Physician Assistant

The healthcare area offers several jobs to interested individuals. One can be a nurse, a doctor, a dentist, a therapist, a clinician, a physician, a caregiver, a nursing assistant, and others. Because each patient must be given a proper attention, the medical professionals must have many assistants to help with the day to day workload. Nurses have nursing assistants, doctors have nurses, others have their own secretaries, and a physician has his or her physician assistant.

What is a Physician Assistant?

A physician assistant or PA is a healthcare professional that is trained in order to work with limited supervision or guidance from the physician. She is responsible for providing different kinds of health care services that is usually rendered by a professional physician or other medical practitioners. These services include maintaining, preventing, and treating human illnesses and injury. She can also diagnose or examine a specific illness and treat it accordingly, conduct physical exams, give a assistance in surgeries, ask for specific tests in the laboratory and analyze them, conduct health counselling, conduct phlebotomy, write prescriptions for the patient and give medical orders. The scope of the practice for a PA is stated in their PA-Physician’s practice agreement. A PA can practice in any medical field or specialty, and she has the ability to move from one medical or surgical field to another.

PAs work in different health centers like clinics and hospitals, and other types of health facilities. They can also work in universities or other institutions as private agents. Because they work closely with their supervising physician, surgeon, or medical practitioner, a PA can learn several things that may be useful if she wishes to continue her studies further in order to be a licensed physician.

How to Become a Physician Assistant

Becoming a physician associate or assistant is very competitive because this job is one of the best careers in the medical field. A PA’s duties and responsibilities is almost similar to that of a doctor, thus it is not that easy to become one.

1. Learn about the PA education process. Next, find a school that offers your field of interest. Go to the school’s website so that you can find out their requirements and the admission process.
2. Complete the medical experience required form. PA programs often require their applicants to have at least two years hands-on medical experience. The common applicants for PA programs are the pharmacy technician, military medics, nursing assistants, physical therapy technicians, and others who’ve had direct experience in the medical field. If you do not have an experience yet, apply or volunteer for a job first in order for you to complete the experience requirement.
3. Get bachelor’s degree in a medical or health related professions. Physician’s assistant programs do not only require hands on medical experience but a bachelor’s degree is a must. The common degrees that are required are Biology 101, Math, English, Anatomy and Physiology, Microbiology and others.
4. Conduct a research for the program that you have selected. You can go over the university’s website, or you can talk directly to the dean of the department.
5. Contact the person in charge of the program that you are applying. Let them know that you are interested in applying for the program and request an information packet from them so that you get all the other details of the program.
6. Open a CASPA account. CASPA stands for Central Application Service for Physician Assistants. Most programs require you to have a CASPA account, so you might as well open your own account to be ready. When applying for a CASPA account, you will need to find three doctors who will give you recommendations. Make your personal statement beautiful and captivating as possible. That way, they will be impressed with your application and your application may be approved immediately.
7. Complete all the requirements that the Physician Assistant programs require and pass them to the person in charge.
8. Pass the interview. You will be required to attend an interview prior to your PA application. Practice and arrive early for the interview. Be respectful, and make sure to answer all the questions openly and honestly. If you pass the interview, then you are on your way to become a Physician Associate.
9. Complete your PA education program. Study well while you are getting your education so that you will do well while acquiring your license.
10. Apply for a PA certification or medical assistant certification. Complete the requirements; take the exam and pass it, and you will surely get your license.

Getting a Physician Assistant Education

Enrolling in a physician assistant education is not as simple as enrolling in other types of bachelor’s programs. You need to have at least two years experience in the medical field and you should have a bachelor’s degree with health science and other related courses. Here are the general steps in getting a PA education.

1. Find a university that offers the program of your choice. There may be several schools that are offering PA programs so you have to do your own research on each school. Consider the distance of the school from your house. Consider the tuition fees and miscellaneous fees of the school as well. There is always a difference between the fees of each school so you have to select the school that requires fees that you can afford. Check the in-state and out-state fees of each school.
2. Complete the requirements prior to your admission. The school might require you to show evidences regarding your work experience and bachelor’s degree so you have to produce this information.
3. Attend the classes and complete the course requirements. The course requirements depend on the program that you have chosen. You may be required at the end of the program to conduct a study or do a practical exam.

Physician Assistant Programs

• Physician Assistant Bachelor’s Degree (BA-PA)

This is an accelerated 4-year program that admits students into a pre-professional status until they have successfully completed the first two years of the program. The 3^rd and 4^th year of this program is focused on nine months of clinical course work and twelve months of clinical rotations. 

• Physician Assistant Master’s Degree (MA-PA)

Students can take this program only if they have graduated with a bachelor’s degree. Programs for PA usually take 2 years to be completed if you are a full time student. The first year is usually allotted to study biochemistry, pathology, anatomy, physiology, disease prevention and pharmacology. For the second year, the student must learn and gain experience in inpatient care, obstetrics and gynaecology, emergency medicine, primary care medicine, surgery, geriatrics, paediatrics, and psychiatry.

A Physician’s Associate is closely related to a medical assistant because they work as well under the supervision of a surgeon or a doctor. However, the training for the PAs are different. PAs are trained to do diagnostic, therapeutic and preventative health care services. They are also trained to take down notes on medical histories, examine and treat patients, and make clinical diagnosis. They are well educated and trained as well on how to make house calls.

There are different types of physician assistants, thus, there are several trainings and schoolings that one must undergo according to his or her choice of program. Some physician associates are related to internal medicine, and general medicine. the other hand, some are on the fields of pediatrics and family medicine.

In order for you to be able to get your medical assistant certification, you should graduate a program which is accredited by the ARC-PA or Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant and pass the PANCE or Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam. After getting your license, you should maintain your active status by completing a 100-hour continuing medical education course that must be taken every two years. Also, you should pass the recertification exam that must be taken every 6 years.

Salary Description

The trainings in order to be a certified medical assistant like physician assistants are very tough and rigid, but after finding the job, the salary is all worth it. The medical assistant salary like that of the PAs is high enough to sustain an average lifestyle. As of 2008, the average annual salary of a PA was about $87,828. The middle 50 percent of the PA population earned a wage between $68,210 and $97,070. The lowest 10% on the other hand, earned a wage of less than $51,360 while the highest 10% of PAs earned an income of $110,240.

Medical assistant jobs are in demand, so after all your training and schooling is completed, a physician assistant can immediately find a job. As a PA, you can make your career full of advancement opportunities and increase your ability to work in the medical field. However, this area is very competitive as well. Thus, in order to find a good job after your graduate, you must do exceedingly well in your studies.