Physician Assistant Programs | Physician Assistant Schools

Physician Assistant Programs | Physician Assistant Schools | Our TOP Recommendations
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Physician assistants perform duties under the supervision of a doctor. However, PAs may be the principal care providers in inner city or rural clinics where a physician is present for only a few days a week or less.

• Nature of the Work - Under the supervision of surgeons and physicians, Physician assistants (PAs) practice medicine. Formal training is required for PA's to provide diagnostic, preventive, and therapeutic heath care services, as required by a physician.
• Physician Assistant Programs and Schools - 136 physician assistant education programs were accredited or provisionally accredited by the American Academy of Physician Assistants. More than 90 of these programs provided the option of a master’s degree, and the rest provided either a bachelor’s degree or an associate degree.
• Licensing - All States and the District of Columbia have laws that govern the practice or qualifications physician assistants. All areas require physician assistants to pass the National Certifying Examination for all Physician Assistants and open only to accredited PA education program graduates. The designation of Physician Assistant Certified is available only to those who successfully pass this examination.
  
  

Physician Assistant Programs | Physician Assistant Schools

Physician assistant education programs are full-time and typically last 2 years. Most programs are in allied health schools, academic health centers, medical schools, or 4-year colleges; some are offered by the military, community colleges, or hospitals. Most accredited PA programs offer clinical teaching associations within medical schools.

Admission requirements differ, but most programs require 2 years of college and some health care field work experience. Students should enroll in the social sciences, biology, chemistry, English, mathematics, and psychology, courses. Most PAs have previous experience as registered nurses, while others come from backgrounds such as military corpsman or medics, or allied health occupations like physical therapists, respiratory therapists, and paramedics and emergency medical technicians.

PA education entails classroom instruction in geriatric and home health care, pathology, biochemistry, physiology, microbiology, clinical pharmacology, human anatomy, clinical medicine, medical ethics, and disease prevention. Students receive supervised clinical training in many areas such as psychiatry, surgery, family medicine, pediatric, prenatal care and gynecology, internal medicine, geriatrics, and emergency medicine. Frequently, PA students serve one or more of these rotations while being supervised by a physician who is considering hiring a PA. These rotations could lead to a job offer.


Physician Assistant Programs | Physician Assistant Schools - Graduate - Job Outlook

In 2006, physician assistants held about 65,000 jobs. The quantity of jobs is greater than the number of practicing PAs since some have two or more jobs. For instance, some PAs work with a supervising physician, but are also employed by another office, hospital or clinic. It is reported that approximately 17 percent of PA's who were currently practicing did work in more than a single clinical job.

Job growth is expected to increase faster than the average as health care establishments continue to rely on using physician assistants to control costs. Employment opportunities for PAs should be pretty good, especially in inner city and rural clinics, since these areas usually have difficulty attracting full-time physicians.

Employment of physician assistants is projected to grow 27 percent from 2006 to 2016, far quicker than the average for all careers. Expected fast job growth is in direct correlation with expanding health care industries and an focus on controlling costs, which translates into the increasing employment of PAs by health care establishments.

Physician Assistant Programs | Physician Assistant Schools - Graduates - Earnings Statistics

The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in May 2006, average annual wages of wage-and-salary physician assistants were $74,500. The middle 50 percent made between $62,500 and $89,250. The bottom 10 percent made less than $43,000, and the top 10 percent made more than $102,250.

The American Academy of Physician Assistants states that in 2006, the average income for physician assistants in full-time clinical practice was $80,250; an average income for first-year graduates was $69,500. Incomes differ by years of experience, practice setting, specialty, and geographical location. Employers usually cover their employees’ registration fees with the Drug Enforcement Administration, liability insurance, credentialing fees, and State licensing fees.

Related Occupations: Other health care workers who offer similar direct patient care requiring a comparable skill level and training include speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, audiologists, occupational therapists, and registered nurses.


Physician Assistant Programs | Physician Assistant Schools

There are an excellent number of choices for attending Physician Assistant Programs. Online schools and colleges now provide the same curriculum as the traditional education. Learning online provides you with so much more flexibility to suit your lifestyle and current employment. We include our top recommendations for schools and classes where you can enroll in Physician Assistant Programs.

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