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Meeting with a Physician Assistant
What advantages does a physician assistant career offer?
Elina Kamensky
5/29/20263 min read
At our CCC Zoom meeting, we had the chance to speak with Naz Adler, a Physician Assistant who has worked in neurosurgery, general surgery, and different hospital systems including St. Francis and NYU Langone. Naz shared that her interest in healthcare started when she was a senior in high school volunteering in the emergency room. She always loved STEM, especially math and science, and originally considered a career in pharmacy. But after speaking with a family friend who was a Physician Assistant, she realized that the PA path combined many of the things she wanted: patient care, flexibility, hands-on work, and the ability to stay deeply involved in medicine without taking the longer and more rigid MD route.
The Quote I Loved
“I’m not worried that AI is going to replace me. They can’t.”
I loved this quote because it captured one of the biggest takeaways from the meeting: healthcare is changing quickly, but the human side of medicine still matters. AI can help with documentation, scan reading, and decision support, but it cannot replace being in the operating room, communicating with patients, or helping families understand difficult news.
Actionable Insights
The PA path offers a lot of flexibility. Naz explained that one of the biggest advantages of being a PA is the ability to move between specialties. She started in general surgery, later moved into neurosurgery, and said PAs can also work in emergency medicine, dermatology, plastics, or other areas depending on their interests.
PAs learn a lot on the job. Unlike doctors, who complete long residencies to specialize, PAs often learn their specialty while working directly with physicians. This can make the career path more adaptable.
If you want to operate independently, medical school is the better path. Naz was very clear that PAs can assist in surgery, help set up, close incisions, and become highly skilled in the operating room, but they cannot operate on their own. If someone’s dream is to be the surgeon making the final decisions in the OR, they should pursue an MD or DO path.
Work-life balance can be a major advantage of becoming a PA. Naz explained that hospital PAs often work long shifts, such as three 13-hour shifts, but then they are off. She also said that when she comes home, she can usually fully focus on her family unless she is on call.
The PA role is a good fit for people who want to be part of patient care without owning the full liability of a practice. Naz talked about how doctors often carry ultimate responsibility for their patients and their practice, while PAs work as part of a medical team under physician supervision.
For students deciding between PA and MD, the first years of college may look similar. Students interested in either path should take science classes, do well academically, volunteer or shadow in healthcare settings, and learn what kind of responsibility and lifestyle they actually want.
Research-focused students may be better suited for medical school. Naz said that if someone wants to lead research, start their own research projects, or pursue major academic medicine opportunities, medical school may provide more options.
Healthcare is not just medicine - it is also a system. One of Naz’s biggest frustrations is that insurance companies, administrators, and hospital metrics can sometimes influence patient care. This was an important reminder that working in healthcare means dealing not only with patients, but also with the business and bureaucracy of medicine.
AI is already changing healthcare, but not replacing clinicians. Naz said AI can help populate notes, suggest whether someone might be a candidate for a procedure, and read scans faster. But she emphasized that the physical, emotional, and judgment-based parts of medicine still require people.
Shadowing and volunteering matter. Naz’s own path started with volunteering in an ER as a high school senior. For students considering healthcare, getting real exposure early can make a huge difference.
Final Thoughts
This meeting helped clarify the difference between becoming a PA and becoming a doctor in a very practical way. Before this conversation, I mostly thought of the PA path as “similar to a doctor, but shorter.” Naz showed us that it is more specific than that. Being a PA can offer flexibility, patient care, surgical exposure, and a strong work-life balance, but it also means working as part of a physician-led team and accepting that you are not the final independent decision-maker.
What stood out most to me was how honest Naz was about both the benefits and the limitations of the career. She clearly loves neurosurgery, the operating room, and helping patients get better, but she also did not sugarcoat the frustrating parts of medicine, especially insurance issues and hospital metrics. For students interested in healthcare, her advice was very useful: get exposure, understand your personality, and think carefully about whether you want independence, research, surgery, flexibility, or balance.
Overall, this conversation made the PA path feel like a strong option for students who love science and medicine, want meaningful patient interaction, and want a career that still leaves room for life outside of work.