Should you become a PA [physician assistant/associate] or MD/DO [physician, medical doctor]?

I was recently asked by a premed whether she should pursue PA school or medical school, so I was inspired to make a video about it!

PA = physician assistant/associate [there has been a recent push to change the name]. PA school is generally 24-27 months long and in order to practice medicine, PAs must take a certification exam [PANCE]. Course pre-requisites for PA school are similar to medical school, but the expectation for PA schools is ~2,000 of medical exposure/experience [which is much more than for medical school].

A couple of advantages/disadvantages:
Advantages
▸ Shorter time in school [there are also combined BS/MS programs so school is only 5 years instead of a total of 6]
▸ Overall cheaper tuition [especially since time in school is shorter]
▸ On the job training [no need for residency & this also means you start making money earlier]
▸ Ability to change specialties
▸ Great job market
▸ Always part of a team


Disadvantages
▸ Salaries may not align with other advanced practice providers [e.g. NPs]
▸ Income potential might be a bit lower; there's a plateau in salary
▸ Must work with physician
▸ Public/patient understanding of PA role can be limited


I go into much more detail about these pros/cons of the PA route versus physician in the video. I'd love to hear your thoughts/questions below in the comments!


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