Physician Assistant Jobs
Physician Assistants Held About 74,800 Jobs in 2008

Employment of Physician Assistants is expected to grow by 39 percent from 2008 to 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations.

Key Points On Physician Assistant Jobs

• Physician assistant programs usually last at least 2 years; admission requirements vary by program, but many require at least 2 years of college and some health care experience.
• All states require physician assistants to complete an accredited education program and to pass a national exam in order to obtain a license.
• Employment is projected to grow much faster than average as health care establishments increasingly use physician assistants to contain costs.
• Job opportunities should be good, particularly in rural and inner-city clinics.

Nature Of The Work

• Physician assistants(PAs)practice medicine under the supervision of physicians and surgeons.
• PAs are formally trained to provide diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive health care services as delegated by a physician.
• They take medical histories, examine and treat patients, order and interpret laboratory tests and x-rays, and make diagnoses. They also treat minor injuries, by suturing, splinting, and casting.
• Many PAs work in primary care specialties, such as general internal medicine, pediatrics, and family medicine. Other specialty areas include general and thoracic surgery, emergency medicine, orthopedics, and geriatrics.

Training On Physician Assistant Jobs

• Physician assistant programs usually last at least 2 years. Admission requirements vary by program, but many require at least 2 years of college and some health care experience.
• All States require that PAs complete an accredited, formal education program and pass a National exam to obtain a license.
• Most programs are in schools of allied health, academic health centers, medical schools, or 4-year colleges; a few are in community colleges, the military, or hospitals. Many accredited PA programs have clinical teaching affiliations with medical schools.

Employment

• Physician assistants held about 74,800 jobs in 2008. The number of jobs is greater than the number of practicing PAs because some hold two or more jobs. For example, some PAs work with a supervising physician but also work in another healthcare facility. According to the American Academy of Physician Assistants, about 15 percent of actively practicing PAs worked in more than one clinical job concurrently in 2008.
• Physicians and institutions are expected to employ more PAs to provide primary care and to assist with medical and surgical procedures because PAs are cost-effective and productive members of the health team.
• Besides working in traditional office-based settings, PAs should find a growing number of jobs in institutional settings such as hospitals, academic medical centers, public clinics, and prisons.
• PAs also may be needed to augment medical staffing in inpatient teaching hospital settings as the number of hours physician residents are permitted to work is reduced, encouraging hospitals to use PAs to supply some physician resident services.
• Job opportunities for PAs should be good, particularly in rural and inner-city clinics because those settings have difficulty attracting physicians. Opportunities will be best in States that allow PAs a wider scope of practice, such as allowing PAs to prescribe medications.

Earnings on Physician Assistant Jobs

• Median annual earnings of wage-and-salary physician assistants were $81,230 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $68,210 and $97,070. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $51,360, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $110,240.
• According to the American Academy of Physician Assistants, median income for physician assistants in full-time clinical practice was $85,710 in 2008; median income for first-year graduates was $74,470. Income varies by specialty, practice setting, geographical location, and years of experience.

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