Why YOU Should Be a Physician Assistant and NOT a Nurse Practitioner

Why YOU Should Be a Physician Assistant and NOT a Nurse Practitioner

If you're on the fence on choosing between being a NP and PA, then this video is a great video for you.

There are many pros of being an NP, but there are also many limitations to what we do. With those limitations, physician assistants may capitalize on those things and may be a better career choice for that person wanting to experience those things.

This video isnt a debate on who's better, but more so a video to provide you a different perspective of things.

I absolutely love my choice of being a NP, but its always great to see the other side of things and being a PA is another amazing career option.

In this video, I go over 5 reasons why you should be a physician assistant over a nurse practitioner

Trust me, being a NP is great, but listen to these 5 reasons to see why being a physician assistant may be beneficial for you.

Again, this is just my opinion.

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*Disclaimer: "The content of this video may contain general information relating to various medical conditions and their treatment and may contain opinions and views expressed by myself and other medical professionals. These views are solely the opinions of each individual person. The views may or may not reflect the views of their schools, professors, cohorts, or any person or entity within, or around the medical profession. Such information is for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any condition or disease and is not meant to substitute advice from a qualified health care provider. You understand that this video is not intended as a substitute medical advice or a replacement for attending an accredited educational program. Information is gathered and shared from reputable sources; however, we are not responsible for errors or omissions in reporting or explanation. No individuals should use the information, resources or tools contained to self-diagnose or treat any health-related condition. It is important for you to continue to use evidence-based research and school textbooks to obtain information regarding subject matter. We give no assurance or warranty regarding the accuracy, timeliness or applicability of the content. Items mentioned in this video are my opinion, not my professional recommendations, but if you or someone has a life-threatening condition, please seek a local medical professional for assistance. Watching this video implies your acceptance of this disclaimer.”

[AudraMichelle]

The fact that as a PA your so generalized that you can jump from specialty to specialty is a game changer im sold wow thanks for this video!

[PoodleandNoodle]

Thank you for being unbiased even though you're a nurse practitioner. I appreciate your opinion! These types of unbiased videos really do help us students that are on the fence decide.

[PamelaWhiteley]

PA CME is 100 hours every 2 years. Also, most PA schools still require clinical hands on experience before you apply, whether it is in nursing, paramedic, medical assisting or others.

[PrivelegedPilots]

Hardest part of becoming a pa is getting accepted into a program 😭 they’re so competitive and I can only imagine how much more comp it’s gonna become considering how people are discovering this profession

[neenah]

"Medical model" vs "Nursing model" is BS, we both treat diabetes etc. by standard of care. Also, as a FNP of 25 years I have worked in internal medicine, gyn, infertility, research, geriatrics, palliative care, urgent care, occupational health, student health. I don't go around wondering, "should I give a beta blocker to someone with asthma??? I'm mainly worried that they might get tired and it will affect their marriage instead of worrying about the effect on breathing" lol. Also, I worked as an RN in major teaching hospitals in Boston for 11 years, so I have WAY more experience than PAs. I also have my own license, I don't not need to work on an MD's license, so useful in rural areas where many will not hire a PA. As far as recertifying, we do NOT have to retest ever, we just have to keep up with our CEUs. I liked my schooling, Boston University, then Emory, it was important. lol. So, with all due respect, I completely disagree with everything you said. I do respect PAs, please respect NPs.

[eastbke]

As a per diem psych PA, I can tell you that psych NP's definitely have more training in psychiatry right out of school. Although we work in the same capacity, I always go to my NP colleagues with questions.

[Julia-qphb]

Thanks for this video! I've been a medical Social Worker for 11 years. Going back to school to become a PA. Taking pre-reqs this summer :) 👍

[natyra]

Good advice. However, there were some things you didn't mention regarding the PA route that are important to note, but also something you mentioned that isn't exactly true. The amount of time you spend becoming an NP depends on the program. For example, there are joint accelerated nursing programs (for those with no undergrad nursing degree or experience) where you can get your MSN and NP in a total 3 to 4 years (e.g. Ohio State, Columbia). One thing you completely left out (which is vital regarding the PA route) is the reason PA programs are generally only 2 years is because applicants are required to have direct patient care (clinical experience hours) prior to applying to PA programs. As a result, the claim that the PA route is less schooling isn't exactly true.

For a person that doesn't have patient care experience, this often means having to get certified in an area that will provide the direct patient care experience. It's common for people with no patient care experience to become medical assistants, EMTs, phlebotomists etc. prior to applying to PA programs. These things of course require schooling to become certified. A person can spend 1 1/2 to 2 years (especially if only going part-time and/or also completing PA prereq coursework) taking classes to become certified an area that will provide them the clinical experience hours for PA school admission. It will then take an additional 1-2 years of actual work in the area to gain enough clinical hours to apply to PA programs. Most PA programs require the equivalent of 1 year full-time or 2 years part-time direct patient care work in regards to the required clinical experience hours.

Therefore, it could take a person a couple or few years to complete the clinical experience requirement alone in order to apply to PA programs. Yes, the schooling within PA programs can be shorter than NP schooling. However, the schooling overall can be the same or even longer than NP, if a person wanting to enter PA school doesn't already have the required patient care experience/hours. Also, I think the narrative that NPs don't really have room to move around between specialties is kind of inaccurate. The only specialties offered to choose from though NP schooling are generally internal med, acute care, peds, family med, psych, and women's health. However, I've had to two excellent NPs in dermatology, one who removed an irregular looking mole on my chest to test for malignancy. I've also had an NP in urology.

[janetoungtong-eckart]

I love this !!! I can't decide what to do. I have been pediatric ER nurse for almost 3 years.

[pestleandmortarmedical]

The interesting truth is that PA's are trained in the medical model of medicine, which is the same model of medicine of Physicians. PA's curriculum was designed in the same manner to how they accelerated the training of physicians during WW2 (Fast Track). PA's are trained in a generalized approach to medicine and MD's are trained with a specific approach. PA's sit in the same classes with MD's but split off as time progresses in there training. PA's have 1 didactic (Book learning) year and 1 clinical year (2, 000 hrs of hand on clinical experience) and MD's have 2 years of didactic and 2 years of clinical. PA's can enter the workforce immediately upon graduation and largely continue to learn from their physician counterparts, however there are PA's who do go into specific residencies (emergency medicine, orthopedics, OB/GYN, etc). PA's largely have collaborative agreements with physician/hospitals in order to practice medicine. MD's are required to go into a residency before they practice which can last 3 years or longer.

NP's follow the nursing model that is only specific to nursing. This is the patient centered approach but not the medical approach, which is disease/pathology centered (Medical Model). Nurse practitioners need to be nurses first but the nursing boards do not have any specific edict that nurses need a specific amount of hands on experience to become nurse practitioners. Nurse practitioners need 500-750 hours of hands on experience are are often granted full autonomy after passing boards. This is extremely troubling as Nurse practitioners are not trained in medicine and require the least amount of hands on experience and can see patients in 33 states with no requirements to consult a physician.

[JoeDaFivefoota]

A couple of corrections... The PA recertification exam (PANRE) is a typically 6 hour monitored exam that is pretty tough. It used to be every 6 years but recently became 10 years. The PANRE is separate from our 100 CME units we need every 2 years. And the PANRE is a "high stakes" exam meaning if you fail you cannot practice (depending if your employer requires the "C") until you pass it (and you only can take it 4 times total then you have to retake the original cert exam the PANCE and that has a limit of 6x.if you fail both then you cannot be certified... Ever). Just wanted to point that out. It's not as easy as the video makes it out to be. And the schooling thing mentioned is also misleading. It's not only 2 years. We usually have pre med (biology) undergrad degrees (not necessary but the bio major fulfills almost all the pre-reqs) and most of us until recently, had to have 3000 Healthcare hours. I was a navy corpsman then worked as a lab tech, surgical tech and MA as a civilian totaling 22000 hours. My class had an average of 13000 hours as RNs, RTs, medics, MAs and IMGs. But this was 13 years ago. I think now it's much more lax with most programs but there are still previous Healthcare experience requirements. Switching specialties is also not as easy anymore and most specialties want experience in that specialty or you start at "new grad" pay. Subspecialty switching (internal Medicine/primary care to GI, Cards or another IM sub) is easier but even that may entail having previous experience. So many experienced PAs rarely switch specialties.

[cliobhabie]

I’m on the fence for going ABSN- MSN or just go straight to PA- Pediatric Psych.
I say this because I have a BSc in Psych and have worked in patient care over two years.
I’m confused over NP because I want to include art as a psychotherapy for patients that survived trauma. Do PAs perform this at all?

[lauryngal]

I couldn’t agree more! However, I’ve personally encountered nurses/nursing students whose personal views align more so with that medical model than the nursing model even. Granted, had I known about DO’s while in school I might have chosen that over nursing.

[brooklynbear]

I’m a lab tech looking to go back to school to become a provider and I really appreciate your videos and perspective!! :)

[michaelt]

Can you do a video on dual degree nurse Practitioner schools where you can be certified as a FNP/PMHNP in the same program or FNP/ACNP.

[SuperHogwart]

not really with the advice on this video. PA’s might have the advantage in psych, but overall NP’s are more autonomous whereas PA’s hit a ceiling and will always be under the authority of a supervising physician

[wasted]

i have about 36 credit hours right now. I originally thought psychologist would be my job, then I thought psychiatrist, and now I want to get the most out of my time and money while making a difference. A huge factor is to make sure I have lots of time during my career to be with my family! I am married and plan to have kids when I finish school. I want to be involved in psychiatry whether that is PA and NP. If I am 100% sure I want to be involved in psychiatry which would you recommend? what kind of hours do these careers work?

[keeploving]

I’m currently a teacher, so I have a bachelor’s degree and I’m currently considering registered nursing, but want to know if it would be better to do physician assistance instead.

[kjpesl]

You can’t just go from nursing school to PA school. You have to be pre med to be a PA (for most pa schools this is what they require)
Nursing school doesn’t include organic chemistry or two semesters of chemistry plus the labs, bio 1 and 2, physics, etc

[zahraa.]

But NPs have full autonomy, PAs don't 😢