MEDICINE
Physician Assistant
To be a successful Physician Assistant you should...
possess critical listening skills and the ability to communicate clearly, desire to work with all types of people and work as a team member, possess good interpersonal skills.
What will my job be like?
The profession of Physician Assistant is officially transitioning to the title Physician Associate, though Physician Assistant is still the legally recognized term in most states. PAs provide routine health care services with the supervision of a physician. They have many responsibilities, which include taking a patient’s medical history, performing physical examinations, ordering and interpreting laboratory tests, applying casts, prescribing certain medications, diagnosing and treating illness, suturing wounds and assisting in surgery.
Specialties
- General Internal Medicine
- Pediatrics
- Family Medicine
- General and Thoracic Surgery
- Emergency Medicine
- Orthopedics
- Geriatrics
- and many other fields
Where could I work?
Physician Assistants work in doctor offices, clinics, hospitals, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), health departments and the military. Some work in clinics away from the direct supervision of the physician and communicate with the physician by telephone or radio.
Other workplace settings:
- Community Health Centers
- Nursing Homes
- Prisons
- Student Health Services
Average Annual Salary
$130,020 per year
What is the future of this career?
Employment of physician assistant is projected to grow 28 percent from 2023 to 2033, much faster than the average for all occupations.
About 12,900 openings for physician assistants are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
Type of Education/Training
Graduation from an accredited PA program, current NCCPA certification, a bachelor’s degree, and documentation of 60 hours of pharmacology education.
Where could I get the education/training?
- Quinnipiac University
- Sacred Heart University
- University of Bridgeport – Physician Assistant Institute
- University of Saint Joseph
- Yale University
Licensing/Certification
Licensure is required in the state of Connecticut. Prerequisite: Licensure requires Bachelor’s degree from an approved PA program, NCCPA certification examination, current NCCPA certification, and 60 hours acceptable pharmacology course work.
Please visit the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health website for more information.
More Information
American Academy of Physician Associates
2318 Mill Road, Suite 1300
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-684-1924
