Physician Assistant
Physician Assistant Job Description
Physician assistants (PAs) are licensed medical providers who diagnose and treat illnesses and diseases, including prescribing medication. Most PAs work in hospitals, clinics and physician offices under the supervision of a licensed physician. PAs are able to treat patients with autonomy within the framework of their relationship with the physician.
Physician assistant is an attractive job that offers the flexibility to transition into different areas of medicine without needing additional education and training beyond the initial 27 month average length of a PA program.
Responsibilities
A physician assistant is a licensed medical provider that can diagnose and treat illness and disease. They can also prescribe medication for their patients. Due to their advanced education in general medical practices and procedures, which is modeled after physician’s educational experiences, PAs are given significant autonomy in treating patients.
PAs work as an integral part of a medical team. They have their own patients for which they make medical decisions and provide a wide range of diagnostic, therapeutic and preventative health maintenance services. Some of the specific services a PA can provide include:
-
Taking a patient’s medical history
-
Performing physical exams
-
Ordering laboratory tests and interpreting the results
-
Diagnosing and prescribing treatments for illness
-
Counseling patients
-
Assisting in surgery
-
Setting fractures
When working in a primary care setting, PAs are allowed to provide almost all of the clinical services that a physician can provide. This includes the performance of physical exams, diagnosing and treatment of recognized diseases. They can also prescribe necessary medications to their patients.
Skills
|
Active Listening |
Offering your full attention to an individual person or group in order to fully understand problems and their nature. |
|
Communication |
Must convey information and be able to acquire info from others effectively. Talking to others to convey information effectively. |
|
Critical Thinking |
Must use logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. |
|
Judgment and Decision Making |
Needs to be able to act autonomously and make difficult decisions that would benefit the patient or make corrections. Must consider all benefits and repercussions of potential actions and choose the appropriate one. |
|
Perception |
Knowing why people act as they do and determine the best treatment options for them. |
|
Complex Problem Solving |
Be able to identify and solve complex problems by using knowledge and information you gather. |
|
Coordination |
Work with other healthcare professionals, mainly your supervising physician, to coordinate care and react to their actions. |
|
Monitoring |
Be able to assess your patient's progress and your treatment path. Determine if there are actions to take to fix problems or improve methods. |
Working Conditions
Physician assistants make it possible for thousands of people to access quality health care. The PAs play a vital role in increasing patient access to care for rural and other underserved segments of the population. PAs may be the only health providers in rural and underserved areas.
PAs may work in specialties outside of the primary care setting. The professional physician assistant is trained to be flexible, adapting to work with physicians in primary care as well as medical and surgical specialties, as well as sub-specialties should the need arise.
A physician assistant's primary focus is patient care but may also undertake educational, administrative and research work. In a primary care setting, a PA can provide almost all of the clinical services a physician does. The physician assistant works under a written agreement of collaboration with a licensed physician. Under this agreement, the PA can make clinical decisions regarding patient diagnostics and treatment.
The physician’s assistant is responsible for providing a wide range of diagnostic, therapeutic, preventive and health maintenance services. The physician and the PA relationship is a staple of the physician assistant profession and is designed to enhance the availability and delivery of high-quality health care, especially to areas that are traditionally underserved.
The physical environment in which physician assistants work is usually a comfortable, well-lighted environment. If the PA is employed in a surgical position, standing for long periods of time and a great deal of walking may be required.
Work schedules will vary according to the setting in which the PA is practicing, such as a surgical suite or outpatient center. Schedules may also vary depending on the work routine of the collaborating physician. A typical work week may include rotations through weekend shifts, nights, and on-call scheduling and early morning hospital rounds to assess patient progress.
Salary Outlook
| Estimated Annual Salary | Average Hourly Wage | Positions Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| $97,280.00 | $46.77 | 94,000 |