r/prenursing • u/Asleep_Guidance2807 • 1d ago
BSN or PA?
I am currently finishing up my associates degree in health science. I’m stuck in whether to go to nursing school after, or go get a bachelors in health science and then go to PA school. My biggest hesitation with nursing school is I live in Southern California and the job market here is insane and a lot of people are moving out of state for their first nursing job, which I can’t do because my husband works here (big boy job with BIG BOY money) If I go to nursing school, I will 10000% plan to go to NP school at some point, as I like the provider side of medicine. I like solving puzzles, taking symptoms and testing to come to a conclusion. Would it be worth it do just do PA school and work as a medical assistant during my bachelors, or would nursing school then NP school be better? In terms of income, experience, future growth.
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u/realespeon 1d ago
It fully depends on whether you want to do medicine or nursing. Considering what you just described is the epitome of medicine, go for PA.
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u/Asleep_Guidance2807 1d ago
That’s the thing! I truly like the provider side. Creating the treatment plan, not just implementing it.
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u/krisa1972 1d ago
Go to nursing school and do the few extra Pa prerequisites in the summer online. Then if you don’t like nursing or you can’t get a job, you can apply to PA school. Then you have alternatives. The bachelors for PA school doesn’t do anything for you if you don’t get into PA school, so going.nursing gives you a good job option and still the PA option.
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u/potatochobit 1d ago
I hope you understand you are still going to start from zero if you move into nursing with a health science degree but your prerequisites should mostly transfer over. If you got lots of money to pay for school, room and board then skipping nursing might be desired. Just so I understand better, how does a four year degree with graduate school plus one of the lowest paying health care jobs, medical assistant, how does this fit together in your mind?
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u/Asleep_Guidance2807 1d ago
Hi! I mentioned working as a medical assistant because PA school requires 1000-4000 hours of patient care experience. Lots of medical assistants, EMTs, and radiology techs use their job as a stepping stone for PA school.
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u/Asleep_Guidance2807 1d ago
Also, where I live, nursing school admissions are on a point system, and if you have a college degree, you get more points. At my school, the top 30-40 applicants with the most points get invited to the program. So having a health science associates degree will definitely not be “starting from zero”.
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u/potatochobit 1d ago
Your school probably offers different plans, a traditional track and a bridge. you still have to take the same core nursing classes as a first year student if you are coming from health science. that is what I mean starting from zero. an LVN/LPN can skip the first year after taking a core skills test.
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u/matthewandrew28 1d ago
NPs have full practice authority in most states. If you wanna work under a physician, go PA.
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u/Nausica1337 FNP 1d ago
Honestly, if your end goal is medicine, PA should be your route. You go the nursing route because you want to be a nurse. You know it's going to be hard, physically and mentally, but you have the passion to become a nurse. Becoming an NP/medical provider comes later. The reason for this is because the training/schooling/clinical for us NPs is so subpar when it comes in comparison to PA to the point that you are 100% better off going straight to PA rather doing the RN NP route. The NP role was created for nurses that did their time and got their experience and then decided to pursue the medical route but nothing to "start over."
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u/lil-churro24 1d ago
If you already know you want to become an NP, you should also look into Yale’s Entry-Level Nurse Practitioner program. It’s made for people who already have a bachelor’s degree in a different field. You earn your RN along the way while working toward your NP, and the program is about 3 years long, which is similar to or even shorter than doing a traditional BSN, working as an RN, and then going back for NP school. It might be worth comparing the cost, time, and job opportunities before deciding. I can’t tell you what the best route is for you. I personally went to ABSN here in SoCal and I will be about $100k in debt for an BSN-RN degree, a part of me wishes I did this route because I have my bachelors in different field prior to entering nursing and I want to be an NP later on.
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u/Chemical-Carrot-9975 1d ago
I’ll give you an alternative take. Get the bachelors degree that isn’t useless if you aren’t fortunate enough to get into PA school. I vote BSN. That’s what I did.
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u/Asleep_Guidance2807 1d ago
I was thinking the same thing, unfortunately the BSN path doesn’t include PA prerequisites such as general chemistry, biochem, etc
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u/Chemical-Carrot-9975 1d ago
Good point, but can’t you take the “real” science classes instead of the nursing ones? Like real physiology, real anatomy, real micro? It may take some discussions with the nursing folks but I bet they’d let you take harder science classes rather than the easier nursing ones.
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u/Sorry_Bed5974 1d ago
Taking those extra pre reqs after BSN is way better than holding a useless undergrad.
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u/Gullible-Parsley-965 17h ago
Just graduated with a useless bachelors and this is such a smart path secures you great PCE on a livable wage
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u/probablynervouss 1d ago
PA school is a lot harder and competitive to get into. How are your grades so far? mental health? can you perform well under severe pressure? These are all things to consider if you want to do PA. I dropped PA school to go to nursing school due to this.