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career as a Physician Assistant |
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The purpose of the following information is to provide a
brief overview of the Physician Assistant profession to someone
unfamiliar with it. Often, people new to this country, may
not even know this opportunity exists. The profession is relatively
new in the US, founded in the 1960's, although at least a
couple of foreign medical professionals models were somehow
utilized when it was being developed: a feldsher (Russia,
USSR), and a "barefoot doctor" (China).
Physician Assistants (PA's) are health care professionals
trained to provide diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventative
care to patients under a supervision of a physician. We are
educated in a medical model - to diagnose and treat medical
conditions (www.bls.gov).
Please don't confuse with Medical Assistant, this is a different
occupation.
Basic responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
taking patient's histories and performing physical exams, ordering
and interpreting tests/labs, making diagnoses and initiating
treatment, and prescribing medications ( the latter is allowed
in 47 states), writing medical orders, and rounding on inpatients
at a hospital with the rest of the medical team. All of the
above are, again, performed under a direct or formal supervision
of an MD or DO, depending, of course, on the trust there is
in the doctor-PA relationship. In some remote rural areas ,
direct supervision is not always possible due to the fact that
the doc is not at the site at all times. For more info, refer
to www.aapa.org
Where can you work. Pretty much anywhere people come
in for medical help:
- Primary care: clinics, Family practice settings, Internal
medicine offices, Pediatrics, OB/GYN;
- Emergency Rooms;
- Specialty offices: Gastroenterology, Urology, Dermatology…
- you name it;
- Essentially at any department of a hospital;
- Surgery/Operating rooms - PA's first and second assist in
OR, perform minor surgical procedures;
- Nursing homes;
- Forensics, prisons;
- You can do research, teach, etc.
Education. Pa programs are usually 2 years in length,
requiring to have at least 2 yrs of prerequisites prior to applying
(your anatomy, biology, etc.) plus some sort of medical background.
Most of the schools are very competitive, have interviews, require
that you have good grades , etc. Imagine a medical school "squeezed"
into 2 years. I won't discourage anyone, but it was tough, difficult,
and hard (and I mean it - all three), especially the first year.
There are close to 140 PA schools in the country, each has its
requirements and you can graduate with an Associate (a rarity
now), Bachelor's, or Master's degree. You can find a school
list here www.apap.org
Upon graduation, you will need to sit for the boards in order
to get the "C" in the PA-C name: Physician Assistant
Certified. Every 6 years, there is a recertification exam, and
every 2 years there is are 100 hours of continuing medical education
to log. On a more personal note, I like being a PA. You can
work in any or all possible medical/surgical subspecialties
throughout your PA career - in Neurosurgery today and in Pediatrics
5 years from now. No additional training will be involved (except
the necessary on-the-job one).
I didn't have to have to go through all the scares of a residency.
I do work long hours and take call, but my schedule is somewhat
controllable, and I like it that way. I don't have the full
responsibility for a patient's care, although, of course, can
be just like doctors are; and, surely, my degree of compensation
for the work performed is lower,- just to name a few differences.
With any questions that you might have, please e-mail me to
ankasny@hotmail.com.
Dear fellow PAs, let me know what I missed in this attempt to
give an overview of the profession, or share your experiences.
Good Luck to all!
Anna Singur, PA-C,
Department of Surgery,
Lake Hospital System,
Willoughby, Ohio
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