Learn About Physician Assistant, Physician Assistants Schools, Training, Jobs, and Careers

What is a Physician Assistant?
Physician assistants (PAs) play vital role in the healthcare field. They are the right hand man or woman for doctors. Some people confuse them as medical assistants, but they are more involved in treating patients’ medical problems than medical assistants.

Unlike medical assistants, physician assistants can perform physical examinations of a patient. Simply put, PAs practice medicine under the guidance of a doctor. Below are some of the things they can do:

1. Order and interpret x-ray
2. Order and interpret clinical laboratory tests
3. Perform patient diagnostics
4. Treat minor injuries and wounds
5. Handle patient therapy treatments
6. Put and remove cast on patient
7. Provide counseling to patients
8. Take detailed medical history of patients
9. Make hospital and clinic rounds
10. Etc.

PAs are mostly found in inner cities and rural areas where doctors are hard to find. They fill the void for people who would otherwise not see a physician.

How to Become a Physician Assistant:
Becoming a physician assistant is quite involved. You will need to at least get a degree in another profession before you are admitted to PA school. Years of experience in the health care field can be substituted for the degree. For example, if you have worked for years as a registered nurse, you should have no problem getting into a physician assisting program.

While in such a program, you will be thought the skills needed to diagnose and treat patients. Some people believe the training is parallel to that of physicians. You should expect to take classes in:

a. Anatomy
b. Pathology
c. Biology
d. Biochemistry
e. Disease Control
f. Clinical Pharmacology
g. Etc.

Students will get practical hands-on experience under the supervision of doctors. This will expose them to different areas of medicine, like family care, internal medicine, pediatrics, etc.

As with any other profession in the medical field, PAs need to be licensed to practice. So, you will need to take the national certification examination. This exam is administered by the National Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).

Physician Assistant Salary:
This is one of the highest paying medical assistant careers. They make an average salary of $64,000 per year. Some make as high as $101,000 per year.

The high pay can be attributed to the fact that physician assistants already hold degree in another field or are already experienced professionals in the healthcare field.

Physician Assistant School:
Physician assisting schools are not found easily. We have you covered though. You need click this link to find a school near you. It may be well worth your time.

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