3 answers
Iker
Student
Yuma, Arizona
2
Questions
Updated
314 views
What is it like to be a physician assistant and what education do I need?
Hi my name is Iker. As of now I am a middle school student here at Crane middle school. I want to know what it’s like to be a physician assistant and what do you experience while you’re on the job? I also want to know what you do and if I would need training to be a physician assistant? Another thing I want to ask about is what education do I need? I also want to ask about what type of certificate and training do I need and how much time would this take. Thank you for your time and guidance.
3 answers
Cherilyn Garner
Medical Office Practice Manager; Certified Medical Assistant (
53
Answers
Polkton, North Carolina
Updated
Cherilyn’s Answer
Being a Physician Assistant (PA) is a lot like being a doctor or nurse practitioner, just with a few limits on what procedures you can do and what medications you can prescribe. PAs work in almost every area of medicine — family practice, orthopedics, emergency medicine, surgery, and more — so the job can look different depending on the specialty. To become a PA, you first need a 4‑year college degree, usually with strong math and science classes since it’s considered a pre‑med path. After that, you go to PA school, which takes about 2 more years and includes classroom learning plus hands‑on clinical training. Once you finish PA school, you take a national certification exam and then you're ready to start working under the supervision of a doctor. So overall, it takes about 6 years of education after high school, and you can end up working in many exciting parts of the medical field.
Thanks for the advice.
Iker
Nathalye Lopez
40
Answers
Updated
Nathalye’s Answer
I'm a Physician Assistant student in my final semester and will graduate in May, planning to start work in July. I can explain the education needed to become a PA. Before applying to PA school, you must complete specific prerequisites, which vary by school, so research the programs you're interested in to ensure you take the necessary classes. You also need patient care hours from jobs with direct patient contact. For example, I volunteered with street medicine, taking vitals and translating at a mobile clinic.
Once in PA school, there are two main phases of training. The first is the didactic year, where you learn foundational subjects like anatomy, physiology, pathology, and pharmacology. The second phase is clinical, where you rotate through specialties like pediatrics, family medicine, orthopedics, internal medicine, and surgery, applying what you've learned to real patients. After each rotation, there's an End of Rotation Exam to ensure you've grasped key topics. PA school typically takes 2-3 years. I attend USC, a 3-year program that offers an extra elective rotation. I'm currently doing my elective in urgent care.
Once in PA school, there are two main phases of training. The first is the didactic year, where you learn foundational subjects like anatomy, physiology, pathology, and pharmacology. The second phase is clinical, where you rotate through specialties like pediatrics, family medicine, orthopedics, internal medicine, and surgery, applying what you've learned to real patients. After each rotation, there's an End of Rotation Exam to ensure you've grasped key topics. PA school typically takes 2-3 years. I attend USC, a 3-year program that offers an extra elective rotation. I'm currently doing my elective in urgent care.
Hwal Lee
DMSc, PA-C
288
Answers
Albany, New York
Updated
Hwal’s Answer
Iker,
I'm a primary care internal medicine PA in my sixth year of practice, so can share my experience. PAs are one of the few professions licensed and authorised to practice medicine in the U.S., and PAs practice in every medical specialty and practice settings. I'm from Australia where the PA profession as we know it doesn't yet exist, so I had planned to apply to medical schools when I first moved to the U.S. Then I started hearing about PAs and those around me encouraged me to apply to PA schools, and I'm glad I decided to do so.
To apply to PA schools, you need to have a bachelor's degree in any major, patient care experience or healthcare experience, and completed prerequisite courses such as biology, chemistry, psychology, and statistics. As a PA student, I was in class or a lab 8am-5pm Monday to Friday during didactic training which was three and a half consecutive semesters, followed by three and a half consecutive semesters of clinical rotations in general medicine, internal medicine, women's health, paediatrics, orthopaedics, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and general surgery.
If you like science and medicine and enjoy helping people, the PA profession could be a great career choice for you. I would encourage you to check out this list of steps to become a PA, on the American Academy of PAs website:
https://www.aapa.org/news-central/2018/08/6-steps-become-pa/
And here, you'll get to read about PAs practicing in different specialties and what their daily practice looks like:
https://www.pasdothat.net/
Let me know if you have any specific questions I can help with.
Good luck!
Hwal
I'm a primary care internal medicine PA in my sixth year of practice, so can share my experience. PAs are one of the few professions licensed and authorised to practice medicine in the U.S., and PAs practice in every medical specialty and practice settings. I'm from Australia where the PA profession as we know it doesn't yet exist, so I had planned to apply to medical schools when I first moved to the U.S. Then I started hearing about PAs and those around me encouraged me to apply to PA schools, and I'm glad I decided to do so.
To apply to PA schools, you need to have a bachelor's degree in any major, patient care experience or healthcare experience, and completed prerequisite courses such as biology, chemistry, psychology, and statistics. As a PA student, I was in class or a lab 8am-5pm Monday to Friday during didactic training which was three and a half consecutive semesters, followed by three and a half consecutive semesters of clinical rotations in general medicine, internal medicine, women's health, paediatrics, orthopaedics, emergency medicine, psychiatry, and general surgery.
If you like science and medicine and enjoy helping people, the PA profession could be a great career choice for you. I would encourage you to check out this list of steps to become a PA, on the American Academy of PAs website:
https://www.aapa.org/news-central/2018/08/6-steps-become-pa/
And here, you'll get to read about PAs practicing in different specialties and what their daily practice looks like:
https://www.pasdothat.net/
Let me know if you have any specific questions I can help with.
Good luck!
Hwal
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