Summary: A Career As A Physician Assistant

Expansion of Physician Assistant (PA) programs across the United States occurred rapidly during the 1970s following the introduction of the profession in the 1960s. According to Hooker et al. (2010), the first era of the development of PA programs was followed by a decline in the 1980s. This was due in large part to a belief by the Graduate Medical Education Advisory Committee that there would be a surplus of physicians in the 1990s. Contrarily, there was a still a large discrepancy in the number of accessible providers and providers themselves which continues to this day. Many saw the cost effective advantage of training PAs and seized the opportunity

At the practice level, physician assistants have taken over many duties once handled by doctors. Physician assistants working in family medicine receive about half the salary of doctors, and those working in areas of specialties receive about one-third as much as doctors in the same specialty (Cunningham). Physician assistants are included in health care delivery system in many different settings and specialties. They represent10 percent of the primary care labor force and 9 percent of physicians in community health centers (AHRQ Stats No.3). Furthermore, most physician assistants work in a variety of specialties, including oncology, dermatology, gastroenterology, orthopedics, and behavioral health (Doven, Christian 2).

What are Physician assistants  Physician assistant is a healthcare professional who practices medicine as a part of a healthcare team with collaborating physicians and other providers. Job responsibilities  Physician assistants can evaluate patients, order tests, diagnose, perform procedures, assist in surgery, and prescribe medications or other therapies to treat patients. Type of formal education is necessary (Masters, Ph.D, etc.) and average time it takes to complete that education  The physician assistant schools can be a 5-year combined bachelor’s and master’s program or a 2 years master program after graduating with a bachelor’s degree and prerequisites.  However, depending on the situation of the student it may be longer because

As the physician assistant (PA) profession becomes more proliferative in the United States the role of the PA in various healthcare settings changes. The baby boomer generation is aging which is increasing the demand on practitioners. PAs are becoming vital to closing the patients to provider gap in the United State. There is now an increased need for PAs in all medical specialties. Because PAs are trained as generalists, it poses the need for postgraduate residencies in specialties like orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, and emergency medicine.

There are some limiting factors to being a physician assistant such as the amount of time that you get to spend with your family and the amount of time you are required to go to college. Physicians work an average of 40 hours a week, not counting the overtime they put in. They also have to be on call just in case something pops up, so if they are at their kids baseball game they would have to leave and go see their patient. Physician assistants go to school for an extra six to seven years.

Thus , a decreased wait time expands access to healthcare to a numerous amount of the population . PAs undergo a rigorous clinical and academic

A physician assistant is licensed to do various things. They are licensed to diagnose and treat illnesses and diseases and they are even able to prescribe medications. The responsibilities of a PA are just as high as an actual doctor. Even assisting in surgeries is included, they are obviously required to be under the supervision of a physician. The amount of and how in depth work you can do on a patient is the

Physician assistants play a pivotal role in the healthcare industry. This profession emerged in the 1960’s as a response to the shortage of doctors entering the workforce (Hamilton, 2016). Physician assistants can do many things with the training that they receive during their schooling such as providing diagnostic evaluations, therapeutic remediation, surgical assistance, and pharmaceutical prescription ("Physician Assistant Career Information and Job Description"). Depending on their work experience, specialty, and the state that they practice in they may have different responsibilities. Some duties of a P.A. are to: order and interpret tests, take patients medical history, counsel patients on preventive care, conduct physical examinations, diagnose and treat illnesses, write prescriptions, and assist in surgeries.

Physician assistants review patients’ medical histories, conduct physical exams to check patients’ health, order and interpret diagnostic tests such as x rays or blood tests, make diagnoses concerning a patient’s injury or illness, give treatment such as setting broken bones and immunizing patients, educate and counsel patients and their families, record a patient’s progress, research the latest treatments to ensure the quality of patient care and etc on the daily basis. A physician assistant works under an official physician or a surgeon. They work in a wide range of medicine, This means there isn't a specific type of population that they work with besides doing whatever an official physician or surgeon ask them to do. You must obtain a master degree in an accredited program as well as pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam to become a PA. I chose to research about physician assistants because I never knew anything about PA’s or what it would take to be

In December 1970, the American Medical Association adopted the following definition for Physician Assistants: “The Physician Assistant [(PA)] is a skilled person qualified by academic and practical training to provide patient services under the supervision and direction of a licensed physician who is responsible for the performance of that physician assistant.” (NY Department of Health). Laws and regulations for the PA profession have been developing over time based on the needs of the society; however, the need for a supervising physician found its way in the definition of the PA early on. Since PAs have been playing an important role in patient’s life, it is not surprising that they needed the supervision of a physician. After all it was a new profession, therefore it needed time to show if it is fulfilling the initial goals of the profession or not.

Therefore, physician assistants are important. It is extremely hard to become a certified physician assistant. They have to complete more than two thousand hours of clinical rotations, with an emphasis on primary care in ambulatory clinics, physician offices, and acute or long term care facilities. To become a PA, you must have an undergraduate degree in biology or chemistry. Sixty-nine percent of all PAs are female. It is estimated that the PA job outlook will grow thirty

Physician Assistants are always supervised by a physician by relieving doctors of routine tasks, they help deliver high-quality healthcare in a cost-effective manner. And now and days thanks to the internet and tele-medicine which make it easy to consult with a supervising physician, PA’s can bring medical services to rural and inner clinics unable to attract a full-time doctor. About forty-nine states require Physician Assistants to be graduates of an accredited Physician Assistant education program, although certificates and Associate degrees are offered, most PA’s have at least a Bachelor’s degree. Becoming a Physician Assistant isn’t easy, and I have a long journey ahead of me.

After the completion of the program you must pass the Physician’s Assistant National Certifying Examination and are required to be licensed by the state you will be practicing

Physician Assistants are also known as a PA’s; they practice medicine under the direction of physicians and surgeons. They formally trained to examine patients, diagnose injures and illness, and provide treatment. Physician Assistants also evaluate and treat patients under the supervision of doctors and surgeons. A Physician Assistants is a graduate of an accredited Physician Assistant educational program who is nationally certified and state- licensed to practice medicine with the supervision of a physician. Core tasks of a Physician Assistant are they take medical histories and examine patients. They Interpret lab test and make diagnoses, Treat minor injuries with stitches, splints, casts, and prescribes certain medications, The

Some work for hospitals, private practices, clinics, HMOs, home health care agencies, schools, and prisons. Surgical physician assistants are on their feet much of the day while the opposite which is administrative physicians assistants work mostly in offices. A majority of them work one-on-one with patients or as part of a team of health care providers. The most common area for physician assistants is in hospitals where they may work shifts, which would include nights and weekends. You would also have the option to work in clinics and doctors’ offices where you would usually work a five day, forty hour