Archive for Physician Assistant
Preparation for the PA Profession
Posted by: | CommentsIf you are someone who has decided to become a Physician Assistant what can you do to enhance your path into PA School and make you a better student?
First, make sure you have completed all the necessary prerequisites. I have seen some careers delayed a year while the student finished up some courses they did not realize they needed. Check the syllabus of your preferred schools carefully and regularly. Entrance requirements change and you want to know it when they do.
Second, get some top quality experience. This can be a challenge. Once you have secured the opportunity, learn and remember. Don’t depend on just your memory. Buy yourself a sturdy notebook and write down new words, clinical pearls and references to be remembered later.
Want more information about preparation, decision making, interview skills and general information that will make your Path to the PA profession easier and smoother?
Purchase a copy of Elizabeth Murray’s booklet 60 Tips for the PA Path and a copy of Laura Phelan’s Interview Tips for the PA Path. The link to buy it is in the far upper right corner. You can not go wrong for $11.95. Get your copy now.
A TV Show About PAs?
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Wingate University (located just outside of Charlotte, NC) will have its inaugural class of 20 students begin this August. Not only are they starting a new and very promising PA program, but they are also airing a television show that will seek to educate the public about the profession and make the profession more understandable to their local community. Please see the following article that was published by the American Academy of Physician Assistants last month. Also, look for a review about the Wingate University Physician Assistant Program coming up soon!
George Washington University PA Program
Posted by: | CommentsThe GW PA Program is located on 23rd street in Washington D.C. It began as an experiment with men trained as military medics and corpsman in 1969. By 1972 the University authorized the organization of a degree granting Physician Assistant Program and to date have graduated over 1200 physician assistants.
The George Washington U. program grants two degrees, a Master of Science in Health Science and a combined PA/Master of Public Health. The first degree is a 2 year program and the second is 3 years. At a cost of $12,855/semester you really have to want to know about public health to pay those prices for 6 semesters and two summers. The consolation is a degree from a really great university rated #4 by USNews.
What do you have to have to get in. Well, the GWU PA site has a really great PDF that spells it all out. If you are really interested in this site, I suggest you download it.
Admission requirements are processed through the Central Application Service for PA (CASPA). The candidate must have a bachelors degree and a GPA of 3.0 or better. They must have completed 2 semesters of biological sciences with Anatomy and Physiology recommended and any plant science course not recommended. Another 2 semesters of chemistry is required with Biochemistry strongly recommended. Two semesters of Psychology with one general and one abnormal psych recommended.
An applicant must take the GRE with in 5 years of application. Newer score is undoubtedly better than older. Six months of patient care experience is recommended and ONE YEAR is recommended.
If you are interested in the program or any program for that matter, our tips booklet recommends you visit it. You can call the GWU program at 202-994-7644 to arrange this. A website is also suggested but only www. appears on the PDF information sheet.
6 Options for Employment as a Physician Assistant
Posted by: | CommentsClinical medicine is always going to be the number one place PAs work. No matter what organization we work for, opportunities to care for patients are going to be most prevalent. Here is a partial list of places to consider for employment:
1. Public organizations like the Veterans Administration, Federal and State Prisons and large city jails, Military PAs (the Army has a PhD level residency in Emergency Medicine), Nation Health Service Corps, Inner City Clinics run by non-profit groups and government agencies, Rural Health Clinics
2. Private – 25% of all PAs work in private surgical settings, with Emergency Medicine, Family Practice, Urgent Care, Various Internal Medicine Specialties and Surgical Dermatology as a few of these
3. Administrative – Doing case review for insurance companies, getting a law degree, becoming a consultant or a medical entrepreneur
4. Independent Contractor – I did this working for 3 or 4 staffing companies in military or small hospital ERs and Fast Track/Urgent Care settings
5. Owner of a medical practice. When I became a PA it was illegal for a PA to do this in my state. Now, PAs own the practice and employ MDs and PAs as the clinicians. If the owner is also a clinician, then an MD must assume responsibility for their medical actions.
6. PAs are now recruited by the NHS of the UK. PAs are being trained there, but Scotland actively recruits American PAs to work in that country and PAs are recruited as role models and instructors in UK PA programs.
The University of Iowa PA Program
Posted by: | CommentsThe 2008 edition of the USNews graduate school rating edition gave the PA program at the University of Iowa a 4.3 out of 5. This rating brought it to the top of the list as the number one PA program. Duke rated 4.2 and Emory 4.1.
Iowa admits only 25 students each fall into it’s non-thesis masters level graduate course. They use the CASPA system for applications.
For the class admitted in 2007, the successful applicant averaged a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.56 on 145 semester hours of college credit, a science GPA of 3.54 on 72 semester hours, an average of 2,387 hours of health care and 1,623 hours of research experience, and the following GRE scores: verbal = 508, quantitative = 666, and written (analytical) = 4.6. The class average age was 25.9 years.
The Iowa program has 11 “technical” standards listed on the Program web site. This one was interesting to me because it would disqualify me from entry to the program:
Candidates must have sufficient use of the senses of vision, hearing and smell necessary to directly perform a physical examination. Candidates must be able to perform inspection, palpation, auscultation and percussion.
I don’t have a sense of smell.
The PA students are integrated into the regular medical school curriculum and take 60% of their didactic studies with Sophomore Medical students. I guess that is why the program only has 4 staff members and 3 admin employees.
I would like for any Iowa graduates to leave some comments here. The program is small, personable and appears to be quite intense. They are number one in their ability to use their money and facilities to effectively train PAs and USNews thinks in 2008, they were doing it best, if just a little better than Duke and Emory.
What is a PA – video
Posted by: | CommentsBook Review: A Kernel in the Pod
Posted by: | Comments
A Kernel in the Pod
by J. Michael Jones, PA-C
Reviewed by Elizabeth Murray
A Kernel in the Pod is a well written book that chronicles the life of the author himself, J. Michael Jones. The book tells of his journey to become a PA as well as his journey as a PA.
Podcast Ideas
Posted by: | CommentsHello to all who follow The PA Path.
We have had some technical difficulties and hope
to have them solved soon.
We (Bruce and Elizabeth) recently did a podcast interview with James (who did the asking, we did the answering). James is thinking of changing careers to become a Physician Assistant. The interview is 52 minutes long (about 21MB) and is located on talkshoe.com .
I think anyone interested in becoming a PA would be interested in listening. Until our software is working here, you will have to go TalkShoe to listen or download it.
Now for a request. What do you want to hear. We have 3 newly accepted PA’s to interview. What should we ask them? We have a number of graduates of varying years of experience and duties. One of them is the PA appointed to the NC Medical Board by the Governor of NC. What do you want to hear from them. Who would you like to hear interviewed?
Leave your questions and answers in the comments below. Hey, we appreciate your interest and your help.
Emory University PA Program
Posted by: | CommentsEmory is a top-ranked and passionate PA program. The school’s credentials led me to apply and my experience interviewing led me to choose this program. From my interview experience, I found that they have a very personable Director of Admission (Terry Mize) and genuine, helpful, and dedicated students.
An important aspect to know and understand about Emory’s PA program is their mission: Read More→
Pros and Cons of being a Physician Assistant
Posted by: | CommentsI received an email from someone considering the PA profession. The person was wondering about PAs and NPs and the pros and cons of being a PA. I sent him a reply and I am adding it here.
I have enjoyed being a PA and find these items to be the PROs:
- the pay has progressed from so-so to excellent
- acceptance and understanding of the profession is very good and has made being a PA very pleasant
- the working conditions are great and you get to work with the best and the brightest most of the time
- the work is challenging everyday, although some of it is routine, the responsibility never is
- I get thanked for what I do much more than 10% of the time
- I am delegated as much responsibility as I can accept. I have worked in clinical medicine my entire career
- there is great flexibility in what a PA can do. It is generally no hard to find a place to work if you choose to relocate. American PAs are sought after in Great Britain
The CONs
- I have to get at least 50 hours of CME a year. You can get junk but high quality is expensive and time-consuming
- You will never be “independent”. Even if you own the practice – you have to hire a doctor to be the supervisor and medical administrator
- Your skills should be as good as an M.D. but you will always be paid less.
- You have to take and pass a National Certifying Exam every 6 years.
