HEALTH OCCUPATION OF THE MONTH
Physician Assistant
by Alysse Sargent
September 03, 2008
Physician assistants (PAs) are health care providers. They work under the supervision of physicians. They are trained to perform diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive health care services. Another type of service they perform involves taking medical history, examining, and treating patients. They order and interpret laboratory tests and X rays. They also treat minor injuries. These injuries could be sutures, splinting, and casting. Many PAs are allowed to prescribe medicine to patients. The middle 50% of PAs in 2004 earned between $57,110 and $83,560. The lowest 10% earned less than $37,320 and the highest 10% made $94,880 or higher. In May 2004, the median annual earnings of a PA was $69,410.
In most cases, PAs work in a comfortable, well-lighted environment. One environment some PAs would work in would be standing for long periods of time, or doing considerable walking. Because of being in the health field, they may have to lift, bend, and be able to perform specific tasks for patients. PAs work in many different facilities. About 56% of PAs work in private practice offices or clinics and 32% work in hospitals. The other facilities that contain PAs include public health clinics, temporary help agencies, schools, prisons, home health care agencies, and many more. Schedules vary according to the practice the PA works in. Hours usually depend on the hours of the supervising physician. Most PAs work a 40-hour workweek. In some settings they may work weekends, nights, or early morning hospital rounds. PAs also may have to be on call at times. They always need to be prepared, because many things can happen at any time while in this field. PAs must be strong leaders, have self-confidence, and have emotional stability. In this field, you always have to be willing to learn new things because there will always be new technology.
In 2004, PAs held around 62,000 jobs. More than half of the jobs of PAs were in offices of physicians. One quarter of those jobs were in private or public hospitals, and the rest were in outpatient care centers. The employment of PAs is expected to grow faster than average for occupations through the year 2014. Employment for PAs looks good because physicians and institutions want them to provide primary care and assist with medical procedures. PAs are popular because they are cost-effective and productive for health care. They relieve physicians of routine duties or procedures. Job opportunities for PAs are expected to stay high, especially in rural and inner city clinics, because these settings often have a hard time finding physicians.
PAs must receive a degree to practice this profession. They need to start off by attending three to four years in a pre-professional program through college. They then need to attend two years of laboratory studies in the PA professional program. In courses taken during these studies, PAs must obtain a GPA of 3.0 or higher. The courses needed are A&P Microbiology, Chemistry 1 and 2, Calculus 1, Biology 1, and Psychology. They must complete 50 hours of volunteer work under the supervision of a physician. This experience strengthens the student in many ways when dealing with the patient. The must take 32 semester hours of classroom work and be involved in 40 weeks of supervised clinical training. PAs must obtain a license by passing a National exam. All facilities require PAs to pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination. Those who successfully pass the exam will have the title "Physician Assistant-Certified". Every two years, they must complete 100 hours of continuing medical educations. Every six years, PAs must pass a re-certification exam or complete an alternative program combining learning experiences and a take-home examination.
