Physician Assistant Programs, Salary, Jobs, and Schools

Physician assistants, sometimes know as Doctor’s assistants are individuals that are allowed to practice medicine under the supervision of a physician. There are numerous openings in the Physician assistant field and has been ranked consistently in the yearly top ten fastest growing jobs.

How Do Physician Assistants Differ from Doctors?

The basic difference between the two jobs is that a Physicians Assistant does not need a medical license to practice patient care, while Physicians do need a license. In effect, the Physicians Assistant works under the umbrella of the Physicians license

How Do Physician Assistants Differ from Nurse Practitioners?

Nurse practitioners study advanced levels of nursing. They often have a specialty field. Physician’s assistants normally train as general practitioner in the field of medicine and patient care.

What is The Scope of a Physician Assistant Job?

Physician’s assistants perform a wide variety pf medical care. Usually this includes obtaining patient’s medical records and histories, examining patients, diagnosing illnesses, interpreting the results of the diagnosis, prescribing the appropriate medicine, and referring the patient to a specialist if necessary. Physician assistants need to be versatile and know a lot about many different medical conditions, but generally do not specialize in any one filed.

Are Physician Assistants Jobs Available?

The demand for physician assistants is strong according to the American Academy of Physician Assistants. One benefit of being a physician’s assistant is the ability to be able to hold more than one job – working with one of more Physicians. This provides a higher rate of job stability.

Physician assistant’s jobs are currently most available in the hospitals. Other jobs can be found in public health clinics, nursing homes, schools, prisons, home health care agencies, and of course in private physicians offices.

With the need to reduce medical costs and the ability of physician’s assistants to provide much of the same care as a physician, the demand for physician’s assistants appears strong!

A physician assistant is the main person who helps a doctor provide patients with preventative, therapeutic and diagnostic health care. A physician assistant works under the supervision of a licensed physician and earns an average of $86,214 per year, according to American Academy of Physician Assistants.

Overall Average Salary for a Physician Assistant Career

A physician assistant is a lucrative career if you consider that it made the list of best careers for 2009 as established by U.S. News and World Report. Someone who wants to become a physician assistant can start with being certified and then applying for a job in a health care institution. As an entry level employee, he will earn $74,153 as a starting salary, according to the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA), www.paeaonline.org. The average annual salaries vary according to the number of years of experience:

Less Than One Year: $69,381
One to Four Years: $71,688
Five to Nine Years: $79,826
Ten to 19 Years: $82,765
20 or More Years: $86,276

A physician assistant’s wage may also vary depending on the location. State laws and standards of living vary so it’s possible that a high paying physician assistant job in some parts of the country may not be as lucrative in other states. Still, this job is a good alternative to various other jobs that allows you to earn only a third of what you could earn as a physician assistant .
Location plays a big role when it comes to wage. The average salary for Physician Assistants in Michigan in early 2009 was $83,970, while the New Hampshire Job Notes, www.nh.gov, tells us that a Physician Assistant’s average pay as $30.32 per hour.

Physician Assistants who are employed in a metropolitan area for patients with no health care receive a different amount compared to those working in rural areas. Some physician assistants earn more by focusing on a specific branch of health care. Additional training will affect salary drastically. For instance, emergency room assignments can earn you $65,779, while family practice, surgery, orthopedics and pediatrics would give a salary of $76,847, $80,000, $88,312 and $85,000, respectively.

A Physician Assistant (PA) and Nurse Practitioner (NP) are both providers of medical care with different roles. They work under an attending physician, but sometimes they are hired independently for various tasks in health institutions. Physician Assistants have more academic requisites than nursing practitioners, which should indicate that a physician assistant has a higher entry-level pay than most nurse practitioners.

Range of Tasks for a Physician Assistant and a Nurse Practitioner

A Physician Assistant (PA) works with a license and does the bidding of a licensed physician who can also be his supervisor on the job. The Physician Assistant gives the patients the services that most physicians perform traditionally. In a sense, they serve as the right arm of the physician, and are able to execute the tasks that are assigned to them.

A Nurse Practitioner (NP) should be a registered nurse with a degree in advanced nursing and has undergone extensive training. A Nurse Practitioner can do a wide range of services related to health care. Every state in the USA has its own requirements for nurse practitioners. Some states may allow nurse practitioners to work even if there is no supervising physician.

Requisites in Terms of Training

For a physician assistant, he must enter a program accredited by the American Academy of Physician Assistants . Usually, he will spend two years studying for the job before he can get advanced training. All states as well as the District of Columbia need all Physician Assistant trainees to pass the Physician Assistant National Certification Exam. This test is offered to graduates of an accredited Physician Assistant programs. It goes without saying that one should only choose institutions that are among those in the accreditation list to be on the safe side. Sometimes, there are institutions that accept students even if the accreditation is still pending.

Someone aiming for a job as a Nurse Practitioner should have completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The NCLEX-RN licensure examination should be passed, as well as other examinations required by the state. The national examination is a requirement for employment, and also for applying into a Master’s in Nursing degree program.

Wage

As with any field, the pay increases with the number of years of experience. A Physician Assistant with less than one year experience can earn around $69,381 annually, while a self-employed yet experienced physical assistant can earn up to $87,279. Nurse Practitioners who are just starting out can expect an annual salary of $66,328. Foundations and their corresponding institutions are often the highest paying employers and can pay a wage of $85,500.

If you are searching for ways to advance your career in the health care industry, an online physician assistant degree is a good option. Here are the frequently asked questions relating to the benefits of an online physician assistant degree, and how to get started.

What Degree Programs are Available?

You can reach up to the master’s level for online physician assistant programs. If you are already practicing as a physician assistant, you can improve your career by getting a masters. A lot of the managerial positions in hospitals are offered only for those with masters degrees. Different types of further studies programs are offered. For your sake, you should choose one that will allow you to hold a managerial job, or a middle management job in a hospital, such as further studies in specialized topics like clinical medicine or a management course. There are good topics such as health policy and research, as well as scientific writing and ethics in the medical field. You may also opt to finish with a supervised clinical practice in the state where you got your license as a physician assistant.

Is the Whole Course Available Online?

No. Most of the academic projects and lectures will be available online, but you may have to take examinations under the supervision of your instructor. In particular, practical exams will always be done in person. However, the good thing about online learning is that you can schedule the times when you need to go to a land based facility.

A lot of these schools understand the demands of being a part-time student, that’s why a lot of the instructors are more than willing to accommodate your requests. The clinical part of your training may need to be in person, and could take a few weeks. But you can arrange for an extended leave with your employer beforehand so that there is no conflict in schedule. If you can arrange for the clinical studies to be held in the facility where you are already working, great.

What is the Right Program for Me?

Clinical training is crucial in health care, so if you’re looking for a good program to join, get one that includes extensive training on the job. Consider taking a program that will allow you to apply what you already know about clinic management. You also need to look into programs that could open more windows of opportunity to other medical specialties.

If there are scholarship options offered in your workplace, you can opt for those first before deciding on the college you want to enroll in. For instance, a military tuition assistance can help you a lot in terms of tuition and living expenses. If you’re a retired military personnel, there may be some programs that offer VA educational benefits.

It goes without saying that you should know how to work online to access your studies through the website of the university or educational facility. However, if you have never used the internet before, you may need to attend lectures in person until you get used to working online.

You will need to look for programs that allow extensions, particularly if you need to fulfill other duties like military deployment. Even you could get sick so it’s better if you look for programs that allow you to extend your time-frame for finishing the course.

How to Know if a Distance Learning Physician Assistant Program Is Accredited or Not

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) is the agency in charge of accrediting both traditional and distance learning for medical assistants. Visit the website to find out if the school you want to enroll in is included in the roster of ARC-PA accredited institutions. The list of accredited programs is public and online so it’s very convenient to simply go to the website and look for the name of the school on the list.

Why is accreditation of your school important for your future? You may not realize it now but when you complete the program and you’re looking for a job, you will be glad that you took the time to find out if the program offering is from an accredited institution.

If you have the skills, the patience and the perseverance to finish your physician assistant course, you are more than qualified to take the certification examination. A certification exam is to screen all the graduates of this course. However, you should know that only those from accredited institutions will be able to take these exams. A good school that’s accredited for distant learning physician assistant program is a good find, but there are a lot of those institutions that are not accredited so beware.

The Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam is offered in one state, and the license you will get by getting certified will enable you to work as a physician assistant in your state of choice.

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA), www.arc-pa.org, is the ruling body that comes up with a list of the standards for entry-level physician assistant programs. There are outlined educational standards that most institutions that offer the course have to comply with. Here are some of the other institutions that assist the ARC-PA in coming up with the standards.

* American Academy of Physician Assistants, www.aapa.org
* Physician Assistant Education Association, www.paeaonline.org
* American Medical Association, www.ama-assn.org
* American College of Surgeons, www.facs.org
* American College of Physicians, www.acponline.org
* American Academy of Pediatrics, www.aap.org
* American Academy of Family Physicians, www.aafp.org

The list of legitimate accrediting agencies can be found on the U.S. Department of Education, wwww.ed.gov, and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), chea.org, websites. The fact that ARC-PA is listed on the CHEA website is proof that the ARC-PA is an authority when it comes to your certification as a Physician Assistant.

If you are a medical professional with skills and abilities to practice medicine with the guidance of a physician, then you probably will do well as a Physician Assistants (PA). Here are certain requirements to become a Physician Assistant. First, you will have to earn at least an associate’s degree. Then, you will need to finish a two-year training program.

Here are the steps you can take to become a bona fide Physician’s Assistant.

Step 1: Find out what responsibilities you will be handling and the exact requirements you will have to fulfill (i.e. educational requirements).

You will be trained to give a variety of health care services and you will be working under your supervisors (mostly medical doctors). You will be asked to record patient medical histories, as well as perform examinations, present the treatment options, give the diagnosis results, and assess laboratory tests and x-rays. A Physician Assistant may also be asked to supervise medical technicians, be in charge of procuring medical supplies and be the one to prescribe medication. As a physical assistant, you may be able to stay and work in any section of the health care industry, such as orthopedics, pediatrics, obstetrics, gynecology, family medicine and internal medicine. Hospitals will be your workplaces but you may also be transferred to prisons, private clinics and outpatient centers.

Step 2: Get your a college diploma.

A 2-year associate’s degree program is the basic requirement. It is suggested that you take the course that will lead to an Associate of Applied Science in Physician Assistant Studies. Check out the curriculum before you go for the job. There should be emphasis on natural science and behavioral science courses, including the topics of biology, physics and psychology. A lot of physical assistants pursue further studies when they have the means to do so, such as undergraduate or master’s degrees.

Step 3: Sign up for accredited physician assistant program.

It will take you 26 to 27 months to complete the program, but it’s worth it. The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), www.arc-pa.org tells you that you will be intensively trained in different subject areas, like biology, physiology of the human body, advanced biochemistry, pharmacology, microbiology, clinical medicine and patient assessment, supervised clinical practice, health policy and other professional practice courses.

Step 4: Get your certificate.

Those who complete the PA training programs accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) can earn the needed license by going through the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) successfully. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov tells you that PAs also need to finish 100 hours of further education every two years and re-certify every six years.

Step 5: Meet the Requirements for State Licensing

Physician Assistants should get the needed educational and examination requirements for a license to practice in any state. Consult with the licensing board for the state where you decide to work.

A physician assistant will work in all areas of surgery and medicine with the supervision of a doctor, and will also find yourself working in all kinds of medical environments. In parts of the country where there aren’t enough doctors, it’s very possible that a physician assistant would take on the role of the primary caregiver and you might only see the doctor perhaps one or two days out of the week. As a physician assistant you might also find yourself visiting the homes of patients and then reporting back the details to the doctor. The specific jobs that a physician assistant will find themselves doing depends on what kind of medical practice they find themselves working in, the doctor who they are being supervised by and the laws of the state. But most physician assistants find themselves engaged in similar types of jobs.

One of the main duties of a physician assistant is to examine patients and record their medical histories. They’ll help assist with x-rays and laboratory tests, they may also record their patient’s progress and make diagnosis. Also possible you may find yourself counseling and instructing patients.

According to the particular type of problem your patient has, as a physician assistant you may find yourself treating patients. As an example you can administer stitches in the case of minor injuries, casts, and splints. If your patient needs therapy, if qualified you can carry it out yourself, or find a qualified therapist. In some states your even allowed to prescribe some certain medications to your patients.

Physician assistants also help the doctor during surgery by performing some certain operating table duties. You can also play a very important role in the after surgery rehabilitation, both after the patient has went home and while they’re still at the hospital.

After you have several years experience of being a physician’s assistant you can choose to to start taking on a more administrative focused role. You would find yourself with new responsibilities such as hiring new physician assistants, creating new procedures and policies, and acting as the go-between for the hospital and patient or the patient’s family and the hospitals representatives. If you’re working in a small clinic you may even combine medical duties with administrative work too. Physician assistants can also obtain research jobs at a college. If you choose this route you’ll often be screening people who want to participate in research, monitor patients, and help with many aspects of whatever studies are being done. Physician assistants can work in clinics, hospitals, health maintenance organizations, or private practices.

Similar to a doctor, you may be exposed to diseases because you are in close contact with your patients. The hours that you work can very quite a bit depending on where you decide to work, and who you’re supervising doctor is. If you work in a hospital, this is especially true if you work in an emergency room, you may have to work weekends, nights, and holidays. You can even be on call, that means that you can be called to work at any time. Your salary will vary based on who your employer is, what type of medicine is being practiced, and your level of work experience.

Are you trying to find physician assistant jobs? You’ll find yourself working in a lot of different places and you’ll be responsible for a lot of the same duties that a real doctor performs. The care that you will be providing your patients with is going to help them at the time they are most in need and vulnerable.

You might be faced with dealing with absolutely anything that will come up during a medical situation. As a physician assistant you will be required to administer care that goes far beyond what regular first aid entails. You’ll gain many skills like casting broken bones and splinting, and dealing with many other kinds of minor injuries.

When you initially meet with a brand-new patient you will begin by recording their medical history and determining exactly what their problem is. One of your responsibilities will be to determine what kinds of lab tests will need to be done, and to have the ability to understand the data that’s returned. You also gain the skills needed to determine exactly what kind of treatments will be needed and how they will need to be administered to the patient. In almost every state, people working physician assistant jobs have the authority to write at least a few different kinds of prescriptions.

You’ll be working under the supervision of surgeons and doctors in many different settings. Physician assistant jobs are needed in doctor’s offices, hospitals, nursing homes and sometimes even housecalls. Every once in a while a doctor may send out a physician assistant to a patient’s home to conduct a follow-up and report the findings back to the doctor. In some rural and inner-city communities you’ll be providing care where they don’t even have a full-time doctor.

While you’re looking through the different physician assistant jobs, you’ll need a lot of determination. Firstly most physician assistant training programs will take at least 2 to 4 years and typically require at least a little higher education in the beginning. You also need to pass a professional examination to become certified, and even after you pass this test you’ll need to re-certify once every six years. Finally you will need to complete 100 hours of continuing education credits. While this may seem like a lot of work, need to understand that this field is continually changing and innovating and you need to keep up with new information and technology. You also need to be mentally prepared to work long and unpredictable hours and be able to keep your cool during emergency situations.

But the reward for all this is physician assistant jobs have an extremely good salary, as a matter of fact in May of 2008 the average salary was a little over $80,000.