Physician assistant

Physician assistants, also known as PA's, are certified to practice medicine under the supervision of a licensed physician, surgeon, or other health care worker with the ability to treat and diagnose patients. The typical entry level education required to become and practice as a PA, is a master's degree and schooling background from an accredited school for physician assistance. In some cases, especially in more rural areas, PA's may be the primary care provider of their own clinics, still under the supervision of a physician that only is around their offices maybe once a week as required by law. PA's have the ability to work a variety of jobs and specialize in a wide range of areas. They can typically perform many different tasks that are not as high level as physicians, taking the smaller tasks off the hands of their physician in authority and getting the small things done more efficiently. They are allowed to review patient's medical histories, examine patients and order x-rays or scans for them, prescribe medicine, treat illnesses or injuries, access and record patient progress and much more than that too.

Education and Certification

A medical student with her stethoscope and books.

To obtain a license in physician assistance, you must go through graduate schooling through a certified school that specializes in PA's. Most of the time, entering into the field of PA's, people will have already graduated with a bachelor's undergraduate degree in some type of science, nursing or pre-medicine field. To be accepted into these programs for studying and licensure, most of the time you will need medical field experience such as military medics, emergency medical technicians, or registered nursing. Generally, schooling for becoming a physician assistant will take about two years to finish, leading to even associates, bachelors, or master's degrees. Many common courses that are considered prerequisites for programs can include: chemistry, biology, anatomy, nutrition, immunology, physiology, pathology, clinical medicine, etc.

Once accepted into a program you must work your way up to be nationally certified and hold state licenses. In the first year of the program, you will focus on clinical preparation and classroom instruction in medical sciences. In the next year of study, the curriculum focuses on clinical rotations and hands on experience. During this experience, they can gain knowledge under licensed physicians. Not all states require being nationally certified to get your state license, but nearly all PA's are required be. To become a PA you must pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam that is administered by the NCCPA or National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. Since the exam is only available to those who attended an accredited school, it is really important to take an accredited program. After you pass the exam, you are able to add "Physician Assistant-Certified" to your credentials. Once you get your credentials, though, you must maintain them. To maintain them, you must log in 100 hours of medical education every two years and must be re-certified every 6 years. State rules and laws vary, but not all physician assistants have to be constantly on-site monitored. They can be overseen by a supervising physician by phone communication or periodic visits.

Specialties

There are many different specialties in the PA field. You can focus on many different types of study, treatment, and work with people of many different ages. All physician assistants work under the authority of a physician or certified doctor. Depending on what field you choose or where you work can affect your salary greatly. Some of these specialties include...

A physician looking at X-Rays. This is the typical role associated with Radiology.

• Radiology: These assistants can perform needle biopsies, fluoroscopies, X-Ray or scan interpretations, and they can remove and also insert IV catheters. On some occasion, Radiology PA's may administer and monitor conscious sedation.
• Mental Health: These types of PA's commonly will work in in-patient psych units in hospitals, private clinics for mental health, and also prisons, jails, or county mental health facilities. These assistants work to help diagnose and treat mental illnesses.
• Emergency Department: These PA's will work in the emergency rooms of many hospitals. They must be equipped and ready for the fast pace of the environment. Most of their patients will come in with signs of chest or abdominal pain that they must be ready to treat and diagnose. They have the ability to perform smaller procedures such as sutures and draining abscesses.
• Surgical: PA's in this field will assist mainly in the operating room. They run tests and assessments before procedure and provide post-operative care. They will be the first and main assistant to the surgeon during the operation.
• Urgent Care and Walk-In Clinics: The physician assistants in this case will provide care for smaller illnesses and injuries. They have the ability to treat sprains or medical conditions such as bronchitis.
• Nursing Home and Long-Term Care: These PA's will work with illnesses and medical conditions in older adults with chronic or acute conditions. Their job is to help the patients that are unable to care for themselves any longer.
• Dermatology: In this field, the PA's will diagnose and treat many skin conditions ranging from acne, skin cancer, or mole removal. In addition they treat many chronic skin conditions and are able to perform cosmetic procedures.

A physician's assistant examining a young girl.

Salary and Benefits

The physician assistant median annual pay for the year of 2015, was at $98,180. That was much higher than the average of all occupations accounted for in the United States Economy which was at $36,200. The lowest paid, in the bottom 10%, were paid $62,760 while the highest paid in the top 10% earned more than $139,540 annually. Where and what type of industry someone works in can affect their annual wages. Those working in outpatient care centers tended to earn the highest wages, while those working for the government were some of the lesser paid PA's. While most physician assistants work full time, about 1 in 5 worked part time in 2014. Many PA's will be on call, meaning they must be ready to respond at any moment to a request to work with a small amount of notice. Those working in hospitals may work nights, holidays, or weekends.

Earning an average of over $47 an hour is not the only perk or benefit of taking on the role of a physician assistant. Once out of college, looking for a place of employment, more than 72% of base salaries reported, have been over $98,000. Many PA's, once in their position, earn great bonuses throughout their years at their places of employment. Many PA's employers allow them the ability to help grow their 401K's. Also, being a part of the medical field, many are given great health-care benefits for not only themselves, but their immediate families as well. Along with healthcare, the longer they are a part of their company, the better there paid time off will grow. The value of all of their benefits from their companies and those that come along with the job, can range up to $35,000 in total compensation. The healthcare service demand for PA's is expected to grow 30% from 2014 to 2024, much higher than projected employment total of all U.S. Economy occupations. With a growing population and increase of chronic diseases such as diabetes, the need for physician assistants is expected to expand the roles that they can perform. Since physician assistants can already perform many of the same tasks that doctors can, they are much more cost affective. The employment count of PA's in 2014 was just under 95,000, but the projected employment of 2024 is expected to be just over 123,000, growing by almost 30,000 jobs.

Video

A Day in the Life of a Physician. This video tells the job description of a physicians assistant and shows what an average day as a PA would be like.