Physicians Associate Applicants 2024

Hi, I'm a 3rd year biomedical science student about to submit my application for MSc PA at Bolton and Manchester. Does anyone have any tips on the personal statement/interviews?

Has anyone applied to SGUL this year?

Ive got in for undergraduate PA at reading university
Anyone else.?

Yeah same, did u get in for undergrad PA at UCLan too or did u not apply there

No i applied medicine , so PA was my fifth option.
I haven't got any medicine offers so far so i don't know if i should take a gap year and reapply or do PA

Hopefully u do get medicine offers but if you don’t and u really really want to be a doctor then take a gap year, but if you are unsure I suggest you weigh up all the pros and cons that u view of a doctor and a PA and go from there. I also applied to medicine but then I realised that PA seems more suitable for me

Thank you ,
If you don't mind can you tell me a few reasons PA is more suitable for you?
I'm struggling to decide between both careers.
x

Of course! Some of these reasons are more personal to me and they may or may not apply to u, just a little heads up. (1) they have a better work life balance, a lot of doctors just seem very stressed and the late night shifts on call and overall responsibility seems very draining whereas physician associates still do the same things as doctors but with a better work life balance (2) less time in uni, even tho it’s only a 1-2 year difference even after that PA start on band 7 and don’t have to go through training, they have a decent starting salary so less debt for me too (3) don’t have to only specialise in one thing, because they are generalists, personally for me I’d feel like I would struggle choosing what to specialise in knowing I’m going to be doing that for the rest of my life and can’t change unless I go through a long training process again whereas PA can switch (4) they will be regulated by GMC soon which may open up doors for them eg a prescribing course is likely to be available and who knows what more will come…. So these are some of my reasons, hope it helps

Hi!, I'd just like to clarify that: 2) PAs do NOT do the same thing as doctors. Please don't push this lie as there is already significant distrust with the PA profession due to the continuing blurring of the role with medics.

Of course! Some of these reasons are more personal to me and they may or may not apply to u, just a little heads up. (1) they have a better work life balance, a lot of doctors just seem very stressed and the late night shifts on call and overall responsibility seems very draining whereas physician associates still do the same things as doctors but with a better work life balance (2) less time in uni, even tho it’s only a 1-2 year difference even after that PA start on band 7 and don’t have to go through training, they have a decent starting salary so less debt for me too (3) don’t have to only specialise in one thing, because they are generalists, personally for me I’d feel like I would struggle choosing what to specialise in knowing I’m going to be doing that for the rest of my life and can’t change unless I go through a long training process again whereas PA can switch (4) they will be regulated by GMC soon which may open up doors for them eg a prescribing course is likely to be available and who knows what more will come…. So these are some of my reasons, hope it helps

Thank you so much , this is so helpful.
I wanted to do medicine due to patient interaction and being able to diagnose and prescribe.
As PA should be able to do so , by the time i graduate i'm learning more towards it now.
In the future , I would also like to move abroad so I need to check to see if PA degrees in the UK are recognized in other parts of the world.

They do the main thing meaning seeing patients figuring out a diagnosis and a treatment plan but they just can’t prescribe or order ionising radiation. What can’t they do? Or what do u think since you’re saying they don’t do the same thing as doctors

PAs are trained to manage diagnoses for patients with straightforward conditions. Their training stipulates that they should not assess undifferentiated patients without supervision. There is not enough doctors in the NHS to safely supervise a PA, therefore they can only do a fraction of the tasks that doctors do. When you try to compare the roles, I ask you kindly to ensure you make it clear there is significant difference between them. This clarity is essential as there appears to be some distrust towards PAs, much of which may stem from misunderstandings about their role. I hope I make my point clearly and in no way do I mean any disrespect

Fair enough, I only said what I did because I meant that they both focus on the scientific aspect of healthcare in comparison to nurses perhaps, but yes I agree, by the way are you a PA/doctor/student if u don’t mind me asking

Of course not🙂 I am a current grad med student, I work with some PA colleagues and was a PA applicant myself