deciding PA or MD in canada
ok imjust gonna rant bc i am going a little crazy and need some outside perspectives/experiences if anyone would care enough to read all dis, i would post this to the PA community but its dead asf so sorry if this is annoying just ignore it; im going into my 3rd year of undergrad, and as an indecisive person i always knew i wanted to go into healthcare but never knew what. ive been between dental, pa, med, anesthesiologist asisstant, etc and have only been able to narrow it down to PA or med bc i although i like dentists lifestyle im not passionate about teeth. also i would want to be an AA but for whatever reason in canada they want ppl who were RNs or RTs beforehand, all imma have is a bio degree + i want to interact and care for patients directly which AAs dont rlly do. when i first heard about the PA profession all the research i did was based on US PAs who have a much broader scope of practice and earn alot, so i felt a sense of relief because it seemed like my dream career and i could finally commit myself to something, but when i found out thats not the case in canada im back to square one. i want to help people and study medicine but i dont like school and cannot fathom going to med school for yearsss after im done undergrad. med school is also really expensive and i dont want to be in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, so i would only really want to commit to my current universities md program as the tuition is lower, its 3 years instead of 4, id have a higher chance of getting in by being an in province applicant and i could live at home to avoid living expenses. with this logic i dont know if its worth it to even try for med school because theres only one id really wanna go to plus i know its insanely competitive and i just dont think i could compete with all my crazy smart peers with millions of extracurriculars. i also get sick to my stomach thinking about the MCAT or going through all of med school jsut to not match into what i wanted (derm, peds, or psychiatry which are all fairly competitive), and im also an easily depressed/demotivated person and consrtantly stressed so i think med school would chew me up and spit me out. everything about the PA profession appeals to me - learning medicine (obv not to the extent of a doctor) in a shorter amount of time, being able to practice and provide patient care after 2 years, lateral mobility, i like working in teams and i dont really care to be the top boss as long as im respected and can still have autonomy to treat and diagnose, etc. Its just the compensation and job scope in canada. Not being able to practice in the US is another thing deterring me, because originally i thought id just do PA school here inmy city to pay less tuition but then practice in the states and make US money. I could go to PA school in the US which would let me practice in both countries, but i have no idea how complicated that process can be as a non-US citizen and tuition is way more expensive there not to mention id be paying as an international student. i do know that the profession is growing in canada and if compensation went up with it i would probably just choose PA but i cant guarantee the future and that rlly scares me bc school is a big commitment and i am not from a wealthy family so i dont have any money to throw away. if any canadian PAs are out there (its hard to find any) pls give me some insight and your job satisfaction, or if anyone is/has been in a similar situation how did u make ur decision pls and ty