Home | Timelines and Courses | Registration | Careers | Volunteer & Research Opps | Forms
Health Scholars Program | FAQs | Post-Baccalaureate Program
Physician's Assistant
Physician's Assistants (PAs) are health professionals licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision. PAs are qualified upon completion of an accredited physician assistant education program and certification by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.
For classes entering in 2008, 119 programs offered master’s degrees or the option to obtain that credential. The remainder offered bachelor’s or associate degrees or certificates of completion. The majority of students enter PA educational programs with a baccalaureate degree and prior health care experience. PA Program requirements vary from program to program. Pre-requisite courses required by a majority of programs in Pennsylvania may include but are not limited to English Composition, General Biology with lab, Biological Sciences with labs, General Chemistry with lab, additional chemistry courses, Math (including statistics), Psychology, Genetics, Social Sciences, and Computer Literacy. In addition, most Pennsylvania programs require an overall GPA of 3.0, both cumulative and in the sciences and between 200 and 500 documented hours of patient contact experience. Some also require documentation of shadowing experiences with a PA, and all programs include an interview component as part of the application process.
The structure of the education for PA students is similar to that for medical students, although shorter in length. Most accredited PA programs take 26 months to complete. PA programs require students to complete classroom and laboratory studies as well as clinical rotations.
PAs are educated as generalists in medicine; all programs emphasize primary care. PAs are qualified to take medical histories, order laboratory tests, treat illnesses, give medical advice, counsel patients, perform physical exams, diagnose common illnesses, assist in surgery, and set fractures. Today there are four accredited PA schools in the Philadelphia Area and fifteen in the state of Pennsylvania.
Within the physician/PA relationship, PAs exercise autonomy in medical decision making and provide a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services. A PA's practice may also include education, research, and administrative services.
The growth of the profession has been substantial. In 1975 there were fewer than 1,500 practicing PAs. In 2008 there are over 79,000. This is one of the fastest growing health care professions. The Department of Labor projected a 27 percent increase in the number of jobs available for PAs between 2006 and 2016.
PAs work wherever physicians or health care organizations employ them. They can be found in virtually all health care settings. They work in hospitals, physician's offices, HMO's, correctional institutions, military installations, VA medical centers, nursing homes, public health agencies, community clinics, research centers, urban/rural health clinics, health care education and administration offices, and industrial medicine clinics.
To find out more about the PA field, look at the website of the American Academy of Physician Assistants.
Click here for more specific information on accredited PA programs.