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Right now I work in management at my company. I enjoy my line of work enough but its not something I'm really passionate about. I'm in my mid-20s so I feel now is the time to make a change. I want to switch to the medical field and am thinking of becoming a physician assistant but I will need to take pre-reqs, the GRE, and three years of PA school before I can get into the field. I planned to take the pre-req courses while I work and then once I finish apply to PA school and quit my job as school is full time only. So basically I would be a struggling school student again.
I was talking to my mother, father, and some older ladies (in their 50s) at my job and they said I would be crazy to walk away from my job because I have excelled so much in it. They admonished me for being young and dumb and said when I get older I will see that what matters most is having a good paying job that you can tolerate. I do make a very good salary at my job and I am definitely grateful to be employed, especially during these rough economic times. So this has gotten me kind of scared to make the jump into the unknown.
From my understanding, PAs make a good salary right out the door, possibly better than what you could make in management. If you think PA work is something you'd be passionate about, I'd say go for it. It pays well and you'd like it. I don't see many downfalls, quite frankly.
I say go for it. Why be stuck in something that you aren't happy doing? If you are going to make the switch, now would be the best time to do it while your young. Ten years from now you might be in a different stage in your life and the move would be close to impossible
Right now I work in management at my company. I enjoy my line of work enough but its not something I'm really passionate about. I'm in my mid-20s so I feel now is the time to make a change. I want to switch to the medical field and am thinking of becoming a physician assistant but I will need to take pre-reqs, the GRE, and three years of PA school before I can get into the field. I planned to take the pre-req courses while I work and then once I finish apply to PA school and quit my job as school is full time only. So basically I would be a struggling school student again.
I was talking to my mother, father, and some older ladies (in their 50s) at my job and they said I would be crazy to walk away from my job because I have excelled so much in it. They admonished me for being young and dumb and said when I get older I will see that what matters most is having a good paying job that you can tolerate. I do make a very good salary at my job and I am definitely grateful to be employed, especially during these rough economic times. So this has gotten me kind of scared to make the jump into the unknown.
Am I being unwise in this?
Only unwise if you make decisions and quit your job before you are a definite shoe in to a PA program.
Nothing wrong with taking the pre-reqs. In fact, I had considered it about 2 years ago to go back to Veterinary School. I did not have a biology major so when I looked at all of the coursework I had to accomplish I considered it to be difficult, but not impossible.
At the end of the day with my work load and my "time values" I realized that going back to vet school was a pipe dream. There was no way I was going to expend the time to diligently study for every pre-req to be competitive (i.e. straight 4.0 scores -- vet school is typically more difficult to enter than med school or PA school due to the lack of institutions).
My cousin's husband is completing the necessary pre-reqs to go to PA school under the Army. He is doing very very well (so far straight As) BUT it is weighing heavily on his family (he is 31 years of age). It is tough with his full time job in the military and having a wife and toddler. It is a lot of sacrifice to even just get there and pretty much he has been told by the Army if he excels at the pre-reqs they will send him to school in Texas (I think it is actually easier for him than say a civilian since he just has to contend with what the Army decides).
So basically, take some pre-reqs but make an educated decision. If you make As in the first class-- move on-- if you start to struggle realize that there is probably no point with how competitive it will be to get into school.
MissingATL, I'm never one to stand in the way of anyone's dreams. But I'm afraid you might take the WRONG way to try and get there.
Here's what I think would be a mistake: quitting your job and then getting started on the road to becoming a PA. You start your "new life" with no cash flow, no guarantee of getting into a PA program or a job afterwards, and you incur debt. Debt is the #1 killer of dreams.
Here's how I think you should change that: stay at your job, study for GREs at night, and pass it. Do not quit your job until there is evidence that you can get into the PA program/become a PA afterwards.
Don't be like the thousands of students out there who quit their corporate jobs, incur tens of thousands of dollars of debt to go to law school only to find out their are no jobs available and that they need to start making loan repayments on all that money they borrowed.
Whatever you do choose to do, do not incur DEBT. Good luck.
I can't say if you are being unwise or not, but if you truly want to go back to get a certificate or degree I think that you should work your way through and pay as you go rather than get any type of loan. Because having a degree, no job in your chosen field, and a loan over your head really stinks.
Right now I work in management at my company. I enjoy my line of work enough but its not something I'm really passionate about. I'm in my mid-20s so I feel now is the time to make a change. I want to switch to the medical field and am thinking of becoming a physician assistant but I will need to take pre-reqs, the GRE, and three years of PA school before I can get into the field. I planned to take the pre-req courses while I work and then once I finish apply to PA school and quit my job as school is full time only. So basically I would be a struggling school student again.
I was talking to my mother, father, and some older ladies (in their 50s) at my job and they said I would be crazy to walk away from my job because I have excelled so much in it. They admonished me for being young and dumb and said when I get older I will see that what matters most is having a good paying job that you can tolerate. I do make a very good salary at my job and I am definitely grateful to be employed, especially during these rough economic times. So this has gotten me kind of scared to make the jump into the unknown.
Am I being unwise in this?
I believe in following your own dream but given the economic crisis we are experiencing now where there is high unemployment rate, it wouldn’t be a good idea for now to resign and change career path not unless you're sure that you'll get a high pay on your career aside from giving you happiness. Try to research the job availability of Physician Assistants and its pay rate then compare their pay rate to your pay rate now. It would be best to wait for a while or think a hundred times before going on with your plan.
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