Being a Doctor is better, because as a PA you basically have all the responsibility of a doctor, but not as big as of paycheck….. So you would be doing the same work (in a practical sense, not specialized medicine) for far less pay.

The two occupations are very different.

The educational requirements are different. A doctor typically has a BA plus med school. To become a PA, a person can have a nursing credential after two years, then become a PA after an additional year. (At least this is the way it used to be–I’m not sure about the current situation.)

A doctor has more options in terms of developing a practice. A doctor COULD practice like a PA, but what would be the advantage? A PA is more limited in the type of job openings.

Salary–is there any comparison.

Smarts. A doctor has to be bright to get into medical school. With all due respect, I’ve known PA’s that are only so-so on the Stanford-Binet.

Cost of Education. No question becoming a PA is cheaper

being a PA is like being a resident your whole life and always having to look up to an authority. Baiscally PA’s do 80% of doctors but some people feel they want to do it all. Also you can be a doctor anywhere but the concept of PA is not worldwide and if someone moves to a country that the concept of PA didnt spread to, they lose their status and are a nurse or something similar. My thought is PA school dependeing on where you go is 3-4 years, and its hard, so if you are already going to put so much effort why dont you just go a little bit longer and do medical school

I think the original intent of Physician’s Assistants and CRNPs was a valid one but it has not panned out. Many PAs & CRNPs are great at what they do but a far greater number have been used less successfully as replacements for physicans (especially in emergency departments). PAs/CRNPs are ideal for clinics and urgicare centers. My thought process has always been that if you are going to go through all the trouble to become a PA why not go the the extra step to MD. The additional work will payoff ten fold in the future. Just my humble opinion.

you can open ure own practice as a dr. and make ure own hours. as a PA, ure always working for someone else, and really ure just a souped up nurse that can sometimes stand in for a dr. in a hospital i believe they are not appreciated, since there are plenty of dr.’s around, and there is never the situation that u would need a PA to make a final judgement call on anything. in say a pediatrics office there mite be like 1 dr. and so u would see lots of patients as if u were a Dr., but really.. alot of people still prefer to see a dr if they can, they are paying the same copay, and they are billing the same to the insurance, people feel they should get the most for their money, and they want to see a dr.

It’d be like being an intern your whole life. You’d always have to work under someone. Basically, you’d be able to accept the glory being a doctor, rather than just being an assistant.