physio

thats $65k a year assuming even only 40hrs/wk. Thats a very high salary for an NP fellow FYI. Most fellowships pay ~40-45k for 40-60hrs/wk. If I was you, I'd take that 65k and be very happy.

There is no "big difference" like it may seem. Average salary for Male NPs: $102,271 Average salary for Male PAs: $102,669 Average salary of Female NPs: $89,186 Average salary of Female PAs: $91,662 There are just more female NPs (80%) that bring the average down. Unfortunately, females are making less money and for every 1 male NP there are 4 female NPs. PAs pretty much have 1 male PA for 1 female PA. So, PAs and NPs pretty much make the same money.

I was looking at some stats on advance NP and FYI, the median salary for new grad NPs is currently 76k. Just something to take into consideration when you talk to potential future employers.

as a new grad? If you can do it great; but 120-140k is the salary that the 90 percentile of Psych NPs are making. Ofcourse this may be regional to your specific region but if you get anything close to that, consider yourself quite lucky. Many don't get to such a salary with decades of experience (many do, but the majority don't). From what I've seen throughout several regions, the norm is 80-85k on average for new grad PMHNPs.

Not true. The average PA student had >41 months of medical experience, I'll cite the source and exact figures when I get home but gross generalizations like such are not well intended. I respect both NPs/PAs and NPs have the advantage of the RN, which is important, but PAs generally come from medical backgrounds as well, sometimes even prior nurses. My girlfriend went to a direct-entry program with her only experience as a medical scribe, which this isnt the norm, saying its required is a gross-generalization. Both get adequate medical backgrounds on average, I cannot speak to the exceptions to the norm stated above.

FNP and PA are the most similar and FNPs get the most "rounded" education out of all the NPs, but still after looking at side to side comparisons, PAs will recieve more "rounded" education in more specialties than an FNP for example. I'm not in any way putting down NPs, infact my girlfriend (soon to be wife:rolleyes:) is an FNP, but for the sake of dexterity, I've looking into this and while an FNP does rotations pertaining to primary care and some specialties throughout ~1000 hours, PAs rotate through all the major specialties, including primary care, throughout ~2400 hours and their didactic/clinical education is IMO, more rounded in thorough. Regardless, I think FNP is the way to go, being a nurse as well, not to include the fact that PAs generally have to ALWAYS work under a doctor, while a NP can open up their own clinic and have more independent for advancement. I think states that limit FNPs ability to practice acute care medicine is probably because some FNP programs only have ~100-200 hours in acute care and if acute care is the preference, then an acute care NP program would be better suited.

They are generally used interchangeably in most specialties. NPs can be independent in certain states while PAs always need to work with a doctor. Generally NPs are prevalent in Psych, family practice and primary care among others. PAs are generally more prevalent in the surgical & internal medicine specialties/subspecialties along with family practice. They both end up on average making the same money. PAs have a generalist education with generally many more clinical hours which rotate through the medical/surgical specialties while NPs do all their clinical hours in one specialty and focus their knowledge on that specialty. Thus PAs are trained to practice in all fields on medicine while NPs generally only practice in their field of training, unless further education is pursued. An NP will give one much more independence than a PA, so if that is important, then NP is the way to go! Basically, an NP is like a nurse with advanced training and a PA is like a doctor with less training. Rather then asking here, research your area, because some localities PAs are preffered while in others NPs are. FYI- I LOVE my NP

that's a great package for a new grad especially. I would take it. How many hrs a week?

Before 2014 is just a suggestion, not set in stone. And it is not a PhD degree, its a DNP (they are vastlyy different)

Its not just the Docs. Same goes for NPs and PAs. They are equally to blame. The title is very misleading. A drug rep couldn't care less whether its a md,pa or np. As long as they prescribe the drug, they will be more likely to "bribe" their way through.

A signature that you yourself wrote, not "other" people... I see your IQ level mainly because because you first state "I dont call myself dr....other people do" and then your signature is "Dr. T" oh, common sense. They didn't have "common sense 101" in your DNP program? I heard that helps with clinical skills.

you just called yourself doctor. FAIL.

but how can you practice medicine with only business driven skills like you mentioned? let alone independent? you mentioned yourself that there isn't even close to enough diagnostic/pathophys/pharm/"hard sciences" in your "fake-doctor" curriculum. Can MBA's be doctors now? How about MPH's ? Let me know, I'd sure be willing to apply.

100k is attainable. I would even go as far to say that some are making as much as 120k. Although speaking averages and not just the upper 80-90 percentile, around 80-85k is the national average

i shadowed a pediatric NP last summer in Hartfort, CT...She was making ~75k but worked a great M-F, 9-5 shift, with every other saturday 9-5.

Thank you for your replies. I've been shadowing both NP's & PA's lately and from my (relatively naive) impression after 2 weeks, I agree with Zenman in the I see NP's doing more of what I would define as healing and PA's doing more of "curing." The way I see it, at the end of the day, both help the patient, even while taking different paths to get there. Personally, the more I look into it, I seem to connect more with the medical theory as opposed to the nursing theory, so I will look into PA & MD programs. Although, from my shadowing, I've gained a respect for NP's which I will certainly carry forward. -Thanks for your replies guys! -Thanks!

With all due respect, I think the idea of "less medical training" to better patient care is an excuse at most. I mean, maybe NP's may have such classes like nursing theory & family, community systems and all, although I would think further training in classes like immunology, pharmacology, biochemistry, & endocrinology would be more helpful in patient diagnosis and also the additional clinical training also inclines me to think PA. And you mentioned that not everyone thinks medical training model focus gives what patients want. So what do patient's want?

Hey Zenman, not sure I get what your trying to say, but I was wondering what you meant by "in an age where medicine is becoming less effective, why would you want more of it?". I mean, more medical knowledge is (obviously) the key to making a good clinician, then why are you saying that NP's are better off with less medical training? Thank You.

Hi, I am very new here, and right now only a high school Junior. I was hoping to persue being a NP in my future. although I was shadowing a doctor, and mentioned it to him and he apparently gave me a big lecture about the lack of training they have in the medical field blah blah. He told me to look into PA programs. I went home and checked it out, and I just had a question. Why are NP & PA's on the "same level"? Based on the curriculums and seeing how most PA programs have about the same prereqs as med school and require alot of prior medical experience, it seems that PA's recieve far more thorough and much more medically relevant training then NP's, then I was just wondering, why are PA's looked down apon by NP's? It had been a dream of mine to be an NP for a couple years now, although I am not so sure now, it seems I can just work a little harder to become a PA, but then I don't want to be "less respected" by the people I work with. Any and all opinions will be appreciated. Thanks.