Why I chose PA over Doctor (differences between doctor and PA)

Hey y'all.. this video is for the pre-meds and pre-pa students out there. In this video, I discuss the differences between doctor and PA. If your deciding between going to medical school and PA school, be sure to watch this video!

I discuss why I chose PA over MD/Physician/doctor. At the end of this video, I jump into a quick summary over everything. Listing the pros and cons of the PA profession.

TIME REFERENCES:
Med school info: 00:30
PA school info: 01:04
Salary vs debt: 02:30
Job duties: 04:15
Malpractice: 06:28
Lateral Mobility 06:50

GREAT SUMMARY: 07:50

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[DanithePA]

I made a lil mistake in the video y'all: Malpractice incidence rate is 1 to 12 PA/Physician ratio *SORRY* at 06:44

[melanieparedes]

Many of these are actually the reasons why I'm going the MD route. Especially in high-risk fields including surgery and ob-gyn (for poc women), I would actually prefer that longer education and training to support me & my autonomous position.

[Lobi]

Basically if you don’t want to specialize but you know you want to be a provider and if you want to have less debt and work sooner, be a PA.
If you know what you want to specialize in and go in depth in that field, don’t mind more debt, studying, and learning a lot, go be a Physician.
It all depends on your goals, financial situation, support, and lifestyle. No one choice is the same as another because we are all in different situations.

[AndrewsiPhoneable]

Specialties like Family medicine may appear that PAs and physicians do the “same thing, ” but I should remind everyone that family medicine physicians have at least 7 years of medical training vs 2-3. This means, it might SEEM like they are doing the same job with everyday patients, but the expertise makes a difference in how many referrals are sent out, how complicated patients are managed, unique and specialized medication treatment plans, and ruling out rare but dangerous diseases that physicians have received more training on. This doesn’t mean PAs are bad, simply that it is important to keep in mind that there is a reason why they work under a physician.

[harleighjuarez]

thanks so much for this! The thought of not having Dr. by my name has been eating me up and really making the choice of going to PA school difficult for me even though the career is so much more appealing. Now I realize the title doesn’t matter I’ll be a kick ass healthcare provider either way

[xxxlegend]

I’m not from usa, and it’s my first time to hear abt PA, but it’s interesting to me now to know more about it. :)

[sergeantd]

Going into a Pa Program. Was already going to be going the PA route, this video just reinforced my decision. Great communication skills and presentation. Great character and personable, yet stuck to the talking points. Terrific voice inflection and other non-verbal communication. Overall, one of the best advice videos I've watched on YouTube! Keep content coming.

[emmanguyen]

Uhh... I'm a 4th year med student about to graduate with almost 400k of debt. I don't have rich parents to help pay for loans or school or that already accumulating interest. It's been my childhood dream to become a physician because I wanted the most responsible role in patient's care. So it's pretty offensive to say "go to med school if you have rich parents and such"... It undercuts how much sacrifice and dedication it takes to 1) get accepted into med school, 2) self-pay for med school, 3) sacrifice "your twenties" to studying. To those who are deciding PA vs MD/DO, do it for the right reasons - to care for patients. If it's your dream to be a doctor, then go for it and money will follow later. Med school is a fat delayed gratification, but it will be so worth it in the end. But yea if short-sighted money earning (aka looking at debt vs income) is your motivating factor, then med school probably isn't the right choice.

[cbphoto]

Very few doctors have parents who paid their way. (I didn't and most of the doctors I know didn't). Also the salary difference you shared is a bit misleading because even in FM/IM it is possible for doctors to make 300 or even 400k+ a year depending on location and practice setting, whereas there is generally going to be a lower top end compared to the mean with mid level providers. The real selling point for the PA/NP route is being able to have a life in your 20's and 30's and being able to enjoy your financial freedom quicker, which makes a ton of sense for a lot of people as you did a good job of stating.

[mikell.]

If your dream was to be a Dr. Then be a Dr. You will regret not choosing your dream sooner or later. There are ways to pay for school: HPSP, NHCS are 2 examples of full ride scholarships. Also state schools are a lot cheaper ie: FSU tuition is 26k a year. If you just want a good job choose PA, you will regret choosing to be a doc if you just wanted good pay.

[franciscannizzo]

At 6:41, she reverses the ratio of malpractice suits. According to the numbers she quotes (I didn't fact check those) the MD to PA malpractice suit rate is 12:1 or 12 MD suits for every 1 PA suit so MDs are sued about 12x more frequently than PAs. No judgement here, just correcting the statement in the video so you guys can evaluate the risks more accurately. Cheers!

[DSWOOP]

Current nursing student pondering PA after a few years of working. Very helpful video! Wish you well in your journey!

[LuisRivera]

I thought about becoming an PA or NP for some time but I couldn’t imagine myself being either one. Sure, PA’s and NP’s have good work life balance, good hours, good pay, etc. But I decided that I’m going MD because I’ve always wanted to become a doctor and it’s what my heart desires for so I’m pursuing that path. Wish me luck and good luck to everyone pursuing PA, NP, or MD, you got this. 💪

[doinitlive]

I’m on my final year of pre med. Always follow your dreams.

[ciao_abhi]

A quick comment on the tuition and debt. I go to medical school and yes the tuition an debt is high. Dani the PA mentioned that she didn't have the luxury of having family members pay for her room/tuition. I agree with her! It is a big decision. Buti I I just wanted to comment that a vast majority of students take loans to go to medical school and pay for housing. Yes some students have wealthy parents but many do not. I took out max loans each year to pay for medical school. You will have about $200k debt when you graduate but you will earn in residency. Live below your means for a few years in residency and slowly pay it back. Once you get a job as a doctor, many jobs offer bonuses to pay off loans. The average family medicine doc in 2024 is about $250K. Honestly many make more than this. It depends on your location and type of practice. Live frugally for a couple years and you'll definitely pay off your debts in no time. If you choose to specialize you can make $320k+. All this to say don't let money be a discouraging factor. Most of us take out loans and you will pay them back. Any ways, Dani makes really good points in the video and I would consider all the factors she mentioned when making a decision. Medical school is brutal and going into to with any hesitancy is a bad idea. It's a commitment that will take away your entire 20s and even early 30s. Any ways, good luck to everyone pursuing whatever their dreams are. Either profession will earn you a good living to live a good life.

[ILBBSM]

I'm in med school and my best friend is in PA school!! :)

[joseg]

You have no idea how much this video helped, I thank you so much!

[charlenemamogobo]

You just saved me it was a miracle to stumble upon this video I love medicine but I can't go to school for that many years I think the PA route is the way to go ❤❤

[amiroperez]

Dream job is to become a PA and go around the world and help people. I don't know how feasible that would be, but hopefully I get what I want.

[chrisb]

I am a ER PA and I absolutely love my career, it has been fulfilling and i feel i have made an impact on the world. PAs are well respected by most of society and can work autonomously while making decent money. But with that being said, if i could go back in time, i would have gone to medical school. This is why (this applies mainly to Emergency Medicine as i can't speak to all fields of medicine)...

Money: As far as money goes, Physicians make twice as much money, doing almost the exact same job in the ER. Also, the whole work life balance argument in the field of Emergency Medicine isn't valid in my opinion. Most of the docs i know and work with, work the same amount of hours or less than the APPs and make significantly more money.

The Job: Additionally, while this is not the case at all Emergency Rooms, the majority of ERs leave higher acuity patients such as codes, intubations, and super sick patients for the MDs; while the PAs typically see lower acuity patients. Of course, I have seen sick patients in my career many times and there are exceptions to this rule, but mid levels will usually spend more of their time seeing lower acuity patients in the ER setting than their MD/DO counterparts. Also, I have experienced many times where physicians in other specialties show a great deal of disrespect because i am a mid level. Some docs only accept physician to physician transfers, or will look down on you and ask to speak with your attending regarding a patient because you are not a doctor. And while many docs love and respect PAs, you will always have to deal with asshole docs who do not respect you because you aren't a physician.

Be prepared for people to ask you why you didn't become a doctor, for patients to ask to see a doctor instead of you, or for people to think that you weren't smart enough to go through medical school. Obviously this isn't true and luckily I don't care what people think, but if this is a problem for you, do not go the PA route.

Student Debt: When it comes to debt, i sat down one day and actually calculated the average debt for PA students vs med students. I included the 3-4 years of residency when the PA is making more money and even calculated the interest a doctor would have accrued on their student loan debt throughout their residency and start of career. I then took the average salary for ER PA and ER Doc and calculated how much money they would earn by retirement age. I found that by age 65, an MD or DO would have paid off their student debt and made about 3-5 times more money than a PA would have in their career.

Being the boss: 90% of the time, you will be autonomous. However, unless you own your own clinic, you will never be the boss. Period. A lot of people don't care about this and most of the time i don't either, but their has definitely been times where i wish i was the one calling the shots. Sometimes it feels like you are a permanent resident. Your attending will always be the one calling the shots and the buck ultimately stops with them.

Much love to all the PAs, NPs, MDs, and DOs! They are all equally important in their roles.. Just wanted to provide some honest feedback on some of the arguments that are made against going to med school. Always be informed when making such a big life decision!