Read "The Ultimate Guide to the Physician Assistant Profession"

There are currently 173 PA programs in the U.S. The average length of PA school is 27 months, and admission into these PA schools are highly competitive. When completing your undergrad, most PA programs have the following prerequisites: chemistry, anatomy, physiology, biology, microbiology, genetics, and statistics. Aside from school, they also would like to see you in previous healthcare experiences. “The first year of PA school is didactic, or classroom learning. During the second year of PA school, students complete more than 2,000 hours of clinical rotations, with an emphasis on primary care, in physicians’ offices hospitals or long-term care facilities. Most PA school require rotations in family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, general surgery, emergency medicine and psychiatry.” I would assume that during this year is when you find out what field you would like to go into.

 

With every profession there are always pro’s and con’s. Jessi Rodriguez Ohanesian mentions the many pro’s and also some detailed personal statements from PA’s around the country. “In a market research survey in 2002, nine out of 10 PA’s would choose the same career path if given the opportunity.”  One of the main pro’s about being a PA is that there are so many different fields of study that you can go into. All PA’s are trained in primary care yet can go into so many different fields, they could work in pediatrics one year, then gynecology the next. With these options, you can never get bored, and you could change stay in a field you enjoy. Unlike physical therapy, “PA’s are in high demand, and the job is secure. The profession is more accepted and rapidly expanding as physicians are becoming more familiar with how to best use PA’s.” There is also plenty of time to gain financial stability prior to starting a family. The typical annual salary of a PA ranges from $75,000-$150,000 depending on location and work setting. Unfortunately, with pro’s there are also con’s. Thankfully, there aren’t that many cons with being a PA. There are only two main con’s when looking into physician's assistants. One is that some patients don’t think that PA’s have enough experience and only trust a doctor. As a PA, you need to make sure you explain what a PA is and handle the situation carefully if stuck in that predicament. The second cons is that since you work under a physician, your vacation time and scheduling depends on that physician, and how many PA’s work for the specific hospital or clinic.

 

In the first portion of the book Jessi Rodriguez talks about the general facts about PA’s, then in the second section of the book she gives “A day in the life” of different types of PA’s. This is written by the different PA’s, and is shown as a diary and shows what they do at different times of the day. Since I am interested in going into pediatrics, I looked at a “A day in the life” of a PA in pediatrics.

 

"A Day in the Life" of Chris Barry

 

The pediatric PA is named Chris Barry. He said that when he was in PA school he had pediatrics for his first clinical rotation. He knew that he was called to do pediatrics right when he started the rotation, “I think the fact that I am 6 feet 5 inches tall makes children intrigued by my height. I am a big kid at heart, and I love to relate to children on their level, literally and figuratively.”

 

7:15 a.m.

 

“After conferring by phone with my physician colleague, I arrive at a local hospital to make newborn rounds...Round involve examination of newborn babies to assess their overall health. This can be challenging because we often have several babies to see and must finish in time to return to the office to see patients there.”

 

8:30 a.m.

 

He finished his rotations at the other hospital doing newborn checkups. Now he arrived at his Clayton office and has to give a presentation to the nurses. “About once a month, one of the providers presents a clinically relevant topic to our nursing staff either before office hours or during lunch. I chose to talk about vaccines because I have fielded several questions recently from nurses about the need for certain vaccines in our adolescent patients.” 

 

9:20 a.m.

 

His first patient is a 17-year-old boy for an annual exam. A large part about being a PA is the social aspect. As children are typically nervous at the doctor’s office, you want them to be as comfortable as possible so they can be open about their illness or injuries. “I always like to break the ice before beginning the physical exam and discussing any serious subjects.” The rest of the exam went smoothly, and he was able to sign off the patient with ease. Throughout the day, he sees many children with coughs, fevers, sore throats, and ear infections- “the bread and butter of pediatrics”.

 

After the several small appointments and taking a lunch break halfway through, he heads home to his wife and children for dinner around 6:00.