Physician Assistant

Nature of the Work

Physician assistants (PAs) provide a wide range of health care services under the supervision of physicians. They should not be confused with medical assistants, who perform routine clinical and clerical tasks. Many PAs work in primary care areas such as general internal medicine, pediatrics, and family medicine. Others work in specialty areas, such as general and thoracic surgery, emergency medicine, orthopedics, and geriatrics. PAs take medical histories, perform physical exams, order and interpret laboratory tests, diagnose and treat illnesses, counsel patients, assist in surgery, and set fractures. The responsibilities of a PA depend on the practice setting, education, and experience of the PA, and on the state laws and regulations. Physician assistants are required to have leadership skills, self-confidence, and emotional stability.

Occupational Outlook and Earnings

According to the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), the number of practicing PA’s has been increasing each year by about 6.5%, reaching 158,470 in 2021.  State laws regulating physician assistants have expanded access to physician services provided by PAs, including the authority to prescribe medications in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and Guam. The development of HMOs and other prepaid plans and the growing acceptance of PAs by other healthcare professionals have combined to strengthen the job market for PAs, in addition to the demand brought upon by Covid-19.

Employment of PA’s is expected to grow much faster than average for all occupations through 2031, a projected 28% in the next decade. According to the  2021 Statistical Profile of Certified PAs, the median income for physician assistants is $115,000. The income varies by specialty, practice setting, geographical location, and years of experience.

Education

To become a physician assistant, you must attend an accredited physician assistant program. There are 300 accredited physician assistant programs in the United States, and they are located at medical schools, medical centers, hospitals, and two- and four-year colleges and universities. PA programs typically offer a Master’s degree and most applicants to PA programs already possess a bachelor’s degree at the time of entry. PAs are educated as generalists in medicine; all programs emphasize primary care. PA programs require students to complete 9 to 12 months of classroom studies and then 2,000 hours of supervised clinical rotations.

PA education includes classroom instruction in biochemistry, nutrition, human anatomy, physiology, microbiology, clinical pharmacology, clinical medicine, geriatric and home health care, disease prevention, and medical ethics. Students obtain supervised clinical training in several areas, including primary care medicine, inpatient medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, geriatrics, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and pediatrics.

Major

Any major is appropriate for PA preparation. Students are advised to select a major they find interesting and to work at developing a broad-based, interdisciplinary foundation of knowledge and skills from which they can build upon. Most importantly, PA programs require that applicants have completed the prerequisite classes (typically takes about 2-3 years to finish) and to have hands-on health care experience prior to admission. More than half of the applicants who apply to physician assistant programs already have a college degree. The mean cumulative GPA among those who were admitted in 2019 was 3.58.

Prerequisite Requirements

Prerequisite admission requirements for PAs vary from school to school. Selection criteria may also vary according to the individual institution’s philosophy, thus refer to the individual program website for detailed information. For a list of programs accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) visit the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) website, and click on the Member Programs tab.

Common Requirements for Physician Assistants

Subject Course Number
Anatomy 025
Physiology 001
Biology 010A, 010B, 010C
Chemistry 001A, 001B (or 002A & 002B)
Microbiology 002
Psychology 001
Anthropology 002
Sociology 001
English 001A, 001B
Stat 018 or 050


* Physics 031A & 031B is preferred by most physician assistant schools. Students who choose to have majors other than biological sciences or chemistry may take Physics 002A & 002B in preparation for PA schools. Students who major in engineering should complete Physics 008A, 008B, 008C.

Note: The above lists of classes are requirements for most physician assistant schools. For more specific requirements, students should check with individual physician assistant schools.

Common Requirements for Physician Assistants

Schools in California Average Overall GPA (2021)
California Baptist University 3.76
CSU Monterey Bay 3.39
Chapman University 3.65
Charles R. Drew University 3.42
Dominican University of California 3.52
Keck Graduate Institute 3.40
Loma Linda University 3.53
Marshall B. Ketchum University 3.50
Point Loma Nazarene University 3.77
Samuel Merritt University 3.34
Southern California University of Health Sciences 3.46
Stanford University 3.60
Touro University California 3.33
University of California, Davis 3.00
University of Southern California 3.49
University of the Pacific 3.74
West Coast University N/A
Western University 3.65

Helpful Website for Pre Physical Assistant Students: