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With the healthcare industry witnessing a boom, physician assistants are high in demand. The demand for Physician Assistants is steadily growing in both rural and urban areas, and here is a guide to the career.

The first set of requirements that are needed by a physician assistant is a 4-year college degree, some job experience, and successful completion of a 26-month training program. All Physician Assistants must get themselves re-certified every six years and they must complete 100 hours of ongoing education every two years.

In the industry there are two professional bodies – the one that regulates is known as the AAPA (American Association of Physician Assistants) and the one that administers certification exams and tracks the continuing education credits which is called NCCPA (National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants).

One of the key positions in a doctor’s office is the Physician Assistant. They are supervised by a licensed doctor, but also allowed to work independently inside the doctor’s office. They need to have the ability to be within 1 hour of their doctor’s call.

Some of their responsibilities include the diagnosis and analysis of labs and x-rays. They can also listen to patients and note down their history, decide treatment to be administered to them, write prescriptions, prescribe therapy, examine patients, and provide surgical help. Excellent communications skills are one of the most important abilities that a Physician Assistant must have because they will be interacting with patients most of the time.

Attending and interacting with the patients keep Physician Assistants on their feet most of the time. Some of the busiest assistants are those who are part of a surgical team. This is not an easy job – it requires handling stress and working late nights, weekends and holidays. To not panic the patient, the Physician Assistant must be able to handle the physical and mental demands of the job in a cool and calm manner that does not show on their face.

Physician Assistants are allowed to perform many tasks, however each American state has different guidelines as to which ones they can perform. In order to know the exact job responsibilities for that state, you will want to refer to that state’s employment website.

The growth in availability of Physician Assistant jobs is expected to be more rapid than in other industries. Physician Assistants’ demand is especially higher in hospitals, clinics, prisons and other facilities situated in rural and inner city areas. It is estimated that the growth in demand for physician assistants will rise 39% between 2008 and 2018 according to a report published in 2008 by the government. This is because healthcare industry is evolving and lowering its costs at the same time. Appointing Physician Assistants helps healthcare establishments lower its cost without compromising on quality of service or productivity. 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’s 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. Having a specialization as a Physical Assistant immediately places them in higher demand and allows them to command a higher salary that can exceed the maximum figure (given below).

Area: The pay that is administered for urban centers is often higher than that of the pay in rural facilities. The density of the population surrounding an urban center can affect the pay as it is often found that centers that have a higher density of population pay more. So, one factor that determines salaries is the cost of living, which is higher in the urban areas.

Another factor is experience. Highly experienced Physician Assistants get a higher salary.

Physician Assistants have salaries that average between $75,000 and $106,000 annually according to salary.com. However, a more realistic expectation for salary would be between $65,000 and $90,000 with just 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.

Fees for state licensing fees, registration fees, credential fees and professional liability insurance should be expected to be paid by the Physician Assistant’s employer.

Physician Assistants can choose to specialize in handling critical medical conditions like HIV/AIDS, neonatology, cancer, etc. Professionals that have a specialization in a critical medical condition will often be paid a much higher salary, as was mentioned above. Specialization programs are offered by many schools in fields like surgery, cancer, HIV, neonatology, pediatrics, emergency medicine, and much 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. A licensed doctor must always supervise the assistant, regardless of pay or specialization.

Physician Assistant jobs have many advantages – PAs do not have to attend to med school, they do not have to go through the taxing internship that all doctors go through, and they can learn different specialties or move from one specialty to another with ease. On top of that, the career can be rewarding and self-satisfying because they still can help people heal and recover from major and minor medical conditions.

There are always new challenges in the daily life of a PA and no two days are the same. The requirement of being supervised by a licensed doctor will always prevent a Physician Assistant from being and entrepreneur and launching their own practice.

Now you know what it takes and what to expect from a job as a Physician Assistant.

As you can see, physician assistant jobs are on the rise. For more information, please check out: Physician Assistant Salary

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