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What are two pro and cons as being a physician ? Do the cons outweigh the pros?
Aisha, age 19
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Hwal’s Answer
Hi Aisha,
Since you tagged both physician and PA, my educated guess is that you are interested in studying and practicing medicine, which both PAs and physicians do. I'm a family medicine PA in my third year of practice, so let me share my perspective:
Two pros: (1) PA training and education is rigorous and condensed (in PA school, I completed more than 100 credit hours of graduate coursework over 7 consecutive semesters), which was a very important consideration for me; (2) PAs can start practicing medicine after graduation (vs required residency and fellowship after graduation), although there are optional specialty fellowships and residencies and many PAs so complete these after graduation.
Two cons: (1) the PA profession is still relatively young, so there are still patients who are not familiar with who PAs are, how they're trained, and what they can do to improve their health; (2) similar to the first con, there are many misconceptions and misinformation about PAs, which leaves that much more room for me to educate and inform my patients, members of the healthcare team, and the general public about PAs.
I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any specific questions I can help with. Good luck!
Hwal
Since you tagged both physician and PA, my educated guess is that you are interested in studying and practicing medicine, which both PAs and physicians do. I'm a family medicine PA in my third year of practice, so let me share my perspective:
Two pros: (1) PA training and education is rigorous and condensed (in PA school, I completed more than 100 credit hours of graduate coursework over 7 consecutive semesters), which was a very important consideration for me; (2) PAs can start practicing medicine after graduation (vs required residency and fellowship after graduation), although there are optional specialty fellowships and residencies and many PAs so complete these after graduation.
Two cons: (1) the PA profession is still relatively young, so there are still patients who are not familiar with who PAs are, how they're trained, and what they can do to improve their health; (2) similar to the first con, there are many misconceptions and misinformation about PAs, which leaves that much more room for me to educate and inform my patients, members of the healthcare team, and the general public about PAs.
I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any specific questions I can help with. Good luck!
Hwal
Updated
Madison’s Answer
You're right that there are totally pros and cons. What may be in one category (or weight more important/heavily for you) will likely be different for others. This is your own career/life and no one should decide on what you do for years/daily basis other than you. You need to be happy both short and long term. Some of the Pros to consider: helping others on a daily basis, being a part of really special/intimate and significant moments (both good and bad) in peoples lives, having people trust in you to care for themselves and their family (especially in scary or emergent situations), helping people feel better (seeing people improve over time or even short term like after a medication changes/surgery/procedure), continuously learning (for alot of people that is fun and exciting, though not everyone feels that way and that could be a con). Some possible Cons can be things like: the time it takes to get your degree, cost of a medical degree, struggles with work hours and work/life balance, financial burdens of school/residency. Remember your situation is UNIQUE. Maybe ask someone to look at and review the list with you!
Gurpreet Lally
CareerVillage.org TeamSr. Community Manager at CareerVillage
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Gurpreet’s Answer, CareerVillage.org Team
Hi Aisha,
You tagged this question with both phsycian and physicians-assistant so I'm not sure which one you were interested in. I found a few similar questions, and I think you might find the responses to be helpful. Check them out!
https://www.careervillage.org/questions/546799/do-you-like-being-a-physician-assistant-what-are-the-pros-and-cons
https://www.careervillage.org/questions/657130/what-is-it-like-to-be-a-doctor
Your questions about cons outweighing pros really depend on you and your preferences. For some, the cons might be too much but for others, the cons are actually positives!
Please let me know if this didn't answer your question and I'll try my best to provide you with a different source :)
You tagged this question with both phsycian and physicians-assistant so I'm not sure which one you were interested in. I found a few similar questions, and I think you might find the responses to be helpful. Check them out!
https://www.careervillage.org/questions/546799/do-you-like-being-a-physician-assistant-what-are-the-pros-and-cons
https://www.careervillage.org/questions/657130/what-is-it-like-to-be-a-doctor
Your questions about cons outweighing pros really depend on you and your preferences. For some, the cons might be too much but for others, the cons are actually positives!
Please let me know if this didn't answer your question and I'll try my best to provide you with a different source :)