Academic and Career Information
Updated February 2019
Nature of the Work, Earnings and Occupational Outlook
Many Physician Assistants (PA) work in primary care areas such as general internal medicine, pediatrics, and family medicine. Others work in specialty areas, such as general and thoracic surgery, emergency medicine, orthopedics, and geriatrics. PAs take medical histories, perform physical exams, order and interpret laboratory tests, diagnose and treat illnesses, counsel patients, assist in surgery, and set fractures. The responsibilities of a PA depend on the practice setting, education, and experience of the PA, and on the state laws and regulations. PAs are required to have leadership skills, and be willing to continue studying throughout their career to keep up with medical advances.
According to the American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), the number of practicing PA’s has doubled in the last decade, and should reach between 106,200-145,900 jobs by 2026. State laws regulating physician assistants have expanded access to physician services provided by PAs, including the authority to prescribe medications in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and Guam. The development of Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and other prepaid plans and the growing acceptance of PAs by other health care professionals have combined to strengthen the job market for PAs. Employment of PA’s is expected to grow much faster than average (37%) for all occupations through 2026. Median income for physician assistants is $104,860 (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2018).
Physician Assistant Education
There are many entry pathways into the physician assistant profession. Options include certificate of completion, as well as associate, baccalaureate, and master's degree --admissions to these different programs are highly competitive. There are 225 accredited physician assistant programs in the United States, and they are located at medical schools, medical centers, hospitals, two- and four-year colleges and universities, and in the uniformed forces (Physician Assistant Education Association). The vast majority award Masters degrees, and most applicants to PA programs have a bachelor’s degree and 3-years of health care experience at the time of entry.
PAs are educated as generalists in medicine; all programs emphasize primary care. PA programs require students to complete 26 months of classroom studies, and the educational program is modeled after the medical school curriculum with a combination of classroom and clinical instruction (Association of Physician Assistant Programs). PA education includes classroom instruction in biochemistry, nutrition, human anatomy, physiology, microbiology, clinical pharmacology, clinical medicine, geriatric and home health care, disease prevention, and medical ethics. Students obtain supervised clinical training in several areas, including primary care medicine, inpatient medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, geriatrics, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and pediatrics. PAs must complete 100 hours of continuing medical education every 2-years and take recertification exams every 10-years (Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2018).
Physician Assistant Preparation
Prerequisite admission requirements and selection criteria vary according to the individual institution's philosophy, thus refer to the individual program website for detailed information. For a list of programs accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) visit the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) website, and click on the Accredited Programs tab.
Major
Any major is appropriate for PA preparation. Students should select a major they find interesting and develop a broad, interdisciplinary foundation of knowledge and skills from which they can build upon. Most PA programs require that applicants have a minimum of two years of college credits and some health care experience prior to admission.
Clinical Experience Requirements
Many schools require a certain amount of hours of direct patient care (check with the school that you are considering). Some examples of preferred clinical experiences are: Military Medic or Corpsman, Back Office Medical Assistant (MA), Certified Nurses’ Aide (CAN), Emergency Medical Technician (EMT--patient care hours only), Paramedic, Physical Therapy Aide or Physical Therapist, Radiological Technician, Nurse (Licensed Vocational Nurse or Registered Nurse), Respiratory Therapist, Occupational Therapist Aide or Occupational Therapist, Athletic Trainer (others that are considered depending on the patient interaction i.e. phlebotomy, scribe).
Examples of clinical experiences not preferred: Administrative duties, Massage Therapy, Personal Trainer, Home Care Aide, Home Health Aide, Pharmacy Technician, Certified Nurses’ Aide, shadowing a physician or PA, research with no patient contact, hours received during training programs (i.e. medical school, internship, etc.).
Application
CASPA is the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants--a centralized Web-based application service provided by the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA). CASPA allows you to apply to any number of participating schools by completing a single application. California schools not participating in CASPA include Stanford University. In 2016 the total number of applicants that were offered admissions into PA programs via the CASPA was 8,106. The mean Science GPA: 3.51, Non-science GPA: 3.64, Cumulative GPA: 3.56.
Course Requirements for Physician Assistant Programs
For more information , please visit the CASPA website for information.
*The information above is reprinted with permission from CSULB’s Health Professions Advising Office.
This is NOT a comprehensive list of prerequisites for all programs. Students maintain responsibility for verifying course selection with individual programs.