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Physician Assistants Increase Public Access to Quality Health Care
by Robyn Tellefsen
If you're a confident leader who is committed to lifelong learning, you already possess the quintessential characteristics of a physician assistant. And these characteristics are in demand. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of physician assistants is expected to grow much faster than average for all occupations through the year 2014, making physician assistants one of fastest-growing occupations.
Physician assistants may not be doctors, but they do practice medicine and provide direct patient care. Under the supervision of physicians and surgeons, physician assistants are licensed to provide diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive health care services. That includes taking medical histories; examining, treating, and counseling patients; ordering and interpreting lab tests and X-rays; making diagnoses; ordering and carrying out therapy; and much more. According to the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), there were approximately 63,600 practicing physician assistants in the U.S. as of January 2007.
To become part of this 40-year-old profession, you'll need to complete a formal education program that's been accredited by the AAPA. Currently, there are more than 130 accredited physician assistant programs in the U.S., which may offer associate, bachelor's, or master's degrees.
The average physician assistant program takes 26.5 months to complete. The first year is dedicated to classroom instruction in anatomy, biochemistry, clinical medicine, clinical pharmacology, disease prevention, geriatric and home health care, medical ethics, microbiology, pathology, physiology, and more. The second year is concentrated on supervised clinical training in private practice and institutional settings. Clinical rotations include emergency medicine, family medicine, geriatrics, internal medicine, pediatrics, prenatal care and gynecology, psychiatry, surgery, and more. This clinical training often leads to permanent employment once you've obtained your physician assistant license.
After you graduate from an accredited physician assistant program, you may take the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination, administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. If you pass, you'll be entitled to use the "Physician Assistant-Certified" credential. To remain certified as a physician assistant, you must complete 100 hours of continuing medical education every two years. And every six years, you must pass a recertification exam or complete an alternative physician assistant program combining learning experiences and a take-home exam.
That may sound like a lot of hoops to jump through, but the compensation is considerable. According to the 2006 AAPA Physician Assistant Census Survey, the median annual income for physician assistants is $80,356. For those who have been in clinical practice for less than a year, the median annual income is $69,517.
Interested in increasing public access to quality health care? Become a physician assistant.
Physician assistants may not be doctors, but they do practice medicine and provide direct patient care. Under the supervision of physicians and surgeons, physician assistants are licensed to provide diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive health care services. That includes taking medical histories; examining, treating, and counseling patients; ordering and interpreting lab tests and X-rays; making diagnoses; ordering and carrying out therapy; and much more. According to the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), there were approximately 63,600 practicing physician assistants in the U.S. as of January 2007.
To become part of this 40-year-old profession, you'll need to complete a formal education program that's been accredited by the AAPA. Currently, there are more than 130 accredited physician assistant programs in the U.S., which may offer associate, bachelor's, or master's degrees.
The average physician assistant program takes 26.5 months to complete. The first year is dedicated to classroom instruction in anatomy, biochemistry, clinical medicine, clinical pharmacology, disease prevention, geriatric and home health care, medical ethics, microbiology, pathology, physiology, and more. The second year is concentrated on supervised clinical training in private practice and institutional settings. Clinical rotations include emergency medicine, family medicine, geriatrics, internal medicine, pediatrics, prenatal care and gynecology, psychiatry, surgery, and more. This clinical training often leads to permanent employment once you've obtained your physician assistant license.
After you graduate from an accredited physician assistant program, you may take the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination, administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. If you pass, you'll be entitled to use the "Physician Assistant-Certified" credential. To remain certified as a physician assistant, you must complete 100 hours of continuing medical education every two years. And every six years, you must pass a recertification exam or complete an alternative physician assistant program combining learning experiences and a take-home exam.
That may sound like a lot of hoops to jump through, but the compensation is considerable. According to the 2006 AAPA Physician Assistant Census Survey, the median annual income for physician assistants is $80,356. For those who have been in clinical practice for less than a year, the median annual income is $69,517.
Interested in increasing public access to quality health care? Become a physician assistant.
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