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« on: April 25, 2005, 05:58:16 PM »
Paperback,
For what is worth, my wife has been a PA for 10 years. It is very tough to get into most programs, and most programs like to see some sort of health care related background to begin with (at least her program did). In addition, if you are after the bucks then you will most likely need to be looking at rural areas or specialties that require gaining a couple years experience in an area before making the great wages. You also need to look at the call issues. Most jobs that she or classmates have had are not 9 to 5 type work and can have a big impact on quality of life etc. Finally, the biggest issue about being a PA is the doc that you end up under. You can have a great job or situation, have lots of time invested in a place and they hire a new supervising physician that can ruin it in a minute. Others have way too much control over what you do, how you do it, and where and what you get paid for doing it.
She always said that she wished she had never done it, and had instead gone to Med school instead. Just my (her) 2 cents.