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What is a Physician Assistant?

A Physician Assistant (PA) works under the supervision of a qualified physician to provide care for patients through examination, intake, assistance during surgery, set bones, provide prescriptions, and a variety of other tasks. The limits of what a physician assistant may or may not do is dictated by the state and varies as a result.

Physician assistants differ greatly from medical assistants due primarily to what functions they may perform, primarily the amount of actual treatment they may provide a given patient.  A Physician Assistant is a nationally certified, state-licensed medical professional that works on a healthcare team.   After earning their state licensure, a PA is authorized to prescribe medications for a patient in nearly every state.

Career Summary

MEDIAN SALARY

$102,090

PERCENT ABOVE NATIONAL
INCOME AVERAGE

63.69%

TOTAL SECTOR EMPLOYMENT

104,050

Degree Median Salary vs Adjacent Degree Types

Source: BLS, US Census, and IPEDS

2024 Best Physician Assistant Programs

You can begin your career as a Physician Assistant at Yale University’s Physician Assistance degree program.  They guarantee to offer exposure to a wide variety of teaching methodologies and an access to world renowned faculty who are associated with the School of Medicine. Their way of imparting the skills requisite for life-long learning is by motivating their students to be self-directed during their education. One of the goals of this program is to educate individuals to integrate the clinical data that they obtain from their physical examination, laboratory analysis, and medical history for them to be able to form a differential diagnosis for the patient condition. 

Acceptance Rate

6.08

Student to Faculty Ratio

6:1

Duke University’s Physician Assistant major is known to be the birthplace of the physician assistant profession. Their objective is to educate caring and competent primary care physician assistants that are leaders in the profession and practices evidence-based medicine. The program also molds their students to become culturally sensitive, dedicated to their communities and devoted to positive transformation of the healthcare system. They promise to always seek quality improvement and at the same time welcome the ideas of all who participate in the program. 

Acceptance Rate

7.6

Student to Faculty Ratio

6:1

The students enrolled in the Physician Assistant degree program at Northwestern University are trained not only to identify their own learning issues but to truly comprehend the material so they can also impart their knowledge to their student colleagues. NU aims to be the national in PA education and to successfully prepare physician assistants of the highest quality. They do this by providing both the knowledge and skills needed to be culturally competent and compassionate providers of high-quality healthcare. This program also prepares graduates to collaborate on interprofessional teams in providing patient-centered care. 

Acceptance Rate

9.05

Student to Faculty Ratio

6:1

The School of Medicine at Tufts University is offering a top ranked Physician Assistant degree program.  Students in this program complete their pre-clinical coursework at the Health Sciences Campus of Tufts which is located in downtown Boston. Since it is the world’s most dynamic cities for medicine and health care, their students have the opportunity to network with clinicians, interact with dental and medical students, and can participate in Grand Rounds at the world-class Tufts Medical Center. In the second year of the students, they will be able to further hone their skills by completing their clinical rotations at different practice sites both in and around Boston. 

Acceptance Rate

14.95

Student to Faculty Ratio

9:1

The Physician Assistant program offered at Southern California University is among the top assistant programs in the nation. Its curriculum is designed to give emphasis in primary care and it should take place in a variety of clinical settings. It is a 33-month academic program that is dedicated to the advancement of physician assistant education and focuses on giving service to the medically underserved. It aims to prepare students from diverse backgrounds to give a positive change in the healthcare system. 

Acceptance Rate

11.42

Student to Faculty Ratio

9:1

The PA Program offered at Emory University recruits experienced and expertly trained faculty who are dedicated to training the healthcare providers of the future from all over the country. This program is considered to be the leader in reshaping patient care in the United States. They are even recognized as one of the top five Physician Assistant programs in the nation. One reason for this recognition is their earnest efforts in supporting their students’ journey to becoming well prepared, certified PAs. 

Acceptance Rate

15.6

Student to Faculty Ratio

9:1

The Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is offering a Physician Assistant Studies program. This program is designed to support both traditional and nontraditional students who aspire to serve North Carolinians through excellence in clinical service, education, and scholarship. It also created a diverse educational environment through supporting nontraditional students whose skills in health care became force multipliers in their own community. This program was able to draw attention from across North Carolina and the United States due to its potential to help enhance health care and their mission to recruit veterans with military health backgrounds. 

Acceptance Rate

22.63

Student to Faculty Ratio

13:1

The Physician Assistant degree at Wake Forest University is known to feature a small-group, inquiry based, self-directed learning centered on real patient medical problems. The primary objective of this PA program is to produce highly capable compassionate PAs who can deliver patient-centered care and make significant contributions to the health care community while continually advancing the PA profession. It was established in 1969 and obtained a unique history of innovation in medical education. Completion of the 24-month program leads to a Master of Medical Science degree.

Acceptance Rate

29.6

Student to Faculty Ratio

10:1

The School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University offers a top rated Physician Assistant degree program for qualified students.  First year students of this program start clerkships at clinical sites making it possible for an early exposure to the clinical environment. Its focus is to refine the student’s clinical skills of performing a physical exam, medical documentation, oral presentation, and eliciting a medical history. Through this exposure, a strong emphasis in communication skills and professionalism is also placed on. 

Acceptance Rate

27.36

Student to Faculty Ratio

11:1

The goal of the School of Physician Assistant Studies at the University of Florida is to educate students to become physician assistants that will serve the nation as part of a multidisciplinary team in a diverse, ever-changing changing health care environment. It is a continuous 24-month, full-time educational program which accepts new students once a year that begins in late June. The program strives to train physician assistants in a broad range of surgical and medical knowledge and skills. It also educates students in an aim to provide high-quality and compassionate health care to diverse patient populations under the supervision of a licensed physician. 

Acceptance Rate

36.58

Student to Faculty Ratio

18:1

The Physician Assistant Program offered at George Washington University that is housed within the Department of Physician Studies is designed to build strong primary care and public health foundations among its students. It is a traditional program which provides preparation for students who want to pursue clinical careers. Additionally, they also created a joint PA/MPH program which is best suited to students with a strong interest in public health. This unique three-year program is structured to provide clinical and academic preparation for careers in public health and medicine. 

Acceptance Rate

40.84

Student to Faculty Ratio

13:1

The Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies program offered at Marist College is located in their Allied Health Building that has standardized patient suites, skills laboratory, trauma simulation room, and a state-of-the-art gross anatomy laboratory. This program which occupies 18,000 square feet in the 58,000 square feet building shares resources and activities with other programs in the School of Science on campus and this gives birth to an opportunity to develop inter-professional skills as new clinical programs are added to the School of Science. This 24-month, full-time program is tailored to prepare students for clinical practice. Students are able to learn how to care for patients in various settings such as out-patient, in-patient, in the emergency room, and in the operating room. 

Acceptance Rate

49.23

Student to Faculty Ratio

16:1

Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science offers a Master of Health Science in Physician Assistant program.  This program is known to serve as a beacon of hope for the world that is in search of equal access to health and wellness without barriers. Their dream is to train transformative leaders that are capable of providing culturally competent care for diverse and underserved populations. They want to hone leaders that are committed to the reduction of healthcare disparities. This 27-month program that leads to a Master of Health Sciences has a long history of training lifelong learners in healthcare. 

Acceptance Rate

31.64

Student to Faculty Ratio

12:1

Baylor University’s Medicine Physician Assistant program aims to recruit, enroll, and retain a diverse community of highly qualified applicants who are committed to the PA profession. This program will equip graduates with the knowledge and analytical skills needed for practice-based learning and systems-based practice. Additionally, this program prepares students to successfully complete the curriculum in the specific period of time. They also ensure practice preparedness through monitoring satisfaction with training and performance abilities of entry-level graduates. 

Acceptance Rate

45.33

Student to Faculty Ratio

14:1

A program for Physician Assistant is available at the University of Washington – Seattle Campus. The curriculum in this program has two components, the didactic phase and the clinical phase. This approximately spans one year, including an additional quarter of material preparing students for advanced clinical and leadership roles, having a total of 27 months and 162 credits. The theme of the curriculum is about providing primary care and access for rural and medically underserved populations. 

Acceptance Rate

51.76

Student to Faculty Ratio

19:1

Stony Brook University offers a highly acclaimed and nationally ranked Physician Assistant degree program. Their student-faculty ratio is 12:1, ensuring that each of their students receive the attention that they deserve. The curriculum emphasizes collaboration, interprofessional education, and team approach. They also guarantee to provide highly qualified and responsive teaching faculty and staff.  

Acceptance Rate

44.15

Student to Faculty Ratio

18:1

The University of South Florida is offering a Physician Assistant degree. This intensive 24-month program prepares graduates for a career as a Physician Assistant in a dynamic ever-changing healthcare field of the 21st century. As they train students to excel in their role as PAs, they also foster inter-professional teamwork. Students in this program will gain a minimum of 500 hours of direct patient care experience in a health care setting.

Acceptance Rate

47.63

Student to Faculty Ratio

22:1

The Physician Assistant Studies program is available at the University of Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh Campus. It is a two-year program with two elective rotations, state-of-the-art facilities, 99% pass rate, and 100% employment. This program is designed to mesh traditional didactic lectures with out-of-the-classroom learning opportunities, hands-on skills labs, and case-based individual and group activities. Within the students’ clinical year, they will receive exceptional clinical placements. Students are guaranteed to gain experience in a variety of clinical, medical, and surgical settings. 

Acceptance Rate

56.65

Student to Faculty Ratio

14:1

The vision of the Physician Assistant program at Chapman University is to educate a highly competent, culturally sensitive, ethical and insightful PA that is ready to face the challenges of healthcare in the primary and specialty care areas. The faculty and staff in this program strive to inspire students with a personalized educational experience to help them become the kind of leaders who seek scholarly endeavors and manifest practice evidence-based medicine as part of an interdisciplinary team. They promise to provide an exceptional medical education which can effectively prepare students for success on the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam. Additionally, they aim to prepare students for success in clinical rotations and success as an entry-level PAs. 

Acceptance Rate

55.65

Student to Faculty Ratio

13:1

A 33-month PA program is offered at Rutgers University – New Brunswick. This program is designed to provide students with the chance to develop their analytical skills that is particularly significant in today’s healthcare environment. Students will be guided by a diversified faculty who are scientists, clinicians, and educators. Students in this program became not only technically competent but are also well-prepared to deliver high quality humanistic patient care to a diverse population. 

Acceptance Rate

61.22

Student to Faculty Ratio

16:1

The primary objective of the MMS in Physician Assistant program at Saint Louis University is to educate individuals so they’ll become competent and compassionate physician assistants who are dedicated to excellence in health care as well as to the service of humanity. They allow their students to be involved in a variety of university and community service. Additionally, their students also participate in national physician assistant activities. Completion of this program will make one eligible to sit for the Physician Assistant national Certifying Exam. 

Acceptance Rate

58.28

Student to Faculty Ratio

9:1

Temple University has a continuous history of excellence in medical education in delivering a Physician Assistant Training degree that leads to a Master of Medical Science degree. They guarantee to provide patient-centered and inter-professional education and care. The PA training program that they offer has a reputation for excellence, clinical education, and unparalleled commitment to the underserved community. They claim to be the highly desirable option for a PA program candidate. 

Acceptance Rate

60.04

Student to Faculty Ratio

14:1

Howard University is offering a 28-month Physician Assistant program.   This program aims to recruit and prepare competent physician assistants who have expertise in clinical decision-making and research for the enhancement of the health of the public. This program will enhance your problem-solving skills and will help you achieve advancement of the profession on local, national and international levels. It fosters critical thinking, active learning, self-inquiry and service within the context of ethical and responsible behavior. It also guarantees to provide an educational experience of exceptional quality to students with high academic potential. 

Acceptance Rate

36.08

Student to Faculty Ratio

10:1

The Master in Physician Assistant Studies at Sacred Heart University offers the opportunity to learn from world-class physicians, physician assistants and other healthcare professionals within their state-of-the-art facilities and in different clinical settings. This program focuses on primary care as well as in population health and wellness through a patient-centric approach. Students in this program work collaboratively as a member of an interprofessional team. As their students complete the program, they are well-prepared to sit for the PA national Certification Exam. 

Acceptance Rate

63.92

Student to Faculty Ratio

13:1

Chatham University is offering a Program for Physician Assistant Studies. The core experience of this program is its clinical rotation. They believe that through rotations in various electives, their students become well-rounded practitioners and are developed to be solid members of healthcare teams. Chatham is very proud when their Physician Assistant Studies graduates have averaged a 98% first-time pass rate over the past five years. 

Acceptance Rate

62.19

Student to Faculty Ratio

10:1

What Does a Physician Assistant Do?

A physician assistant is charged with providing a variety of health care services under the supervision of a licensed physician. While a physician assistant is often confused with a medical assistant, they are not the same profession. A medical assistant will check-up on patients, collect information, help draw blood, arrange lab tests, and a variety of other important yet routine tasks.

On the other hand, a physician assistant or PA will be responsible for a greater number of job responsibilities than a medical assistant in diagnostic medicine, therapeutic treatments, and preventative measures. Examples of the job duties of a PA may include the following:

  • Prescribe medication
  • Set a fractured bone, casting, suturing, and splinting
  • Complete a physical examination
  • Synthesize a patients medical history
  • Educate patients with rehabilitation and preventative care
  • Interpret lab results, electrocardiogram, and x-rays
  • Treat an illness
  • Make rounds in a hospital
  • Assist an attending physician with a surgical procedure
  • Supervise medical staff
  • Order a lab test
  • Manage inventory at clinic or hospital
  • Help develop treatment plans

How to Become a Physician Assistant

There are five essential steps in the process to become a physician assistant you will need to carefully follow. We will outline them below to help you best understand the process to becoming a licensed PA.

  1. Preparation: This step includes students earning valuable work experience in the medical field coupled with meeting the minimum academic qualifications for a PA program at an accredited college or university. Work experience requirements can be met by working in a myriad number of positions in the medical field including: Medical Assistant, RN, EMT, Medical Assistant, Physical Therapist, Respiratory Therapist, CNA, LPN, LVN, Paramedic, Lab Assistant, or other approved vocations. Academic prerequisites will vary from school to school but will generally encompass a combination of anatomy, physiology, biology, chemistry, and microbiology.
  2. Matriculation: Attending an accredited, state-approved Physician Assistant program is the next step in the process towards your new career. Most PA programs are 2-3 year degree tracks with instruction in a variety of science-laden classes such as pharmacology, clinical labs, medical ethics, biochemistry, and pathophysiology. Most states will require a minimum of 2,000 hours of clinical rotations at an approved long-term care facility, hospital, physicians office, acute care facility, or ambulatory care center.
  3. Certification: At the completion of your ARC-PA accredited college coursework, you will be eligible to sit for a standardized test known as the PANCE. The PANCE stands for the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination which is administered by the NCCPA. After successfully passing the PANCE you will earn a PA-C or Physician Assistant-Certified title.
  4. Licensure: Prior to working in the field, you will need apply for licensure from your state of residence after earning your PA degree and successfully passing the PANCE examination. A list of state licensing boards and state laws can be found on the AAPA website.
  5. Continuing Education: In order to maintain your physician assistant certification, you will need to complete 100 hours of CME credits every two years along with a recertification every ten years known as the PANRE.

Educational Requirements for PA's

Every state requires PA’s to complete a formal training program at an accredited higher education institution.  The admission requirements for a physician assistant program will vary from school to school, yet most will require students to have at least two years of college and substantive work experience in the medical field prior to matriculation in a bachelor’s degree program or master’s degree program.  Prior work experience may include time as a Registered Nurse, EMT, Paramedic, Medical Assistant, Physical Therapist, Respiratory Therapist, Certified Nurse Assistant, or LPN.

Coursework for a physician assistant will be split between liberal arts classes and core curriculum.  General education courses such as math, social sciences, English, and psychology are designed to help broaden and deepen a student’s thinking.  The next set of classes are science-rich, core PA courses designed to immerse students into the world of a PA.  Courses a typical student will take include such classes as:

Schools Other Students Requested Information From:

Employment Opportunities and PA Licensure

Individuals working as physician assistants will find work primarily in hospitals and clinics, though there are positions available in private practices, military and government facilities, as well as universities and other post-secondary educational institutions. Physician assistants will work a varying schedules, with some individual working over 50 hours a week, and others being on call.

Licensure is required by all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Licensure requires the passing of the Physician National Certifying Examination, offered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Continuing education courses are required to maintain the certification, and every 6 years physician assistants must retake the exam.

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements

Physician assistant’s will work as a vital part of a healthcare team either under the direct supervision of an attending physician or as a full-charge care provider at a healthcare center.  A physician assistant who is the principle care provider at a medical center or nursing facility will manage the operations and staff for long periods of time or staggered with a physician.

For example, a medical clinic may be designed to have a primary care physician on-site two days a week leaving the physician assistant responsible to run the healthcare facility for the other days of the week.

Work hours will vary depending on the healthcare center’s needs and scope of job responsibilities.  Some PA’s will work a predictable 8-hour shift over a consistent block of days while others will work on-demand or have a flex schedule working longer, intermittent hours to meet the needs of the healthcare operation and patient demand.  Some PA physician assistant will often flex to the needs of the clinic or hospital.

The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) estimates that approximately 50% of all physician assistant jobs are in a physician’s office, 25% are hospital-based, and the balance are mixed in a variety of health care settings such as specialty care, care facilities, government agencies, and outpatient facilities.

Can a Physician Assistant Specialize?

During your college coursework, you may have the opportunity to take a number of specialized classes that will lead to a concentration in a particular area of study.  The exciting news for PA’s is the sheer number of employment opportunities that exist within healthcare and opportunity to upskill and grow your career over time.  The seven most popular areas of specialty for a PA include:

  1. Internal Medicine
  2. Pediatrics
  3. Family Medicine
  4. General Surgery
  5. Community Mental Health
  6. Emergency Medicine
  7. Women’s Health
Common Job Titles for a Physician Assistant

To best prepare you for the upcoming job market, we have assembled a list of common job titles associated with physician assistants across the country.  The most popular job titles for a PA include the following:

  • Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C)
  • Physician's Assistant (PA)
  • General Surgery Physician Assistant
  • Midlevel Provider
  • Orthopaedic Physician Assistant
  • Physician Assistant Certified (PAC)
  • Surgical Physician Assistant
  • Clinical Physician Assistant
  • Family Practice Physician Assistant
  • Physician Extender

States with the Highest Employment of Physician Assistants

  • New York         12,080
  • California         10,090
  • Texas                  6,650
  • Pennsylvania    5,550
  • Florida               5,290

Top Paying States for a Physician Assistant

  1. Nevada               $128,370
  2. Connecticut       $116,670
  3. North Dakota    $114,810
  4. Vermont             $114,350
  5. Washington      $113,900

Physician Assistant Salary and Career Outlook

Earning potential is well above average as the median income for a physician assistant is $101,480 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics recent report. The growth rate for a physician assistant is 30% through 2024 which is over 4 times the average rate of growth for all vocations in the United States during that same time frame adding some 28,700 jobs during this reporting period.

Job growth is further compounded by a larger population base and an aging population which will create a demand for more healthcare professionals in general. For more information, check out our Roadmap to Becoming a Physician Assistant on our blog here.

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