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No, I wouldn't suggest getting other clinical experience unless they require it. If someone will take you on in the ER or urgent care, with at least a few weeks of onboarding and training (gradually ramping up), then I would go for it. The first few months will be tough, but that's how you learn the ropes. I would just do my due diligence and make sure it's a good working environment, and that the people there will be helpful especially at the beginning.

In my experience, the schedules are about the same. We both have similar shifts, whether it's in the morning, afternoon, or night time. And we both have kind of erratic monthly schedules, where the number of shifts per week varies a lot. I'm sure there are some differences elsewhere, maybe if the doctor has to be on call in a rural area or something for example.

@@Being_a_PA thank you!

Yes, it's just as flexible. Assuming you cover the prerequisites for whatever schools you're applying to, you don't have to major in pre-med.

PA school is usually a master's degree, though not always. You need to have a bachelor's degree already, including various prerequisite classes. Prereqs vary by school, so you can check their list online. If you have all the prerequisites you can apply, you may also need to have some type of healthcare experience, check the school websites for that also.

Good points! Cost can certainly vary!

Best of luck!

Schedule is erratic, but planned a couple months in advance. Not the same every week. About 120 hours per month if full-time. Usually no PTO, but that depends on your employer. You can be part-time or prn, but lose benefits.

And usually you don't have to be on call at all. You just do your shifts.

Roughly 6 years. That includes 4 years of undergrad, and two or three years for a master's degree in PA studies. And you may need to pause to get some healthcare experience before PA School.

Depends on where you work. Sometimes you get almost complete autonomy, at least with lower acuity patients. But it partially depends on the preferences of the doctors you work with.

Yes, it probably is a better title. And it's gradually catching on now after the 2021 AAPA vote, but not official yet in some places.

Glad to hear it! 🙂

True... Very True

I disagree. They are extremely similar presuming the PA is actually a good PA. It's highly recommended for a PA to do a one year residency for emergency medicine, which I do believe is critical in this field. The ERs I've worked with as a paramedic often have PAs there that take on critical traumas awesomely. Obviously a Doctor should be available for complicated cases though and the PA should establish a lifelong mentorship relationship. But in terms of what they do on a day to day basis, there is a very small gap in difference.

@@joshuathompson1357 let me just get this straight, you’re telling me that PA’s and MD’s have almost identical day to day functions? I’m sorry does 4 years of medical school, 4+ years or residency and 2-3 years of fellowship compares to a 3 year PA degree? Do you realize that what you’re saying is just straight hot air? I can’t believe PA’s are walking around saying this type of stuff. I can’t even take this seriously lol

@sepiks4250 I happen to be going to PA school and work with both PAs and Doctors in the emergency room. Yes, in terms of what they physically do for patients, it is almost identical. The difference is that PAs use Doctors as a life long mentor and advisor. They have much more school experience and more knowledge so they have more insight. Cases that require such complicated knowledge are very few. Most cases are straight forward. Doctors help PAs learn to make sound decisions in complicated cases. So no, they are in no way equal. But through collaboration and team work, they both do the same tests, procedures, and interventions.

Supervisor versus department director? Not sure I fully understand that comparison. But what I as a PA do for patients in the ER and what a physician would do for a patient in the ER is practically identical in the majority of cases. But of course there are exceptions, as I explained in the video. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Exactly! 😂

If you're interested in that specialty, you would apply for a job with a neurosurgeon, or a neurosurgery clinic, after you finish PA School. And you might be able to do a rotation with neurosurgery during PA school if you want to, as one of your electives. It's generally a good idea to get some exposure to it first hand before you make a final decision about where to work.

Does PA work in the operating room?

Yes, PA's can assist with surgeries in the operating room.

After you finish PA School, then you apply for a job in whatever specialty you want. And you interview for the job, just like any other job. 🙂 It helps if you have some experience with that specialty, maybe if you do a rotation there during PA school. But that's not always necessary.

What I said near the beginning of the video was regarding international travel, certainly not in a professional setting. In certain foreign countries, a PA is literally the equivalent of what a doctor is there (similar education, same job responsibilities, etc). So in that particular situation, it's perfectly reasonable to say that you're a type of doctor, because based on what they know and understand, that is a true statement. Obviously, I'm not talking about doing that in a job setting.

Sure. As the PA, I evaluate the patient when they come into the ER. Once I determine they need surgery, I call the surgeon and ask them to come and see the patient.

I'm not sure what you mean. I believe a bsn is a nursing degree, so that is not related to becoming a physician assistant. However, after getting that degree, you could subsequently attend physician assistant school and get a master's degree in physician assistant studies.

You can also go for nurse practitioner which is similar to a PA, expect nurse practitioners can practice in more states than PAs. Just saying if you have a nursing degree. Best of luck!

You are so welcome! 🙂

There's a lot to consider! 🙂

Thanks! 😊

You're welcome! I've heard a little about them, but I don't know that much... Sounds like it's kind of a new thing, maybe a good time to get into it. 🙂

You're welcome! Good luck!

Very cool! At least you have a pretty decent idea of what you're getting yourself into 😉 And it helps that you're familiar with emergency medical situations.

That usually works out 🙂

Best of luck!

You're welcome! Glad it helps! 🙂

Nope. Seems common, but not as much as you might think. And from experience, abdominal pain and chest pain are way more common.

@@Being_a_PA i guess people dont go to the doctor for headaches

Only the bad ones mostly.

I've been doing it almost 10 years, but I'm sure it's changed a lot even before that. I've been lucky enough not to really do any charting from home.

@Alfeco-dm7uk yeah dude, You really know what you're talking about

Thanks for the input!

Haha. I've been wearing the same scrubs for years, along with a cheap fleece jacket that's comfy. No special fashion here, but some people are into that.

Good question! The good/bad thing is, you've got tons of flexibility and you can basically do any major, as long as you take the prereqs (specific classes required by the PA schools). I would actually suggest choosing a major (or designing your own major) based on personal qualities that you want/need to develop. For example, communication skills are super important (for the PA career, and life in general), so you might consider focusing on something like that. Or something else that tickles your fancy. A lot of pre-meds or pre-PAs do something like biology, but you certainly don't have to do that. You're going to take several biology classes anyway, but you could major in something different, which may make you more well-rounded in the long run. Also, I don't think it's going to hurt you when you apply to PA school to have an "unusual" major, it'll probably just make you more interesting and stand out.

Hey, good questions. I haven't worked in psychiatry, but based on what I've heard, and when I did the rotation, it's usually going to be basically business hours Monday through friday. Either at an outpatient clinic, or rounding on patients in a psychiatric hospital. For internal medicine, if you're doing an outpatient clinic then it's basically the same as what I said about family practice in the video, Monday through Friday 8:00 to 5:00. But internal medicine also can be a hospital job, which could include weekends or nights, just depends on what type of schedule you arrange with your employer. I'm glad you've enjoyed the videos! :)

Thanks for your input. I knew some people years ago that did an associate's degree in nursing straight out of high school, it was a combined / accelerated program. So I think they were done in 2 years. However, I don't know the statistics and all the different types of programs that exist now, so thanks for sharing your insights.

You're welcome!

That may depend on what part of the schooling is being cut. For instance, there's a lot of stuff in the first two years of medical school that's not very practical once you start working as a doctor.

@@Being_a_PA it's not at all about being practical, it's about the knowledge that you need to have as a doctor

That's what I mean. When I say there's stuff you learn in the first two years of med school that's not very practical, I mean it's stuff that you don't need to know, and won't really use during your career as a doctor. If you ask doctors about this, most of them would tell you the same thing (that a significant percentage of what they learned in med school, they didn't really need to know, and they don't use it).

@@twujstaryzadolary some PAs do just as much as doctors for less pay you and you can always do research and learn while working as a PA.

If only you knew how often a medical professional has saved a pt from an incompetent Dr. Not to mention how much privilege it takes to become a Dr. Its not just intelligence but having the support system and financial capability to even become one. If to treat people in medicine required you had to be a Doctor in every incidence it would greatly delay care and backup our hospital systems even more than they already are, people would die as a result. Im a Respiratory Therapist who has had to advocate for pts to be intubated while the Dr. wanted more diagnostic tests even though the pt was unresponsive, waiting on more diagnostic tests would have delayed emergent care and killed the pt.

This is in the right ballpark, in terms of a full-time salary: www.salary.com/research/salary/recruiting/er-physician-assistant-salary/las-vegas-nv#:~:text=The%20average%20ER%20Physician%20Assistant,falls%20between%20%2485%2C999%20and%20%24124%2C981.

(it can be more than that, but it depends on a bunch of variables, including your employer, how many night shifts you do, sometimes how much you experience you have, and so on)

@Being_a_PA thanks for replying! I'm an older student working on the pre-reqs for medical school but I'm going to apply to PA school as well and this really helps

You're welcome, glad it helps!

Thanks! Good to hear you have no regrets 🙂

What do you mean by "physician pathway"?

You're welcome! Good luck!

Not sure where that idea came from, did you watch the video?

@@Being_a_PA you say 30 seconds in that if you're travelling you introduce yourself as a doctor to people that don't know what a PA is to avoid confusion. I'm saying don't do that!

Ahh ok. Well, maybe I wasn't clear about that, but I'm not talking about doing that in a professional setting at all. I'm talking about if I'm traveling in a country where physician assistants don't exist, so the people have no clue what PAs are. It's extremely difficult to get the point across (believe me, I've tried), so it's easier, and still pretty accurate to say I'm a "type of doctor" (since what I do is within their conception of what a doctor is). So I would agree to disagree on that point. 🙂

@@Being_a_PA a PA is most certainly not a "type of doctor". where are you getting that from?

In other words, a PA in family practice here does a job that could be identical to what a physician in family practice does in some foreign countries. And the training/education could also be similar (depends on the country). Therefore, explaining to them that you do a job like a doctor, or you're a type of doctor, is actually pretty accurate based on their worldview. Basically, it's a way of adapting to what someone knows so you can explain something in a more clear fashion (whereas saying you're a PA would be meaningless).

In general, yes. If you have the skills, you may be able to use them. However, it also depends on what privileges you have at your hospital. At some hospitals, PA's are not allowed to intubate, simply based on the rules there, even if they have the skills and experience. So that's something you can look into when you're interviewing for jobs and such.

@Being_a_PA Thanks for the reply. I'm not 100% sure what the set scope of practice is for PA within the hospital I work at. However, RRT is able to intubate, so I would assume a trained PA and NP can as well. I work at a level 1 trauma center and teaching hospital, so they teach a lot to employees. Even PCT here can do some pretty neat things once trained. I'm being set up to shadow one of our PAs here soon, so I'll ask them. Thanks for being an awesome resource, though!

Most of us continue working as PA's for our entire career. It's a good job overall. But a smaller minority do other things like administration, teaching, etc (the stuff you alluded to), and occasionally change careers.

Thanks! Big ups on the zeppelin shirt. @@Being_a_PA

Thanks! 😅 Love me some classic rock

Thanks for the suggestion! Sounds like a useful topic, I'll keep it in mind. Though I would have to do a little thought, and research regarding what schools are currently requiring.... (I think the requirements may be more demanding now than when I went to school)

I am applying to PA school next year. I would definitely recommend becoming an EMT. It's not highly paid (about $20/hr), but it definitely counts as PCE. A ton of my coworkers are also applying to PA school. EMT training programs can be as short as 5 weeks & some ambulance companies will even pay you to attend an EMT program & hire you upon graduation. GL! ☺️🩺🚑

Sounds like a pretty good idea!

Good question! And a tricky one. I guess I would say, address them however they sort of present themselves to the world. Call them doctor if they present themselves as "doctor so-and-so", since that's apparently what they like. But in my opinion, it's always a little confusing and silly when non-physicians want to be called doctor in a medical setting. 🙂

You can use the Dr. title in a teaching setting but never in a medical setting. Why confuse the patient?

@@Being_a_PANo, midlevels with doctorate degrees can call themselves Dr in an educational setting or during their day off in some random place. Midlevels with doctorates should not call themselves Dr in a hospital setting, this is unethical and immoral as it can confuse patients. Plus, in some states, you can be sued for impersonating a physician. This was the case with an NP (DNP) in california.

Good luck! 🙂

@@Being_a_PA thank you! Any advice? I graduated many months ago and feel a bit rusty

Review really basic/common medical topics that you're going to see a lot of (the EM Basic podcast is a good resource for this). And in terms of mindset, you might check out my video about PA qualities--it may help you get mentally prepared from the examples I shared, and thinking about those attributes.

@@Being_a_PA thank you for the advice - will do!

Good question! For me personally, my salary grew in one big leap when I switched jobs in 2017 (one ER job to another ER job), but has otherwise been pretty level during my 10-year ish career. All the ER groups here were raising pay around the time I switched jobs, even the one I left raised the pay pretty soon after. But not much has changed since then in my local market, from what I understand. I would guess we're close to on par for national averages in emergency medicine.

Hi Ben. Going off of this question, would you be comfortable sharing how much you make working part time? I want to know if I could live off of part time if I have kids one day. Thanks :)

Without getting too specific, the hourly rate for an ER PA often ranges between about $60 and $100 per hour. I don't know all the stats but it depends on what part of the country you work in, and sometimes how much experience you have and other variables. If you figure you work 10 hours on a shift, you can kind of calculate whether you could make ends meet working part time. 🙂 Sorry for the late reply.