This past week I visited an open house at the PA school I’ll be attending starting in late May. It definitely made things feel very real. It almost reminded me that I’ll be the oldest there by far. This gives me a feeling of cognitive dissonance.

On one hand, often when I’m at work, or when I was taking classes, I feel very young, often decades younger than my chronological age. One of the best compliments I received from a fellow tech was, “Greg, you run the techs in their 20s into the ground.” The tech saying it was herself in her 20s.

And the idea of going back to college makes me feel pretty young.

That said, the reality is, I’m entering a career that while will probably last me the rest of my working life. But I at most probably only have a decade in it or so.

I’ll be 57 when I enter school. I’ll be in the didactic phase for 12 months.

That makes me 58 when I finish the first half and start my 12 month clinical phase.

This means I’ll be 59 when I graduate and take my PANCE (the certifying exam that officially makes me a PA and allows me to practice as one.)

Many people plan on retiring at 65. I have never really had that as a goal. I figured I’d want to keep busy beyond that, even if I ended up working at a more relaxed pace.

But the real limit may come when I’m 69. PAs have to basically take an exam every 10 years. The honest truth, as I approach that date, I’ll have to give it some thought if it’ll all be worth it. Perhaps it’ll be the sign to retire. But also, working in the ED (as is my current plan) requires a certain physicality that at 70, I’m not sure I want to deal with. And while PAs can make lateral moves, I’m not sure what other specialties I’d enjoy.

So, we’ll see. Do I make it the full 10 before retiring? Do I re-up? I can guarantee I won’t be re-upping when I’m 79! (Unless someone discovers the fountain of youth!).

So if I have one regret about my approach PA career, is perhaps I should have done it decades ago.

But in the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the living hell out of the time I’ll have for it