How to Have a Successful Career in Medicine without Debt ( What I wish I had known)

If you’re early in your education and considering medicine thinking maybe I want to be a Doctor, before you start out out on that 8+ more years of sitting in a classroom, hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, consider some happier options in the medical field. A Physician's Assistant (PA) and Nurse Practitioner with a Master’s in Nursing (MSN) all make over $100k/year saving lives working with doctors and many even end up coming out close to the same as doctors! These are less stressful, higher job satisfaction, less debt and more flexible options to being a doctor. In these professionals you are also able to work along the way and avoid years of debt and they also don’t require years of Organic Chemistry or other more obscure science classes which you will rarely if ever use.

First off the Physician’s Assistant or PA ( not Pennsylvania)  are growing in demand twice as fast as medical doctors meaning you're way more likely to have good job offers when you are done. Like doctors, Physician assistants can perform physical exams, diagnose illness and develop treatment strategies, order and interpret lab tests, counsel patients, perform various medical procedures, assist in surgical operations, and in most states write prescriptions.

You can immediately get valuable hands on experience helping people that will help pay for your classes and keep you out of debt. Many of the programs actually require hours of paid experience and your application only gets better the more hours you put in.  Working as an EMT or paramedic, Combat medic, Registered Nurse (RN), licensed practical nurse, EEG or EKG (heart) technician, Emergency room technician, Physical therapy aide, CNA ( nursing assistant, sometimes called a patient care assistant), Medical Assistant, Respiratory therapist, Dietician, Phlebotomist or even doing International healthcare based mission trips, Hospice and many others can all count as patient care hours that help your application to become a PA. (Just check the school you’re interested in applying to.)  Rather than being stuck in a classroom paying money, you can be making money getting valuable experience that will help you in your future profession. You also have more flexible hours!

Although traditionally a female profession, nursing is also an amazing place to start out in the medical field to learn as you go no matter who you are. There is still a demand growing much faster for nurses than doctors and you can can find a job practically wherever you live. The easiest and probably least expensive way to start start nursing is at a nearby community college many have an associates RN program that takes 2 years to complete. There are also a lot of private more expensive programs as well, although if the program near you is impacted consider looking a few miles more rural and you can likely find a less full program. If you do not want to go straight into 2 years you can also start out even lower as a CNA, LPN (licensed practical nurse) or LVN (licensed vocational nurse) getting valuable patient care hours and getting paid. And if you have a less job friendly degree in something like psychology there is still hope! There are a lot of entry level programs and you can still work towards a bachelors degree in nursing while taking the pre-reqs.

Probably the best part about nursing other than the high pay, great benefits and established profession (which means great hours, benefits many other perks) is that if you do have any desire to move up the medical ladder and have the power, prestige and pride of a doctor, there are tons of programs designed to help nurses get their bachelors, then masters and even PhD in nursing or nursing related fields. The room for advancement is wide open and well paved. You can easily be making a decent amount of money as a nurse and take classes at night or online or just work a few shifts less and get ahead in the industry while your med school peers are still racking up more and more debt with little actual experience to show for it. Many of the prerequisites for these programs can even be done online while still working.

Fight the male nurse stereotype!

So why would anyone still want to be a doctor? Those who do need the independence, control or recognition that come from being in charge. This comes with responsibility though and many times where nurses and PA's make mistakes it is the doctor who is held accountable. Although there may be a few select individuals where it still makes sense to pursue MD the vast majority of younger students that I come into contact with would have a much happier life and are more satisfied with the career of a PA or Nurse. Likewise, many of the nurses and PA's I meet are overall are much happier, and have a much better work life balance than the Med School friends I know. This shows in studies which show PA ranked as 3rd best job and MD ranked as 17 and doctors are more likely than the general working population to show signs of burnout and to be dissatisfied with their work life balance. You want to read more about it in these forums. Although many young students think they're the smartest most driven and need to prove it by going med school with time and experience for the majority of students the less prestigious more grounded approach will actually lead to more happiness. In the end its a choice each student has to make for themselves but before committing so much debt time and energy I think its at least considering the less extreme options.

 Full list of PA schools with tuition. https://www.thepalife.com/pa-school-tuition-2017/

 https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/2014/08/25/weigh-becoming-a-physician-assistant-instead-of-a-medical-doctor