Physician Assistants: Salary, career path, job outlook, education and more
- Education Required
- Most applicants to physician assistant education programs already have a bachelors degree and some patient care work experience. Although admissions requirements vary from program to program, most programs require 2 to 4 years of undergraduate coursework with a focus in science. Many applicants already have experience as registered nurses or as EMTs or paramedics before they apply to a physician assistant program.
- Job Outlook
-
The projected percent change in employment from 2016 to 2026: 37% (Much faster than average)
(The average growth rate for all occupations is 7 percent.) - Advancement
- Some physician assistants pursue additional education in a specialty. Postgraduate educational programs are available in areas such as emergency medicine and psychiatry. To enter one of these programs, a physician assistant must be a graduate of an accredited program and be certified by the NCCPA.
- Licenses/Certifications
- All states and the District of Columbia require physician assistants to be licensed. To become licensed, candidates must pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). A physician assistant who passes the exam may use the credential Physician Assistant-Certified (PA-C).
- Median pay: How much do Physician Assistants make?
- $101,480 Annual Salary
- $48.79 per hour
Physician assistants, also known as PAs, practice medicine on teams with physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare workers. They examine, diagnose, and treat patients.
What do Physician Assistants do?
Physician assistants typically do the following:
- Take or review patients medical histories
- Examine patients
- Order and interpret diagnostic tests, such as x rays or blood tests
- Diagnose a patients injury or illness
- Give treatment, such as setting broken bones and immunizing patients
- Educate and counsel patients and their familiesfor example, answering questions about how to care for a child with asthma
- Prescribe medicine
- Assess and record a patients progress
- Research the latest treatments to ensure the quality of patient care
- Conduct or participate in outreach programs, talking to groups about managing diseases and promoting wellness
Physician assistants work on teams with physicians or surgeons and other healthcare workers. Their specific duties and the extent to which they must be supervised by physicians or surgeons differ from state to state.
Physician assistants work in all areas of medicine, including primary care and family medicine, emergency medicine, surgery, and psychiatry. The work of physician assistants depends in large part on their specialty or the type of medical practice where they work. For example, a physician assistant working in surgery may close incisions and provide care before, during, and after the operation. A physician assistant working in pediatrics may examine a child and give routine vaccinations.
In some areas, especially rural and medically underserved communities, physician assistants may be the primary care providers at clinics where a physician is present only 1 or 2 days per week. In these locations, physician assistants collaborate with the physician as needed and as required by law.
Some physician assistants make house calls or visit nursing homes to treat patients.
Physician assistants are different from medical assistants. Medical assistants do routine clinical and clerical tasks and do not practice medicine.
Careers for Physician Assistants
- Anesthesiologist assistants
- Certified physician's assistants
- Doctors' assistants
- Family practice physician assistants
- Orthopaedic physician assistants
- Orthopedic physician assistants
- Pediatric physician assistants
- Radiology practitioner assistants
- Surgical physician assistants