great to work with. He was planning to go to medical school, but was de-railed by a drunk driver that nearly killed him.
Then I got preggers & he said "I'd rather be a daddy than a doctor." The 2 years to get his PA wasn't near the hurdle he'd have taken to get his MD.
May I ask, how long have you been a PA, what area of medicine do you work in, and what part of the country do you live in?
One other difference is the fact that PA's have to retake their boards every 6 years, NP's do not. Hubby takes his this year, it's stressful, but that's the way it is.
I wonder what it would be like if all health care professionals had to take their boards every 6 years?
Thank you, David, for putting that into words, my husband loves the ER. He works with a really good staff & his supervising physicians are great to work with. He was planning to go to medical school, but was de-railed by a drunk driver that nearly killed him.
Then I got preggers & he said "I'd rather be a daddy than a doctor." The 2 years to get his PA wasn't near the hurdle he'd have taken to get his MD.
May I ask, how long have you been a PA, what area of medicine do you work in, and what part of the country do you live in?
One other difference is the fact that PA's have to retake their boards every 6 years, NP's do not. Hubby takes his this year, it's stressful, but that's the way it is.
I wonder what it would be like if all health care professionals had to take their boards every 6 years?
I've been a PA for eight years. In that time I've done peds GI, adult GI, and now transplant medicine. Most of my jobs have been driven by a desire to never again set foot in a primary care office during cough and cold season. I can be persuaded to do occasional shifts in the ER for the right amount of money. Generally though I hate episodic medicine. I currently reside in the South (mostly because of educational opportunities).
Recertification every so many years is coming. The medical establishment is moving beyond lifetime learning to lifetime competency. One of the ways that you demonstrate competency is through recertification. Most of the medical specialties are moving toward recertification generally every 6-10 years. I've heard through the grapevine that nursing is looking at this also. I think that its good because it makes PAs return to our roots of general medicine. If you work in specialty medicine its tough but doable. It could be worse. One of the docs I work with is quadruple boarded. He just figured out that in about seven years he has to recert in IM, GI, Pulmonary medicine and critical care medicine. Fortunately Hepatology isn't a seperate certification yet.
"The medical establishment is moving beyond lifetime learning to lifetime competency. One of the ways that you demonstrate competency is through recertification."
:yeah:
This is the principle by which I've raised my children.
:yeah:
tinybabynurse
96 Posts
I very seriously considered PA and decided to go the RN route with plans to do some kind of NP/CRNA/etc. The prereq's for PA were the same as med school so I had to factor in at least another year of school, plus 3 yrs of PA school. Instead I could do an ABSN and be done in 11 months...then start working (hopefully!), get a couple of years experience and know more of what direction I want to go in...then get the advanced degree. I decided if I was going to do PA then I'd just go ahead and do MD. Plus advanced practice nurses tend to be used more in the areas I'm interested in.
It all depends on what your goals are and what areas you're interested in...factoring in how long you want it to take to reach those goals. Salary-wise, NP and PA are very similar.