PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT
PROGRAM
All Information is subject to change. Please
check with the Program Advisor for the most current data.
Overview of the Profession
Physician Assistants (PA) are health professionals who are licensed
to practice medicine with physician supervision.
They are qualified by graduation from an accredited physician
assistant educational program and certified by the National
Commission on Certification of PAs. PAs exercise autonomy in medical
decision-making and provide a broad range of medical and diagnostic
services (American Academy of Physician Assistants).
The physician assistant performs a variety of primary care tasks
including collecting historical and physical data and ordering
appropriate laboratory tests.
The physician assistant makes a diagnosis of the patient’s
condition. They can
provide medication, treatments, or therapy for health-related
problems. Also, the
physician assistant can evaluate psychological aspects of a
patient’s health, counsel when appropriate, and provide patient
education. They make
referrals when needed.
They can also perform technical skills such as EKGs, venipuncture,
suturing, injections, splinting, casting and assisting in surgery.
PAs are trained to work in a variety of medical specialties
and settings, and can function in educational research and
administrative activities as well.
To allow the physician-PA team to be more efficient in providing
care to patients, the vast majority of states do not require PAs and
their supervising physicians to be at the same location.
All state laws require the supervising physician to be
available, either in person or by telecommunications, when the PA is
seeing patients.
The scope of the PA’s work corresponds to the supervising
physician’s practice. In
general, a physician assistant and the supervising physician will
see patients with the same kinds of illnesses.
The cases handled by physicians are generally the more
complicated medical cases or those that require care that is not a
routine part of the PA’s scope of work.
Supervising physicians determine which patients and what kinds of
illnesses they want PAs to treat.
Close consultation between the patient, PA and physician is
done for unusual or had to manage illnesses.
Physician assistants are taught to know when it is
appropriate to have the patient seen by the physician.
It is an important part of PA training.
The typical applicant to a physician assistant educational program
has a bachelor’s degree and four years of health care experience.
Commonly, nurses, emergency medical technicians and
paramedics apply to PA programs.
PA programs look for students who have a desire to study, to work
hard and to be of service.
All PA programs are accredited by one independent
organization supported by the American Medical Association, the
American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of
Surgeons and other national medical organizations.
Whether located at a college, university, medical school or
teaching hospital, all PA programs must meet the same national
accreditation standards.
The typical PA program provides students a broad education in
primary care medicine in two phases.
The first phase includes lectures and lab sessions in
anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, microbiology, medical ethics and
similar courses. The
second phase is spent in clinical rotations in such specialties as
family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine,
obstetrics and gynecology, geriatrics, surgery, psychology and other
specialties. During this
period, students treat patients in each of the major disciplines of
medicine and perform additional course work on campus.
A PA’s education doesn’t stop after graduation, though.
To keep abreast of medical advances, PAs are committed to
life-long learning. PAs
take continuing medical education classes throughout their career
and sit for a national recertification exam every six years.
In the mid-1960s, physicians and educators recognized that there was
a shortage and an uneven distribution of primary care physicians.
To expand the delivery of quality medical care, Eugene Stead,
M.D., at the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, put
together the first class of physician assistants in 1965.
He selected four Navy corpsmen who received medical training
during their military service but who had no comparable civilian
employment opportunities.
Stead based the education of PAs in part on his knowledge of
the fast-track training of doctors during World War II.
PAs are employed in virtually all types of health care settings –
hospitals, clinics, private physician offices, schools, HMOs, and
even in the White House as members of the medical team taking care
of the President and the Vice President.
The U.S. government employs PAs in the military, Veterans
Administration, Bureau of Prisons, Public Health Service and other
agencies.
PAs can be found in communities of all sizes, from the smallest
rural town to major metropolitan areas and in basically every
medical and surgical specialty.
Although the majority of PAs work in primary care medicine –
family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and
gynecology – many work in specialty medicine, such as cardiothoracic
surgery and orthopedics.
PAs may also work in areas of medical education, health
administration and research.
PAs are trained in medicine just like physicians and in some
programs PAs attend many of the same classes as medical students.
Both professions are educated to detect diseases, treat them
and assist patients in living a healthier lifestyle.
A major difference between PA education and physician
education is the amount of time spent in their formal education.
In addition, physicians are required to do an internship
after graduation from medical school and the majority of physicians
complete a residency in a specialty following their internship.
PAs are not required to undertake an internship or residency.
They complete a
preceptorship usually eight weeks in length.
Most physicians, who have worked with physician assistants, liked
having them on staff. The American Medical Association, the American
Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians and
other medical groups support eh physician assistant profession by
having voting members on the boards that accredit PA educational
programs and certify individual PAs.
PAs enjoy a collegial relationship with other providers because
physician assistants have demonstrated their commitment to their
patients and their competence in delivering quality medical care.
Their training as team players enables them to work with
other providers to ensure appropriate patient care in all settings.
According to the Eighth Report
to the President and Congress on the Status of Health Personnel in
the United States “physician assistants have demonstrated their
clinical effectiveness both in terms of quality of care and patient
acceptance.”
PA-C, physician assistant-certified means that the person who holds
that title has passed the certification exam developed jointly by
the National Board of Medical Examiners and the National Commission
on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).
The NCCPA is an independent organization and its
commissioners represent different national medical organizations and
the PA profession. Only
graduates from accredited PA educational programs are allowed to
take the initial exam.
To maintain that ‘C’ after the ‘PA’ title, a physician assistant
must log 100 hours of continuing medical education every two years
and take the national recertification exam every six years.
The certification and recertification exams help ensure there
is a core medical and surgical knowledge that each PA-C should
attain and maintain.
The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) is the only
national professional society to represent all physician assistants
in every area of medicine.
Founded in 1968, the Academy represents PAs in all 50 states,
the District of Columbia, Guam and the federal services.
Its mission is to provide quality, cost-effective and
accessible health care, as well as to support the professional and
personal development of physician assistants.
AAPA pursues these goals through government relations and
public education programs, research and date collection efforts and
continuing education activities.
For any further questions or
clarification on the above information, the AAPA can be contacted at
(703) 836-2272 or by visiting the website at
www.aapa.org.
School of Allied
Health
Lindegren Hall 129, Mailcode 6516
Administrative Offices: 618-453-8850 and
618-453-8851 Fax: 618-453-7216
Academic Advisor
Ph: 618-453-5527 E-mail:
PAADVISEMENT-L@LISTSERV.SIU.EDU
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The PA Program Admissions Committee will also
accept the MCAT along with the GRE and MAT.
The Physician Assistant Program is accredited
by the ARC-PA
The Masters Completion Program is
accredited by the Higher Learning of the North Central Association of
Colleges and Schools
ncahigherlearningcommission.org