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Another option for transitioning from MT - Ann


Posted: Mar 24, 2010

Transcribing the dictation of various physician assistants made me wonder what was involved in becoming a PA, so I looked into the PA programs in my state.  I have a BA and already have all the science prereqs, so I decided to apply.  I'm retiring from my full-time job (not medical related) in April and wondered what I would do with myself with just my part-time MT job to keep me busy.  Now I know.  I start in the PA program with the summer session. 

If you have a four-year degree and want to do something other than MT, why not look into becoming a PA and work on the other side of the microphone?  I can't wait to get started.  I was sort of dreading retirement, but now I'm excited about the next phase of my life.

good for you and - good luck - nm

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xx

fantastic. good luck. (need an mt?) - lol happy trails.

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,

Good Luck. For those w/o BS, you could also try this. - Another option

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Administrative jobs should be opening up this spring/summer at local colleges. Go to their web sites and click on employment. I am sending applications for a couple of jobs at our local college that will be open in July. Good pay, M-F, daytime hours, state paid benefits. You have to check the site about once a week. In addition to qualifications for the department hiring, almost all say strong computer skills. That's us!

Try this - Anonymous

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Stong computer skills mean Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Word, not just keyboarding. I would suggest some classes if you do not already know these things, it might make it easier to get the job.

I have GOT to quit this job...sm - Tired of Typin

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I am going back to brush up on my Excel, Word, Access skills, maybe get certified and take the computerized accounting and Quickbooks class this summer at the local JVS. I am just SICK to death of making peanuts, working harder and making less than 15 years ago. Sadly I cannot afford to finish my 4-year degree.

Tired of typin - Anonymous

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That is my plan as well, working on improving the skills I already have, I just signed up for Excel at the college. I'd be retirement age if I went for a 4-year degree, don't think it's worth the expense. Good luck to you!

PA - Ex-MT

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That is VERY interesting. . . I have a 4-year degree and am considering an accelerated BSN program and sign up with a local hospital organization to work for them after I graduate.

How many more years is the PA program, though? I am a much older student but need to do what I have to do. Keep me informed.

The PA Program is Expensive, Tough, and Hard To Get Into - And Very Few Jobs With MDs Cutting Staff - Very Few Will Make It As A PA

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Go talk to someone you know who is a Physician's Assistant (PA), if you can find one that still has a job. One of the first places doctors are cutting these days is in nurses and other medical staff, PAs probably being one of the highest paid and first cut. If you're lucky though and if you have the ability to get into one of those programs and if there's a job when you get out, it sounds like fun. But if I were that close, I'd go ahead and get the MD instead. Then you would be the one doing the cutting, not always next in line to be cut.

The PA program I am enrolled in is actually - Ann

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quite affordable, slightly less than $20k for the PA certificate program plus about $7500 for the concurrent Master's Degree program. The career from which I am retiring in April was very good to me, so I have sufficient funds to pay for my program, though I was fortunate enough to receive some merit scholarship money. I will have a comfortable pension, so I won't need to worry about working while I'm in school. I am looking forward to being able to devote my entire attention to doing well in school, which I will do because, quite frankly, I'm really smart. And I never start something with a plan to fail at it. You'd be surprised how much that kind of attitude contributes to success.

Before I decided to embark on this journey, I did considerable research into the potential job market in my area and liked what I learned enough to continue with the application process. Within comfortable commuting distance of my house, there are 11 hospitals with a total of 63 PA job openings advertised. If I were interested in commuting just a few miles farther, there would be an additional 7 hospitals to choose from.

I spoke with the HR managers at the three closest hospitals to get their views of the future job market for PAs and learned that they all plan to add PAs in larger numbers than MDs. Apparently, the same is true of clinical practices in this area as well. So, the job prospects for PAs at least in my area appear to be robust.

Of course, there is always the federal government, where PAs are apparently in great demand, judging by the job ads. As a military veteran, I would have enhanced eligibility for those jobs.

So, I am not worried about either completing the PA program or finding a job once I do. But thank you for your concern.
PA job prospects - pumpernickel
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I agree - PAs are in great demand and demand is just going to increase. Instead of hiring 5 doctors a clinic can hire 1 supervising doctor and 4 PAs at much less cost (not to say PAs don't make good money - they do - just not as much as doctors). We have a PA program at our local university and it's really hard to get into. Congratulations to you for getting into a program and for your high aspirations!

PA - Pearl

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Small town clinics use PA's and nurse practioners, particularly where the hospitals utilize outreach clinics. Doctors do not want to come out to the boonies to live.

The PA program is 25 months, year round - Ann

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no summer breaks. The first year is the academic/didactic portion, the second year is almost entirely clinicals. There is an option to earn a Master of Health Sciences degree concurrently with the PA certificate which involves an additional 10 hours of academics and 20 additional hours of clinical work.

If you google "physician assistant programs" and your state, you should get a good idea of what is available to you and the requirements.

Good luck with your schooling, whatever you decide to do!

My friends and I are doing well in MT but if we weren't I have some ideas - A little doubtful about the PA Idea

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Very few will make it as a PA, if you are talking about the job of Physician's Assistant. I've seen it confused with a job which is really a Medical Assistant recently and while Medical Assistants don't make much, there are jobs available. The PA takes more education and experience than most people realize, and doctors are hurting so they are letting staff go, not hiring more.

The best paying job is cleaning houses. Seriously. You can be your own boss and work when you want.

CLEANING HOUSES!? :-) LOL - Ex-MT

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Are you kidding me? Cleaning houses? LOL :-) I guess the people who pay for that have the money to throw away on someone else cleaning their house! My brother has a house cleaner.

I have never done it, but I can image worse things - not so bad

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than cleaning houses, unless the houses are really, really dirty.

I would be ready to clean large houses of rich people, in a group of 3-4 cleaning women, through an agency.
One gets for sure lots of exercise!

Nowadays it is not so easy anymore to find a job in a grocery store, McDonalds or Wal-Mart, and everybody asks for "experience."

IMO cleaning houses is better than being a bartender, animating people to get drunk. I could never do this, or pole-dancer, etc....I would never do that.

Cleaning houses means cleaning dirt away, we do this anyway, but it's our dirt; for cleaning other people's dirt we get paid.

no one would confuse physician assistant with medical assistant. - try to think realistically.

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.

Someone would, and did. I agree they shouldn't, but they have and do evidently - More thoughts abouot the PA

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I noticed that some of the community colleges are really pushing PA programs right now for some reason. It must be the 'hot' career. Medical Assisting was the hot career after another one got overrun. I can't think of that one right now, but it was similar to web site designers. Everyone wanted to do it. The PA takes more education though, so it's less likely to be overrun completely.

Isn't a physician's assistant almost himself a medical - ?

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doctor, only some exams away from graduating?
Or is this called an "intern" and something different?

I looked it up, a P.A. is almost a doctor, he works - P.A. versus medical doctor

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under the supervision of a senior doctor...

Q: What is the difference between a P.A. and a physician?
A: Physician assistants are trained in the medical model. In some schools they attend many of the same classes as medical students. One of the main differences between P.A. education and physician education is not the core content of the curriculum but the amount of time spent in school. The length of a P.A. program is about two thirds that of medical school. Physicians also are required to do an internship, and the majority also complete a residency in a specialty; P.A.'s do not have to undertake an internship or residency. A doctor has complete responsibility for the care of the patient; P.A.'s share that responsibility with the doctors. Doctors are independent practitioners; P.A.'s practice medicine under the supervision of a physician.

------

it asks for 4-6 year courses.

I think the posters mean MEDICAL ASSISTANT as a job after leaving MTing.

No, I am not confused about the program - Ann

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I will be starting. I am well aware of the difference between physician assistant and medical assistant. If I were too stupid to know the difference, it is likely that I would have been too stupid to pass the exams I had to pass to get into the PA program. But thank you for your good wishes.... Oh, wait. Never mind.

I know exactly how much educaton is required and am well able to handle the challenge thankyouverymuch.

And I have already been offered a job when I graduate by three of the doctors who wrote my letters of recommendation. Far from reducing PA positions, local clinics and hospitals are adding PAs rather than doctors. One doctor can supervise several PAs and NPs, so increasing the doctor-to-PA/NP ratio is actually considered more cost efficient than adding more MDs. PA jobs advertised at hospitals and clinics in this area start at $92k. I think that is likely to be somewhat more than housecleaning pays.

You are certainly free to set your sights as low as you want. Kindly do not presume to do the same for me.

Consider PT and OT occupations with aging population - L&L

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I know there is a shorter PT asst program and a 4- to 6-year PT program. I used to work for an OTR/L.

phlebotomist - xyzzzz

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Just takes a short course and certification exam.

Thanks very much to everyone who - Ann

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offered good wishes. I appreciate it very much.

To those who seem to hope I'll fail, don't waste your energy. I'm not going to fail, not even to please you. Sorry.

I think what you're doing is great! - LK

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If I was a little younger, I might pursue it myself. It is a VERY rigorous program and hard to get into, so congrats to you! No doubt you will do very well, and they sure can't outsource hands-on patient care. I actually think that in the future there will probably be a greater need for PAs than ever in an attempt to hold down health care costs.

Thanks! - Ann

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I think you are right about there being more opportunities for PAs in the future to hold down patient-care costs. That's pretty much what one of the hospital HR managers I talked to told me--they're planning on having a higher MD-to-PA ratio to contain costs.

I'm no spring chicken, I'm well over 50, but I really want to do this and am now looking forward to retirement so I can get started on my new career.

The admissions advisors for the PA program weren't at all concerned about my age. They recognize that life experience has considerable value as does maturity, so they were very encouraging. Check into the PA programs in your area and go talk to the admissions people. You might be surprised at how welcoming they are to older students.
Interesting! - LK
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I just turned 54. Maybe I'm not as over the hill as I thought, LOL! I already have a BA degree, though it's in psychology. MT is my second career after years in HR management. Maybe it's time for a third career.

Thanks for the info.


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