Innovative Medical Careers - Physician Assistant

In the United States, a PA, or a Physician's Assistant, isthe Accreditation Review Commission on Education
a non-physician therapist, who is licensed to practicefor the Physician Assistant, accredits all these
medicine under the supervision of a physician. In manyprograms. Most of these programs are Master's
cases, this supervision does not have to be direct andDegree programs, however, a few of them do provide
many Physician's Assistants practice in distant andundergraduate majors and graduate level training.
remote locations like satellite clinics.One governing body, the NCCPA or the National
Physician Assistants prescribe medicine and treatCommission on Certification of Physician Assistants,
patients and in some places in the United States, theygrants the certification of a Physician Assistant.
are given a DEA number that gives them the powerOther Innovative Medical Careers
to prescribe specific controlled medicines, such asPhysician Assistants and the Nurse Practitioners
narcotics. In surgical procedures, Physician Assistantsprovide similar services. The only dissimilarity would be
act as first assists during a surgery. They also offerthat Nurse Practitioners are registered nurses and
medical services, which are compensated by a thirdhave to undergo extensive training, more than the
party insurance company or by Medicare.PA's, and they have to obtain a Master's Degree in
How They Farenursing. They are also known as APC's or Advanced
In the year 2005, PA's held around 64,000 jobs. ThePractice Clinicians or MLP's or Mid-Level Practitioners.
number of jobs available is greater in proportion withMedical Assistants perform routine clerical and clinical
the number of practicing Physician Assistants, sincetasks at any physician's clinic. A Medical Assistant is a
some PA's hold more than two jobs. For instance,multifaceted healthcare practitioner, who is capable of
many Physician Assistants work under a supervisingperforming a variety of laboratory and clinical
physician and they also work in other clinics, hospitalsprocedures, along with certain administrative
or practice independently. According to the AAPA orresponsibilities. They are multi-skilled and versatile
the American Academy of Physician Assistants, inprofessionals. Their formal education takes place in
January 2006, there were almost 60,000 certifiedcommunity colleges, junior colleges, vocational or
Physician Assistants practicing in clinics.technical institutes or proprietary schools. The
In 2005, over 50% of Physician Assistants were foundcurriculum has to be accredited, if graduates plan on
to work in clinics and offices of physicians, either ingetting registered or certified. Accreditation requires
osteopathic or allopathic practice. Almost 40% werethat the school curriculum should offer classroom
hired by hospitals and the remaining few werelectures and well equipped laboratories.
engaged in nursing homes, prisons, The United StatesToday, many of the health care placements focus on
Department of Veterans Affairs, public health clinics,healthcare services and almost 15% of all healthcare
schools and home health care agencies. In addition, thejobs available have increased. The factors that
AAPA states that almost 20% of all the Physiciancontribute towards the growth of jobs in this industry
Assistants were found to provide health care to manyinclude the growing and aging population that demands
rural communities.additional medical services and of course the use of
Accredited Programsinnovative medical technology for treatment and
In 2006, almost 150 accredited Physician Assistantsintensive diagnosis.
Programs exist. One governing body, the ARC-PA or