A physician assistant (PA) is a health care professional who works with doctors and gives medical treatment. You can find physician assistants in virtually all primary care and specialty medical fields.
A PA’s duties can vary, depending on the supervising doctor. State laws also play a role in the kind of care that you may get from a physician assistant.
Some rural areas of the U.S. use PAs to provide care for entire communities. As technology advances, the role may also become more vital to an aging population. For these reasons, the demand for physician assistants is steadily increasing.
Physician assistant vs. medical doctor
One of the main differences between a PA and a medical doctor (MD) is the amount of education and training required for each job. A PA must have a master’s degree from an accredited PA program before entering the field. An MD must graduate from a four-year medical school and then complete a residency program that could last three to seven years, depending on the specialty. Many doctors also go through a fellowship program of one to three years for further training.
PAs and MDs are both trained to care for patients, but PAs usually do so under the supervision of a doctor. A PA is trained to diagnose routine conditions and provide basic immediate care, while an MD has more extensive training and experience to diagnose and treat more complex conditions.
PA vs. PA-C
You may have seen the initials “PA-C” after a physician assistant’s name and wondered if the “C” was a specialty of some kind. Once someone has completed a PA program, they can take the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) given by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). After they have passed the PANCE and received certification by the NCCPA, they can use the PA-C credential.
What Does a Physician Assistant Do?
Like MDs, PAs can work in basically all medical specialties and organizations. A PA can specialize in a certain field, such as pediatrics or emergency medicine.
A PA always works in collaboration with and under the supervision of a doctor. Duties include performing physician examinations, reviewing a patient’s medical history and symptoms, developing a treatment plan, and prescribing certain medications.
Physician assistants in hospitals
Hospitals are a common workplace for PAs. They work in every department, making patient rounds, updating patient records, taking notes for doctors, giving discharge instructions to patients and their families, and performing other tasks as needed.
Surgical physician assistant
A surgical PA receives special training to help diagnose cases that may require surgery and develop treatment and/or post-surgery rehab plans. Surgical PAs may also be involved in research and work with surgical device manufacturers or as surgery center liaisons who work with device representatives.
A PA may also help a surgeon during a procedure, but they can't perform any type of surgery without a doctor’s supervision.
Primary care physician assistant
In a primary care setting, a PA can do many of the same things as a primary care physician. This includes examining patients, taking their medical histories, prescribing medications, and providing basic treatments, such as stitching up simple wounds or caring for sprains and minor bone breaks.
Physician assistant prescriptive authority
PAs can prescribe noncontrolled medications, such as blood pressure and cholesterol drugs, in all states and controlled medications in most states (except Kentucky). Controlled medications include those that pose a greater risk for abuse and addiction.
To earn their national accreditation, PAs spend a portion of their education and training on pharmacology and pharmacotherapeutics.
Physician assistant specializations
PAs are needed in most medical fields. Some may develop specializations in multiple areas. Among the specialty areas you might find a PA are:
- Anesthesia
- Cardiology
- Dermatology
- Emergency medicine
- ENT/otolaryngology
- Family medicine
- General practice
- Internal medicine
- Neurology
- Obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN)
- Radiology
- Pediatrics
- Surgery
Physician assistant vs. nurse practitioner
Like a PA, a nurse practitioner (NP) provides patient care in a variety of settings. But, most NPs work in primary care areas, such as family medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, and women’s health.
PAs and NPs can provide basic patient care and prescribe medications. While PAs get general patient care training, NPs choose a specialty before their training begins. PAs, of course, can then go on to specialize in certain medical fields after their PA programs.
A nurse practitioner (NP) is an advanced practice registered nurse, who may be a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) or a Doctor of Nursing (DSN). PA programs are also at the master’s level.
NPs often work in a physician’s practice or a setting with physician supervision, but many states allow them to practice independently. PAs always require some agreement with a doctor to practice medicine.
Physician Assistant Education
A career as a physician assistant starts with a bachelor’s degree from an accredited (approved) college or university with coursework focused on science. Some schools offer a pre-PA degree. From there, students must complete a physician’s assistant program that has accreditation from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).
Most physician assistant programs take about three years. Students take classes while getting at least 2,000 clinical rotation hours. They then receive a master’s degree in PA studies.
Physician assistant certification
PAs must pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE), which is overseen and administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Afterward, they’re free to practice with physician assistant certified (PA-C) credentials.
After receiving national certification, a PA must also obtain a state license in order to practice. There are some variations among states regarding the requirements for earning a license.
A physician assistant must take 100 continuing education credit hours every two years to keep the certification. They must also take a recertification exam every 10 years.
Reasons to See a Physician Assistant
Getting a timely appointment with an MD in a busy practice or other medical setting often can be more difficult than seeing a PA. Your doctor may need to spend more time with patients who have complicated conditions, while PAs may be able to see patients with less complex needs.
Research also suggests that seeing a PA may be less expensive for patients, in some cases, than seeing an MD. You should check with your medical care provider and insurer if you have questions about costs.
Takeaways
A physician assistant is a well-trained advanced medical professional. PAs don’t have the extensive education and training of medical doctors, but they serve a critical role in providing care to patients of all ages and with all types of health needs.
For simple or routine illnesses or injuries, seeing a PA is often enough to receive an accurate diagnosis and proper care. You are likely to see more PAs in all types of medical settings, as the number of PAs entering the workforce is expected to increase significantly in the years ahead.