Best Careers 2009: Physician Assistant

Medical Assistant vs. Physician Assistant

My daughter is a Physician Assistant and is extremely educated with high honors all through college and knows way more than I do,as I am a Medical Assistant. I have worked for a practice for almost 16 years and I do a lot more than blood pressures. Include venipunctures, injections, and other in office medical procedures. Medical Assistants are educated also but our salary is lower than RN or LPN. Physician Assistants are very knowledgable and have studied very hard and learned as much as doctors have but do not have M.D. after there name.

Leslie of PA @ Nov 18, 2009 18:38:19 PM

PA career

I'm currently in PA school - one semester into it. Every day I am excited and overwhelmed at the amount of knowledge with which PAs are entrusted. To those considering a PA career choice, my best advice is to shadow as many PAs as possible, and work/volunteer with as many populations (e.g. elderly, handicapped) as possible. I worked as a medical assistant and as a CNA before PA school - work experience is definitely a big part of the process of acceptance. However, I have fellow students who do not have a gap year off (or more) before PA school - they went straight from undergrad (but shadowed many PAs as part of their pre-PA education, worked as EMTs or CNAs, and volunteered during undergrad). These students are also very in tune with the AAPA organization.

Additionally, for those interested in pursing PA education, I encourage you to take classes on communication and psychology - a patient can be diagnosed 70% of the time just by talking with them and taking a thorough history (or so I've been taught so far, pertaining to primary care). It is the non-scholarly work and interpersonal interactions (a huge part of the PA education model) that, in my mind, make great practitioners. No one can retain all the knowledge for their education - they can only apply the concepts of that knowledge and see it everyday to really benefit from it.

MM of CO of PA @ Nov 18, 2009 18:37:37 PM

Best Careers of 2009

One answer to the 'primary care shortage crisis' would be a repeat of how physician assistants came into being in the late sixties. We have over 8,000 men and women in the military with vital life saving skills, many at a par or above paramedics, and given the right financial support from congress and a focus on primary care service after receiving PA education we would have a primary care force that could be a real time solution to our current needs in much of rural and urban America. Now is the time for chance and hopefully our new administration will be see this potential force of lifesavers as caregivers of the future and create an educational and incentive bridge for them to transition from the military into the civilian sector. They can and will be a solution for the future of health care and present a true back to the future solution.

Ken of NC @ Nov 18, 2009 18:36:37 PM

Medical Assistant vs. Physician Assistant

My daughter is a Physician Assistant and is extremely educated with high honors all through college and knows way more than I do,as I am a Medical Assistant. I have worked for a practice for almost 16 years and I do a lot more than blood pressures. Include venipunctures, injections, and other in office medical procedures. Medical Assistants are educated also but our salary is lower than RN or LPN. Physician Assistants are very knowledgable and have studied very hard and learned as much as doctors have but do not have M.D. after there name.

Leslie of PA @ Nov 18, 2009 18:36:21 PM

Medical Assistant vs. Physician Assistant

My daughter is a Physician Assistant and is extremely educated with high honors all through college and knows way more than I do,as I am a Medical Assistant. I have worked for a practice for almost 16 years and I do a lot more than blood pressures. Include venipunctures, injections, and other in office medical procedures. Medical Assistants are educated also but our salary is lower than RN or LPN. Physician Assistants are very knowledgable and have studied very hard and learned as much as doctors have but do not have M.D. after there name.

Leslie of PA @ Nov 18, 2009 18:36:05 PM

PA career

I'm currently in PA school - one semester into it. Every day I am excited and overwhelmed at the amount of knowledge with which PAs are entrusted. To those considering a PA career choice, my best advice is to shadow as many PAs as possible, and work/volunteer with as many populations (e.g. elderly, handicapped) as possible. I worked as a medical assistant and as a CNA before PA school - work experience is definitely a big part of the process of acceptance. However, I have fellow students who do not have a gap year off (or more) before PA school - they went straight from undergrad (but shadowed many PAs as part of their pre-PA education, worked as EMTs or CNAs, and volunteered during undergrad). These students are also very in tune with the AAPA organization.

Additionally, for those interested in pursing PA education, I encourage you to take classes on communication and psychology - a patient can be diagnosed 70% of the time just by talking with them and taking a thorough history (or so I've been taught so far, pertaining to primary care). It is the non-scholarly work and interpersonal interactions (a huge part of the PA education model) that, in my mind, make great practitioners. No one can retain all the knowledge for their education - they can only apply the concepts of that knowledge and see it everyday to really benefit from it.

MM of CO of PA @ Nov 18, 2009 18:35:03 PM

Best Careers of 2009

One answer to the 'primary care shortage crisis' would be a repeat of how physician assistants came into being in the late sixties. We have over 8,000 men and women in the military with vital life saving skills, many at a par or above paramedics, and given the right financial support from congress and a focus on primary care service after receiving PA education we would have a primary care force that could be a real time solution to our current needs in much of rural and urban America. Now is the time for chance and hopefully our new administration will be see this potential force of lifesavers as caregivers of the future and create an educational and incentive bridge for them to transition from the military into the civilian sector. They can and will be a solution for the future of health care and present a true back to the future solution.

Ken of NC @ Nov 18, 2009 18:34:28 PM

Medical Assistant vs. Physician Assistant

My daughter is a Physician Assistant and is extremely educated with high honors all through college and knows way more than I do,as I am a Medical Assistant. I have worked for a practice for almost 16 years and I do a lot more than blood pressures. Include venipunctures, injections, and other in office medical procedures. Medical Assistants are educated also but our salary is lower than RN or LPN. Physician Assistants are very knowledgable and have studied very hard and learned as much as doctors have but do not have M.D. after there name.

Leslie of PA @ Nov 18, 2009 18:32:50 PM