Why PA School Is Not a Backup To Medical School

I’ve heard many students say “If I don't get into medical school, I will just apply to PA school as my backup!”. There are a few issues with this thought process. While PAs and physicians have many similar job responsibilities (working with patients, prescribing medications, choosing specialties etc.), the path to getting accepted into PA school and medical school differ more than you might think. Here are some of the reasons why PA school is not a reliable backup plan if medical school ends up not working out.

Reason #1: Patient Contact Hours & Experiences:

This is by far the most prominent difference in terms of PA school applications. To be accepted into PA school, you are required to obtain a certain number of direct patient care hours. These hours typically must be paid and include direct interaction with patients. Most PA schools have their minimums set at 200-500 hours of experience, however many programs would like to see even more than this. To ensure yourself as a competitive applicant, you should aim for somewhere between 1,000 and 2,500 hours of experience. This requirement is very different from medical school, which does not have any set requirements for direct patient care experience. If you decide at the last minute to apply to PA school, you likely will not have these hours completed for your application. 

Additionally, some things that would make you a competitive applicant for medical school hold little to no weight as a PA school applicant. For example, medical schools value research experience a lot. However, PA schools don't really seem to care much about research done in undergrad. 

Reason #2: Class Requirements:

While there is certainly overlap between the classes required for medical school and the classes required for PA school, they are not exactly the same. The prerequisite classes for medical school are often very similar across the board, no matter where you decide to apply. There is a bit more variance for PA programs. If you are seriously considering PA school, you will need to look into your programs of interest to make sure you are completing the requirements (which may not always be the same) for your programs of interest. 

Reason #3: Competitiveness:

PA school and medical school are both extremely competitive programs with thousands of applicants each cycle. However, becoming a PA is growing a bit faster as a profession than being a physician is currently. There are roughly ~30,000 applicants each year in the United States and only about 32% get accepted. Medical school has more average applicants (~50,000 per year), with a slightly higher acceptance percentage at about 41%. Applicants who have been working most of their time in undergrad towards completing the PA school requirements are likely to be more prepared and competitive in the application process than someone who is applying as a “plan B”. 

What does all of this mean? 

This is not meant to defer one from switching career paths from medical school to PA school. It is possible to switch and be successful. However, if you are going to make this change, you should do so as early in your undergrad years as possible. If you decide later on and are set on PA school, look into completing a gap year or 2 to get your experiences up to speed before applying. 

By Mikayla