Physician Assistant Educational Requirements 101

While a physician assistant practices medicine, they do so under the supervision of a certified physician. A PA, in many ways functions as a physician. A physician's assistant is not in need of babysitting of course, but it is necessary for them to work within the practice of a licensed physician. The care rendered will be the responsibility of the physician and the PA.

The educational requirements for both are quite different, and a PA will attend school for a shorter period of time. They can, however, perform many of the same kinds of responsibilities and may diagnose the patient, as well as offer medication and treatment regimens to the patient.

It is of course understood that a physician assistant spends much more time in school than a basic medical assistant. In the office of a physician, the PA has several responsibilities. Their responsibilities are many and diverse, and quite often, the physician does not play a key role in their work. What this means is that while the PA may be functional in the practice of the physician, in most cases the PA is not directly overseen by the doctor and may hold their own office hours in the practice of the physician, seeing patients independently unless they determine that another opinion is in order. Patients will occasionally ask to speak with the PA at the office instead of the physician. The use of a PA is a great method of preventing the white coat syndrome that manifests in the older and younger patients.

Each state has different requirements set for PA's. However as a general rule, the following tasks are expected of the PA, and fall within their scope of practice and physician assistant job description: diagnosis, x-ray interpretation, lab result analysis, prescription treatment, therapeutic decisions, patient examination and treatment and wound care.

The Physician Assistant will be in charge of viewing the patient and evaluating them to determine their overall health, as well as taking medical history, and in some cases treating immediate problems or issues of the patient. In addition to that they can prescribe a patient treatment plan. The actual scope of practice of each Physician Assistant will vary widely. It will not only be decided by the state of residence, but also by the physician under which they work.

While not strictly necessary, many of those who apply to the PA training programs are already holding a degree of some type. In many cases this may be a bachelor degree which will permit them to complete PA course work much more rapidly. There will be many of course who have medical experience, for instance nursing, EMT, or paramedic training.

The Physician assistant course may take about two years to complete. There are many degree paths to take in a PA program. In some cases, you may obtain your Associate degree, your Bachelor's degree, or the masters. Your prior level of education will determine which degree you gain.

Each PA course has it's own set of requirements. As it is important to communicate with pateints, there are multiple courses that will help you out in addition to your standard medical. Among the common courses that you will take if you are to become a PA are: nutrition, anatomy, physiology, pathology, chemistry, immunology, communication, biology, clinical treatment and medical surgical treatments.

Every school is different and will oviously make different reqeuirements for your attendance. We cannot stress enough the importance of attending an accredited course. You might find these offered by physical colleges, medical colleges, or even allied health programs.

PA's are typically well compensated. The average annual salary for the Physician Assistant in 2009 was about 85,000 USD. The new graduate can expect to make 5-7K less than that fee upon graduation. It has been found that the lowest pay is 50k per year, which is nothing to scoff at.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States, the health care fields which are most critical are those of physicians, nursing and other allied health professions such as Physician Assistant. Over time the profession will grow along with the salary.