The healthcare industry is witnessing boom times and naturally, physician assistant jobs are on a roll. Here is a guide to the physician assistants career which is growing in demand in both rural and urban areas.
The typical physician assistant has successfully completed course work in a 26-month specialized program after receiving a 4-year degree. Both this and some job experience is required. All physician assistants must get themselves re-certified every six years and they must complete 100 hours of ongoing education every two years.
There are two professional bodies in the industry – the AAPA (American Association of Physician Assistants) that regulates and the NCCPA (National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants) that administers exams and takes care of continuing education.
In a doctor’s office, the role of a physician assistant plays an important part. Often they are allowed to work independently within a doctor’s office, but they are also supervised by a licensed doctor. They are required to provide response within one hour of their doctor’s call.
Some of their responsibilities include the diagnosis and analysis of labs and x-rays. Some of their other duties include helping their doctor by listening to patients, recording patients’ history, deciding treatment options, writing prescriptions for medication or therapy, perform patient examinations, and assist in surgical procedures. Plus, the physician assistant must possess excellent communication skills as he has to interact with patients most of the time.
Physician assistants are on their feet most of the time interacting with and attending to patients. Surgical team assistants are among the busiest of all assistants. This is not an easy job – it requires handling stress and working late nights, weekends and holidays. The physician assistant must handle all physical and mental stress with a cool and calm that does not show on his face because that may panic the patient.
The tasks that a physician assistant can perform vary in each American state. So, if you want to know the exact job responsibilities, refer to your state’s employment website.
It is expected that physician assistant jobs will grow more rapidly in availability compared to other jobs. Physician assistants’ demand is especially higher in hospitals, clinics, prisons and other facilities situated in rural and inner city areas. As per a government report published in 2008-end, it is estimated that physician assistants’ jobs are expected to grow by 39% from 2008 to 2018. This is because healthcare industry is evolving and lowering its costs at the same time. On of the ways that the healthcare industry is maintaining the quality of service and productivity is by appointing physician assistants. These factors, when combined with each state allowing physician assistants the ability to perform more medical procedures, combine and attribute to the increase in demand for these professionals.
A physician assistant salary depends on a few factors, which are:
Specialization: Physician assistants trained to handle complicated medical conditions like HIV or AIDS or cancer gets paid more than other assistants who can handle regular medical conditions. The demand for specialized physical assistants is very high and their salary can even exceed the maximum figure (given below).
Area: Often it is found that the pay for healthcare professionals is lower in rural areas than it is in urban centers. Also, it is typical that the pay in urban centers located in denser populated areas is higher than urban centers that are located in less dense areas. Cost of living is typically higher in densely populated areas which attributes to the higher pay in urban areas.
Experience counts as well. The more experience that a physician assistant has the higher salary that they will receive.
As per Salary.com, physician assistants earn anything between $75,000 and $106,000 yearly. A more realistic average would be between $65,000 and $90,000, give or take a few exceptions. The fact still remains that a physician assistant that has a specialization will still draw a higher salary. Pay differs between different facilities of which hospitals and outpatient centers will be the highest paying while government and educational facilities pay the lowest. Remember, the pay at urban centers will often be higher than the pay that is offered in rural areas.
It is also expected that a physician assistant’s employer will pay for their professional liability insurance, state licensing fees, registration fees, and credential fees.
Physician assistants can specialize in critical medical conditions like HIV/AIDS, neonatology, cancer or one of many others if they so choose. Those that do specialize in these critical medical conditions, like mentioned above, will often be paid a much higher salary. Many schools offer specialization programs in specialties like surgery, cancer, HIV, neonatology, pediatrics, emergency medicine, and more.
Then, a physician assistant can enroll for a postgraduate residency training program in areas like emergency medicine, rural primary care, occupational medicine, etc.
A physician assistant pay increases with time and experience. One caveat to all of this is that the assistant must always be supervised by a licensed doctor.
The ability to remain mobile between specializations, no need for med school, and not being required to complete an internship are among the many advantages that a physician assistant career has. They also are rewarded with a self-satisfying career that helps people recover from medical conditions, many of which can be major.
Every day is different in the life of a PA and he comes across new challenges daily. A physician assistant can never be an entrepreneur because he can only work under the supervision of a licensed doctor.
This is all you need to know about physician assistant jobs and career prospects.