Why I quit my 6 figure job as a PA in medicine
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- After 5 years, I have finally decided that primary care and urgent care are not for me. It has become abundantly clear to me that America’s healthcare system is not about prevention at all, but instead waiting for things to happen to then treat them. I finally took the leap. I am trusting in myself and a higher power and leaving my job that made me over $200k in a year. I have no clue where I’m going from here. But holistic wellness is what I truly believe in.
Cardiologist here for 27 years. Finally gave up 3 years ago and got out of the system. Great video and well thought out. We go into medicine to help people. Current administrators never understand that!
Thanks for sharing this! So true. That's because most administrators aren't healthcare providers. I've seen the best success in places being run by MDs/surgeons and those who understand the science and medical processes.
Why would they? It’s about the bottom line. Helathcare workers are commodities disposable and replaceable.
bro open your practice what do you mean? F the hospitals, run your own places man!
I just got accepted into PA school. I'm glad that you posted this, it's important to hear all perspectives within Healthcare.
Consider surgical PA if you can. Most of the PAs I have worked with in the OR like what they do. I think it does depend on if you find a good doc to work with. Luckily most surgeons are decent, surprisingly. Can't speak for cardiology though.
I have been a FNP for 14 years and my trajectory was similar to yours-even worked at a FHQC for a few years. This is such a real and accurate overview of the current state of things!!! The stress, the trying to work in a system that drains the life out of you with less return. The turmoil because you want to help people but the system is designed that you do it at your own mental health risk…I completely relate. Good luck in your next chapter!
Current PA and just started a new job that have unfortunately highlighted my burn out symptoms. This was very well worded and deeply resonated with me. I have lots to ponder about my career and personal happiness going forward. Thank you for sharing!
We are living the same experience, PA, from an immigrant background, I hate being a PA and I hate the medical system and I’ve only been practicing for 1 year. Looking for jobs that are non-clinical at this point, and I’m not going to let fear of failure or disappointing my family hold me back from pursuing a better lifestyle. Thank you for being so honest!
Thank you so much for sharing! Getting over the fact I might disappoint my family was hard and brought many tears. I finally moved through that and realized they will love me no matter what, and ultimately, they just want me to be happy. I hope you found a better job
@@krystenvazquezWhat kind of job are you doing now? I worked in healthcare as a PTA, which you would think is a lot easier and less stressful….wrong! I think anything in healthcare now is a train wreck.
Question for you, would you be looking into administrative, research, or more public health roles ? Update us if you can and when you find your new role.
PAs, MDs, Nurses, Physical therapists, etc are never paid enough for all the mental/physical strain that is endured in healthcare. Wish you all the best sweetheart
Compensation for 'all the mental/ physical strain endured' probably can not be monetary. Rather, you enter the healthcare field more as a vocation than a career. It makes all the difference.
You're amazing! I am also a PA on a similar journey. I'm so glad there are people like you. Looking forward to watching your channel grow!
Aww thank you so much! I appreciate your kind words and support!
I guess I'll pass on spending 300k to be a PA! Thanks for saving me the trouble.
??? PA schools don’t even cost that much. An average program is like 80k all together even less for some schools
@@queenawill3542 I live in a very expensive state and can't relocate due to my spouse's job. And I'm factoring in cost of living while in school (lol yes I got real nerdy when I factored everything in).
Edit: I mean to say the schools in my state are expensive and only 3 to choose from.
Don’t let someone else’s experience be yours if you haven’t tried for yourself
@@queenawill3542 they do in California
@@queenawill3542 please let me know where you have seen that price for school! I have been looking for potential programs and all I see are 110,000 or more. 😩😩😩
This was so powerful! Thank you for having the courage to share your story. I could feel how much your patients and parents affect you. I have immigrant parents and I struggle with others’ illiteracy in healthcare, too. Stay strong! Hope you are in a happier place since you have posted this.
Thank you for sharing your story from this healthcare angle. Unfortunately that is the same story I hear from many people in different occupations. Employees are overworked, underpaid, depressed , and lost.
Congrats on taking the brave leap! I am in your same corner…I work in pain management and it definitely takes a HUGE toll on me mentally and emotionally. And the worst thing is the time it’s taken away from me being able to be with my family. I haven’t taken a single mental health day all year but I only have 2 more days left that I’m “allowed” to take off for the rest of the year. It’s AUGUST!!!
And like you said, it’s not about the money. If it was about money, I’d be fine to stay where I am. But my family and my peace of mind mean WAY more to me than money.
Very well articulated on so many levels! I’ve been a PA for 10 years, and everything she says is accurate. And she shows great perspective. It sounds like she was a great provider, I hope she has found her way back into healthcare in some way.
I couldn’t relate more! I’m 5 years as primary care PA. 3 years in private practice and 2 years in corporate medicine where I’m at currently. I have been grappling with burn out for all the exact reasons you have mentioned. It’s so grim where our health care is and there is no wonder the patients have distrust.
Blessings for you wherever you end up.
It's all about finding the right work environment with the right people! Changes everything
Yep, I’m struggling with this in nursing. Glad to know I’m not alone, thank you for sharing your experience so much! 😢
As a PA I felt this whole video...Thank you SO MUCH for sharing.. I quit a month from today from my burnt out overworked position.. I'm just being right now...
Love to hear this! I have been there! There are other options out there! Will post another update soon! Sending much love and healing to you and enjoy the time off!
Your integrity and insight are WONDERFUL! Great vid. Very inspiring.
You have put words to everything I have been feeling as an NP. Thank you
As a PA, this hits home and so many ways... Thanks for sharing!
God bless you. You addressed all my fears and concerns on becoming a PA. I’m getting ready to apply in april, I work as a PTA in home health make 100k and have zero debt. I’m really thinking the grass is greener on the other side. Been working towards PA for the past few years that I felt was the path, but I’m afraid I’m going to trap myself in a regretful situation
The grass is truly greener where we water it! I will say, being a PA you most likely will be paid more than as a PTA, but with at least $150k in debt, not sure if it's worth it. Especially with the uncertainty of the future of healthcare and the economy! Godspeed!
Can you share what you didnt like about the PTA field? I always thought that Physical Therapy would have been a good choice, but again thats always looking at it from the outside.
This is truly amazing! In recent months, this is the 4th very touching account of a similar experience with a medical professional that I have received. Thank you very much for the courage to share your situation. What will it take for the system to stop & do an effective self analysis with a view towards fixing this situation! This is beyond broken & needs intervention to prevent a catastrophic collapse. I hope something is done real soon. Once again, thank you very much.
Krysten, your video has made me tear up. I am pre pa and applied this cycle and my acceptances are still in the air but there is resistance I’m feeling about being a pa. It doesn’t feel Right for all the reasons you stated in This video. And because it’s a “dream” I’ve had for a while now. But the truth is I don’t dream of this and I’m passionate about other things that have to do with preventative care. But I thought pa was a more stable job that would guarantee me money. Thank you for this video because you literally put all my thoughts into this video and I’m glad others are going through the same thing.
Yep! I'm realizing it's not all about money. What good is money if your mental health is in the toilet and you can't leave the house? Pursue what brings you happiness and joy. I'm at a point where I realize happiness isn't what we're sold as high schoolers. If you do what you love, people feel it and are able to receive the genuine energy you share and your passion and will support you.
Wow, I definitely resonate with this and I haven't even entered the medical field/PA school yet but have always been on the pre-health path. I definitely want the medical knowledge that PA school can provide me so that I CAN make a difference, even if that looks different than what the traditional PA-C career would entail post-graduation. I resonate with your statements a TON and that's why I've always considered perhaps choosing a more holistic, naturopathic route, which would look like (so far) 1) either pursuing an ND (they tend to spend a longer time with their patients in their offices, yet I still want at least a balance between western and eastern/more holistic medicine), 2) being in the medical field as a PA but practicing in integrative or functional medicine or 3) maybe even becoming a health coach or nutritionist - I feel like that combined with the medical knowledge you already have may be extremely valuable (not that any of these would significantly help with the pay situation to what I'm aware of :/). I echo what someone else mentioned here in the comments that the skills you gained in PA school coupled with your genuine passions are worth a TON. It's a truly unfortunate time we live in, but I hope you can sleep well at night knowing that the only reasons why you even have these concerns and predicaments in the first place is because you ACTUALLY care and wish to make a difference, whereas maybe someone else in your shoes would not care to this extent and just work for the money. I rather be haunted by my passions to figure out how best to truly heal and help others appropriately than to either 1) not care at all for it or 2) be completely oblivious to it. At least at the end of the day I hope you can relish in the fact that you have this self-awareness and love, not just for your patients and people around you, but for yourself to be able to make these decisions and to have these conversations. I hope you find a comfortable way to consolidate and address all of your concerns and plans in the near future. I wish I could offer advice but I only recently graduated from undergrad so in terms of experience and wisdom it seems there's not much I can offer. I am still struggling with this same exact path myself. I doubt I have ever commented on UA-cam before, but again, your message truly resonated with me so I felt called to - I'm also a fellow Latina here (guatemalan :)) trying my best to support our people and find a way to bridge the gap in our system. I wish you all the best and thank you for all your hard work in the field. (btw I see you've also continued yoga like you said you would in the video, I hope that's going well!)
Thank you so much for your beautiful words and heartfelt response! I was just in your beautiful country studying with the Mayan T'zutujil people! One of my favorite places I've traveled thus far! I am uploading a video about where I'm at right now because I didn't realize so many people felt similarly. My knowledge was definitely given to me for a reason and I'm still figuring it out day by day! The health coach route (which is what I tried initially) is not all it's cracked up to be. I feel like you need thousands of followers to have steady clientele or you need to charge $500/session to sustain yourself. For me, it didn't feel aligned or like my true calling, so I got my certification and used it a handful of times. I think functional/integrative medicine is the way to go, I just haven't found a place that is affordable and inclusive of those who aren't wealthy or with top tier insurance. I hope you found some clarity on your path! But even if you haven't, I feel like many of us don't either! We're all just walking around figuring it out and helping each other along the way
This is so REAL. Idc who crap talks this post. You're onto something here.
Thank you for this 🙏
Really really great and honest perspective. Im an RN at an urgent care and everything is just as you described
Awesome information thank you!!!!!!!
I’m a PA student, starting second year. I’m glad I didn’t go to medical school.
This video was posted one year ago. I am curious, where are you today? Did you go back to medicine? Are you still working in the hospitals/clinics?
Thank you for sharing. I am a Pre - PA student with 5+ years of healthcare experience and am always researching the good, the bad and the ugly with this and other careers. I’m wondering about pursing the PA profession via the military route and taking a role in infectious disease or surgery.
Yes I was interested in that too! The military offers a lot of benefits like loan repayment or free tuition if you go to school after serving. Specialty practice is definitely the way to go until we undergo some serious healthcare system renovations in this country! There was a former Army vet in my PA class who now works in the pediatric ER and he loves his job. Got all his tuition, books, etc for free. Pretty sure he had no regrets. All the best!
"That's all the diversity they could find?" Wtf? No! Wake Forest accepts the best and brightest, not the most diverse. What a joke.
OMG. THAT WAS THE MOST HONORABLE THING THAT YOU DID. I GIVE YOU PLENTY OF CREDIT FOR YOUR CONCERN TO PREVENT RATHER THAN TREAT ILLNESSES AND DISEASES.
I have been doing ENEMAS, PILATES, YOGA AND YOGALATES for preventing diseases and illnesses and to treat them if I should get sick, detoxing, fitness, health and wellness since 1995 when I was 13 years old.
My channel is based on my personal experiences doing enemas, pilates, yoga and yogalates.
I can completely relate to you! I had a very similar PA school experience in a homogenous PA program, and felt like the odd one out. My first job out of school was at a FQHC...I loved my patients, but management and my SP were about RVUs, getting patients through, and could care less about them. The whole environment made me depressed and made me question why I went into medicine. I appreciate seeing your journey and your openess to talk about it, thank you and good luck!
Thank you for sharing, Kathryn! I appreciate you. FQHCs really need an entirely new infrastructure. It's pretty sad. There are DEFINITELY better options out there and I hope you found a better job
As someone who lives in central NC I totally get that culture shock 😂
I feel you. I’m buying real estate as I’m in home health to stay away from the hospital. The minute I have enough I’m gone
Nice video thanks for sharing
I applaud her integrity. I only hope that fate is kind to her.
Got rejection emails from pa programs. Don't think I will reapply. Thanks.
Thank you!!!
Did you ever explore opportunities to work holistically as a PA? Anyway, congrats on making a big decision for you. I believe strongly in preventative/holistic medicine as well.
Coming from Mexican immigrants who like yours grinded and scrimped and saved to get where they are today, I completely get the “All work is hard, don’t complain” mentality. I’m an RN presently in the ER but yes, the system is about money. I try my best to do patient teaching but what I find is most lay people don’t want to hear what you want to say. They just want to do what they want, smoke, drink, and eat what they want and then want you to fix them. I try to educate as much as I can but seeing the revolving door of the same patient over and over gives me pause to wanting to pursue a higher degree. If you don’t care, then why should I? The only thing that keeps me going is that small percent that actually do care and actively try to change themselves for the better.
Imposter Syndrome. Is real. I’m a longtime Cardiology PA….
I literally told my wife tonight (before I saw this) that I’m ready to walk away from medicine..
Thank you for sharing this! Sometimes I read people's reaction comments to this and I think to myself "they either have never worked in healthcare or they're robotically working in healthcare". May you find peace and fulfillment!
I quit clinical medicine. I leveraged my medical degree and now I work in administrative roles, medical expert witness and other non-patient care pursuits. That's right. If only I could use my powers for good instead of evil.
I've been
a PA for 18 years and like you I am seeking non clinical rolls. Can you tell me how you got into those roles so that I can possibly do the same and put my years of experience to good use?
Not a PA but a respiratory therapist. I just started my new job, and i regret it already.
Sorry to hear! Hope it will get better or that you find something else that brings you peace and happiness.
I love this 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
👍 yup. Primary care fqhc here - year 8! Never had a student loan a day in my life - It’s all just by choice , and yup! 👍 ❤
Heavy on the mental health part. I’m 28 and I’m tired of dealing with society. People are so nasty. There’s a reason why god didn’t make me a nurse which was what I was doing in college but dropped out now I know there was a reason and eventually like you I would’ve given up that job.
GO OFF SIS!!!!!!!
I look to Jesus, He has never failed me yet
Look to THE ONE GOD, Jesus Christ is HIS servant and holy prophet.
Hi, Just wanted to know does PA grads have opportunities right after their PA school. I already worked as doctor in other country but here I’m trying to learn about PA school and the career. I am very much interested in medical oncology PA if you can provide me with insight it would be really helpful. Thank you!
There is a huge demand for PAs and most health care workers in US. You would have no problem finding a job. However, the U S health care system is in trouble. Insurance companies control a lot what care a patient receives. Health care is very expensive and those with no insurance often get no care because of money or no insurance. Things are not ideal at all but learn about things here, be realistic and listen to this lady’s experiences for guidance. Good luck
Hi! Yes, you graduate, take your boards exams and if you do it proactively, you can have a job waiting for you when you pass your boards. That was my experience. Here in the US, especially very busy cities that have too many patients and not enough providers, PAs are very autonomous and see patients and perform procedures on our own. Here in NYC, places are always hiring, especially for primary care and urgent care, just depends specialty, time of year, turnaround of the place you're applying to, etc. Hope this helps!
What corporate job did you do if I may ask?
I really appreciate her input!right all the money in the world will not cure your issues. America is distortly confused! This girl tells the real!
The best life style....
Eat raw food, yoga and fresh loving life!!! A simple life is the best life! No pressure
I wanted to go to medical school to help my community but I gave up on it. Now I don’t know what other career would give me the opportunity to help the Latino community.
TV and school will never show or tell you what the "Real World" is like in any profession.
Why do they have kids if they are struggling so much though? This world isnt fair, if you know your born poor maybe its not the best idea to put yourself behind the eight ball by bringing more children into poverty.
I hear you, but hindsight is 20/20. I can't speak for the decisions of others though, we're each on our own journey.
It’s kind of an interesting phenomenon. When you’re poor, you hang on to the hope your kids will do better than you. The more wealthy you are, the more educated and “self aware” you are and you kind of just want to enjoy your life, rather than focus on raising the next generation. ALSO, you have to invest A LOT into kids education if you want them to be equally or even more successful in richer areas of living compared to poorer countries. (Take with grain of salt, I have no direct research backing this up)
By any chance, did you happen to work for urban health plan????? You’re describing EVERYTHING I went through . I worked with them in peds and school health. Very humbling…. Yes! Forever job… no. Made some lifelong friends for sure. Wish you all the best
oh wow! yes i did! Crazy how everyone has the same experience!
I have never understood why seeing a PA is the same price as seeing an MD.........while the PA is the lesser degree, it is the same as seeing a MD.
What's crazy though is that they bill the insurance companies more when you see an MD vs seeing a PA at many places, even though many times, we often do the exact same thing. We're in need of some serious improvement in our healthcare system.
@@krystenvazquez I had no idea, that's crazy but seems to be on par with the system's idea of right/fair and wrong.
Wise move❤
Just curious...What was the interest rate on your student loans?
So inspiring !
Thank you!
Come to acupuncture and oriental medicine ! I reside with your story so much and had a similar thought process!
Thank you! Maybe I should check this out!
Western medicine is only good for emergency medicine and surgery, any chronic ailments that are not life threatening acute conditions, western medicine is ineffective. Pharmaceuticals are not for long term consumption for the human body.
90k in NYC as a PA is complete robbery. For all you new grad PAs do not take anything less than 100k, even in non HCOL states that is a low ball.
I was getting 120k in kansas at an ortho practice when i started out and the cost of living here at a 140k pop. city was 950$ for a good apartment on the best side of town.
My advice is to just avoid NYC, it is ridiculously expensive and they don’t pay their workers worth shit, atleast california pays up. Nurses in NYC in like 2021 had to go on strike for better pay, now they get 120k as new grads. My second advice would be to get out of primary care/urgent care/EM. All of these places are high burnout specialties. I suggest going to a subspecialty private practice, they usually give good benefits, pay, and the workload is very manageable. Dermatology, for example, has very high pay and great worklife balance.
Excellent advice. Am working on all of these things! Thanks for keeping it real!
Try again … dentistry / dental hygiene good work life balance great pay! Or CAA anesthesia assistant similar to PA but in anesthesia 2-3 yrs school $200 up pay. There’s also clinical research they need medical professionals . There’s project management for healthcare projects they all 6 figures less stress physically or mentally
The fact that there are no Americans in Miami is exactly why I don't like it. And how do you know the Black Women weren't American? And aren't white Cubans in Miami super racist?
we need more cash only doctors. the government and insurance companies run the health care system
Was your primary care boss a PA or a doc? Just curious as a recent PA school grad
Here in New York City, they are always MD or DO based on the legalities. And my supervising MD is an incredible human btw! He still works there and is a superstar! It's just the way the system is setup at FQHCs makes it impossible to make changes in a productive/efficient/timely manner. God bless him.
I never realized how lucky I was to live in Canada, where they have universal healthcare. We have very good people in the US, but they don't make it easy with our insurance.
"Universal" healthcare is not as universal or grand as you think.
How does it feel to wait for weeks or months to meet a doctor???
You can't teach people about how to eat right and exercise if that is not your background. That is not what your training is in. Salad is not healthy at all. But this is a great video. Thanks!
You were burned out. Take a break. Work per diem to limit your hours so you have time to recover. Best of luck
Clinical Lab Science might be up your alley. It's preventative medicine.
As a healthcare professional, you lost me when you called COVID "hyped up." We were filling freezer trucks in our parking lot without our community members bodies.
I hear you, I was there too, but the majority of these people had multiple comorbidities or were morbidly obese. The amount of people that were completely "healthy" without underlying issues that died of COVID were nowhere near as high. The data is out there.
@@krystenvazquez yep and the PCR tests have been found to be up to 97% inaccurate, so even most of those that 'died from covid' probably didn't
"Is this all the diversity you could find?" That's not how diversity is supposed to work. You can create programs to fund and educate a diverse scope of potential applicants, but you can't force them to apply to be a PA. Forcing them is what you need to do to "find diversity". Let people do what they want. Equal opportunity. Not equality of outcome which is a sick and twisted form of diversity.
People like her don’t want the most qualified diverse people. They just want less white people, no matter how unqualified the diverse students would be. It’s sad.
😮
At 15:00 mins. Do you not know that this is medicine. You treat sick patients… sounds like you got into a field without doing your research. That’s why PA schools should be more competitive in the interviewing process so we don’t get PAs that’s can handle simple patient care. Did you think you were gonna treat happy patients? Based on what you said I can tell you had no urgent care experience prior to PA school or any high quality PCE. Please don’t get into a profession like this when your not ready
Thank you so much for your compassion and your understanding. If you don't work in medicine, I don't expect you to understand. I had plenty of urgent care experience prior to entering PA school in a different geographical location. Big cities are overwhelmed and inundated with patients, so maybe you live in a Kansas? Maybe you work at Burger King? Who knows. I don't need to prove anything to a person behind a screen. If you don't like what you hear, simply move on and keep scrolling. Our entire healthcare system needs a revamp. We don't have a society or healthcare model that emphasizes preventive medicine, we have a sick-care model that emphasizes pharmaceuticals and bandaid approaches to medicine. Survey some healthcare workers that aren't working at their own private practice and get back to me. Many blessings and all the best.
@@krystenvazquezPerfect response. You can tell when people haven’t worked in healthcare with their high and mighty responses🙄
The 'higher power' that you refer too has a name- Jesus
What you quit for?!!! 😶
Black WOMEN not “girls”
Indian medical system is good compare to this
🤣🤣🤣 you are kidding right???
Get to the point
Wow, didn’t take long to pull out the race card. 🙄
This wholeeee video and this is all you got out of it. Yikes 😬
When your racism exposed, you got tickle!
Yeah.. she yelled racism just cause more black people are present in the program instead of hispanics...
She got into PA school because of her race and yelling racism once she got into the school...hypocrite
@@jays1594 it’s the go-to complaint for people who fail at life and have zero capacity to take responsibility for their actions or lack there of. Honestly, it’s played out and people are tired of hearing about made up Jessie Smullet type stories for clicks and clout. If you’re constantly finding yourself around racism, maybe it’s you that is the racist. Or just move and stop complaining. Be an adult.