| Career Opportunity of a Physician's Assistant |
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Career Opportunity of a Physician's Assistant
By: Josh Stone
Off to college with you! Your parents always wanted to brag about their
offspring's going to medical school, and now they get their chance! But
the medical field, being as vast as it is, gives you so much choice that
narrowing down your ambitions to a specific field takes a lot of deep
thought. One career path that many medical school students are finding
their easiest path is the physician assistant, known as PA for short.
In the first place, if you're looking for financial benefit look no further
than Money magazine: they rate PAs as number thirty out of the top fifty
jobs! For starters, it's the fastest-growing field, with an incredible 49.65%
growth, outpacing even – Saints preserve us! – a software engineer at
number two. And you didn't want to spend your days in a boring cubicle
writing computer programs all day anyway, right? Total jobs for PAs in
2004 were 61,963; the expected demand in 2014 is estimated to be
92,726.
The average pay, while not exactly a lottery jackpot, is a tidy $75,117
/year, and the estimated top salary is a tidier $93,474/year. Consider also
that you get a benefits package and a ton of perks: PAs are needed
everywhere that there's a doctor or a hospital, so you can work anywhere
in the world.
According to the 2005 census from the American Academy of Physician
Assistants, just over 56 percent of PAs worked in the offices and clinics of
physicians, and 36 percent were employed by hospitals. The remaining 8
percent are divided among public health clinics, nursing homes, schools,
prisons, home health care agencies, and the United States Department
of Veterans Affairs. About 17 percent of all PAs provide health care to rural
communities with fewer than 20,000 residents, in which physicians may
be in limited supply. Work as a PA, and your travel ticket is yours to write!
The education requirements are much lighter than that of a physician
proper. As of 2006, there are more than 130 accredited PA programs in
existence in the United States. They are all accredited by a single
governing body: the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for
the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). A majority of them are master's degree
programs for one of MS, MPAS, or MHS, but some are available for an
undergraduate major. Some of these undergraduate programs are
making a transition to graduate level training, so ask around about
changing requirements. The certification is also done by one single
certifying body, the National Commission on Certification of Physician
Assistants (NCCPA). So your direction as a physician's assistant is clear!
PAs practice medicine, perform medical histories and examinations,
order treatments, interpret diagnostic tests, diagnose acute and chronic
illnesses, prescribe medication, perform invasive and noninvasive
procedures, refer patients to specialists when it's appropriate and provide
first assistance in surgery. The education of a physician assistant is a
mostly generalist approach, modeled after the medical school curriculum.
PAs may practice in general medicine, medical specialty, or surgical
specialty. Flexibility is another huge career perk. Due to their broad-based
medical education, PA's can change specialties and have the ability to
work throughout their career in different specialties. The one unbreakable
rule is that PAs must always work under the supervision of a physician.
Hopefully, working under supervision won't mean having a nitpicker
looking over your shoulder every minute of the day. That's about the worst
that can happen to you in this line of work, but it's bound to be a rare thing.
After all, the whole point is that you're there to help a physician; by
definition they are too busy to see to everything themselves.
The flexibility of this career ensures that you can go where you want
and do what interests you. You can go on into specialties and
subspecialties as your tastes permit. You can "inherit" a specialty from
any physician you're working under. Because your duties are lighter, you
can continue your education while you work. And you are almost
guaranteed to be a able to find work, so you're not likely to be stuck
someplace that you've decided isn't to your liking.
At the same time, this isn't to be looked down upon as a 'candy striper'
type of job. As a physician assistant, you are practicing real medicine.
You're present in the clinic, the ER, the maternity ward, the private practice
office, and the surgery. You get to make the diagnosis and prescribe the
treatment, putting your training and skills to good use. In fact, this is
known as a medium-difficult job. You will find challenges in this field and
never have a chance to become bored.
Of course, we should consider the community. The AAPA (the
American Academy of Physician Assistants) maintains an expansive
website, with news, information, certification assistance, job info, and
tons of databases. Forums and clubs for physician assistants are never
hard to find, both on the Internet and in large cities. PAs, having the
flexibility to swim with the current, really get around and get a wide range
of experiences. As compared to a physician, who is more likely to be
required to stay put for most of their career, a group of physician
assistants is more likely to contain the one person who knows more
about what's really going on.
Historically, physician assistants have been dispatched to the
battlefield. The first physician assistants started in the Vietnam war – and
yes, since you asked, M*A*S*H is still a favorite TV show in the culture. But
signing up for military duty as a physician assistant is an excellent way to
live the war without being on the front lines. As the military saying goes,
you'll be "in the rear with the gear", providing your essential services right
where they're needed most. This is another example of how a physician
assistant career can mix and match with any secondary ambition you
might have. The only real downside of the career is the comparative
salary of a physician assistant to a physician, but consider that you have a
much smaller personal investment in it and can always continue your
education on the job to branch to a full physician.
Article Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/the-career-opportunity-of-a-physicians-
assistant-72628.html
By: Josh Stone
Off to college with you! Your parents always wanted to brag about their
offspring's going to medical school, and now they get their chance! But
the medical field, being as vast as it is, gives you so much choice that
narrowing down your ambitions to a specific field takes a lot of deep
thought. One career path that many medical school students are finding
their easiest path is the physician assistant, known as PA for short.
In the first place, if you're looking for financial benefit look no further
than Money magazine: they rate PAs as number thirty out of the top fifty
jobs! For starters, it's the fastest-growing field, with an incredible 49.65%
growth, outpacing even – Saints preserve us! – a software engineer at
number two. And you didn't want to spend your days in a boring cubicle
writing computer programs all day anyway, right? Total jobs for PAs in
2004 were 61,963; the expected demand in 2014 is estimated to be
92,726.
The average pay, while not exactly a lottery jackpot, is a tidy $75,117
/year, and the estimated top salary is a tidier $93,474/year. Consider also
that you get a benefits package and a ton of perks: PAs are needed
everywhere that there's a doctor or a hospital, so you can work anywhere
in the world.
According to the 2005 census from the American Academy of Physician
Assistants, just over 56 percent of PAs worked in the offices and clinics of
physicians, and 36 percent were employed by hospitals. The remaining 8
percent are divided among public health clinics, nursing homes, schools,
prisons, home health care agencies, and the United States Department
of Veterans Affairs. About 17 percent of all PAs provide health care to rural
communities with fewer than 20,000 residents, in which physicians may
be in limited supply. Work as a PA, and your travel ticket is yours to write!
The education requirements are much lighter than that of a physician
proper. As of 2006, there are more than 130 accredited PA programs in
existence in the United States. They are all accredited by a single
governing body: the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for
the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). A majority of them are master's degree
programs for one of MS, MPAS, or MHS, but some are available for an
undergraduate major. Some of these undergraduate programs are
making a transition to graduate level training, so ask around about
changing requirements. The certification is also done by one single
certifying body, the National Commission on Certification of Physician
Assistants (NCCPA). So your direction as a physician's assistant is clear!
PAs practice medicine, perform medical histories and examinations,
order treatments, interpret diagnostic tests, diagnose acute and chronic
illnesses, prescribe medication, perform invasive and noninvasive
procedures, refer patients to specialists when it's appropriate and provide
first assistance in surgery. The education of a physician assistant is a
mostly generalist approach, modeled after the medical school curriculum.
PAs may practice in general medicine, medical specialty, or surgical
specialty. Flexibility is another huge career perk. Due to their broad-based
medical education, PA's can change specialties and have the ability to
work throughout their career in different specialties. The one unbreakable
rule is that PAs must always work under the supervision of a physician.
Hopefully, working under supervision won't mean having a nitpicker
looking over your shoulder every minute of the day. That's about the worst
that can happen to you in this line of work, but it's bound to be a rare thing.
After all, the whole point is that you're there to help a physician; by
definition they are too busy to see to everything themselves.
The flexibility of this career ensures that you can go where you want
and do what interests you. You can go on into specialties and
subspecialties as your tastes permit. You can "inherit" a specialty from
any physician you're working under. Because your duties are lighter, you
can continue your education while you work. And you are almost
guaranteed to be a able to find work, so you're not likely to be stuck
someplace that you've decided isn't to your liking.
At the same time, this isn't to be looked down upon as a 'candy striper'
type of job. As a physician assistant, you are practicing real medicine.
You're present in the clinic, the ER, the maternity ward, the private practice
office, and the surgery. You get to make the diagnosis and prescribe the
treatment, putting your training and skills to good use. In fact, this is
known as a medium-difficult job. You will find challenges in this field and
never have a chance to become bored.
Of course, we should consider the community. The AAPA (the
American Academy of Physician Assistants) maintains an expansive
website, with news, information, certification assistance, job info, and
tons of databases. Forums and clubs for physician assistants are never
hard to find, both on the Internet and in large cities. PAs, having the
flexibility to swim with the current, really get around and get a wide range
of experiences. As compared to a physician, who is more likely to be
required to stay put for most of their career, a group of physician
assistants is more likely to contain the one person who knows more
about what's really going on.
Historically, physician assistants have been dispatched to the
battlefield. The first physician assistants started in the Vietnam war – and
yes, since you asked, M*A*S*H is still a favorite TV show in the culture. But
signing up for military duty as a physician assistant is an excellent way to
live the war without being on the front lines. As the military saying goes,
you'll be "in the rear with the gear", providing your essential services right
where they're needed most. This is another example of how a physician
assistant career can mix and match with any secondary ambition you
might have. The only real downside of the career is the comparative
salary of a physician assistant to a physician, but consider that you have a
much smaller personal investment in it and can always continue your
education on the job to branch to a full physician.
Article Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/the-career-opportunity-of-a-physicians-
assistant-72628.html
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