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I want to continue to fish, but I would also like to go fishing in the ocean.

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I want to go Skydiving

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I want to learn to Hula Dance in Hawaii.

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I love dogs and I want to have a Dalmatian after I move out. 

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I love dogs and I want to have a Dalmatian after I move out. 

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I hope to retire to French Polynesia.

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$20,000 for a used one

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I plan to go to Penn State and earn my Bachelor's Degree in Biology.

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I plan to go to Penn State and earn my Bachelor's Degree in Biology.

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$98,180

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Summary

Video transcript available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyLvqjTeMXM.

Quick Facts: Physician Assistants
2020 Median Pay

$115,390 per year
$55.48 per hour

Physician assistants practice medicine on teams with physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare workers.

Physician assistants work in physicians' offices, hospitals, outpatient clinics, and other healthcare settings. Most work full time.

Physician assistants typically need a master's degree from an accredited educational program. All states require physician assistants to be licensed.

The median annual wage for physician assistants was $115,390 in May 2020.

Employment of physician assistants is projected to grow 31 percent from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations. As demand for healthcare services grows, physician assistants will be needed to provide care to patients.

Explore resources for employment and wages by state and area for physician assistants.

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of physician assistants with similar occupations.

Learn more about physician assistants by visiting additional resources, including O*NET, a source on key characteristics of workers and occupations.

Physician assistants, also known as PAs, practice medicine on teams with physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare workers. They examine, diagnose, and treat patients.

Duties

Physician assistants typically do the following:

Take or review patients' medical histories

Examine patients

Order and interpret diagnostic tests, such as x rays or blood tests

Diagnose a patient's injury or illness

Give treatment, such as setting broken bones and immunizing patients

Educate and counsel patients and their families-for example, answering questions about how to care for a child with asthma

Prescribe medicine

Assess and record a patient's progress

Research the latest treatments to ensure the quality of patient care

Conduct or participate in outreach programs, talking to groups about managing diseases and promoting wellness

Physician assistants work on teams with physicians or surgeons and other healthcare workers. Their specific duties and the extent to which they must be supervised by physicians or surgeons differ from state to state.

Physician assistants work in all areas of medicine, including primary care and family medicine, emergency medicine, surgery, and psychiatry. The work of physician assistants depends in large part on their specialty or the type of medical practice where they work. For example, a physician assistant working in surgery may close incisions and provide care before, during, and after the operation. A physician assistant working in pediatrics may examine a child and give routine vaccinations.

In some areas, especially rural and medically underserved communities, physician assistants may be the primary care providers at clinics where a physician is present only 1 or 2 days per week. In these locations, physician assistants collaborate with the physician as needed and as required by law.

Some physician assistants make house calls or visit nursing homes to treat patients.

Physician assistants are different from medical assistants. Medical assistants do routine clinical and clerical tasks and do not practice medicine.

Physician assistants held about 125,500 jobs in 2019. The largest employers of physician assistants were as follows:

Offices of physicians

54%

Hospitals; state, local, and private

26

Outpatient care centers

8

Educational services; state, local, and private

4

Employment services

1

Working with patients can be both physically and emotionally demanding. Physician assistants spend much of their time on their feet, making rounds and evaluating patients. Physician assistants who work in operating rooms often stand for extended periods.

Work Schedules

Most physician assistants work full time. Some work more than 40 hours per week. Physician assistants may work nights, weekends, or holidays. They may also be on call, meaning that they must be ready to respond to a work request with little notice.

Physician assistants typically need a master's degree from an accredited educational program. Earning that degree usually takes at least 2 years of full-time postgraduate study. All states require physician assistants to be licensed. Physician assistant graduate school applicants typically have experience caring directly for patients.

Education

Most applicants to physician assistant education programs already have a bachelor's degree and some patient care work experience. Although admissions requirements vary from program to program, most programs require 2 to 4 years of undergraduate coursework with a focus in science. Many applicants already have experience as registered nurses or as EMTs or paramedics before they apply to a physician assistant program.

Physician assistant education programs usually take at least 2 years of full-time study. More than 200 education programs were accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) in 2017. Almost all of these accredited programs offer a master's degree.

Physician assistant education includes classroom and laboratory instruction in subjects such as pathology, human anatomy, physiology, clinical medicine, pharmacology, physical diagnosis, and medical ethics. The programs also include supervised clinical training in several areas, including family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, and pediatrics.

Sometimes students serve in one or more clinical rotations in these areas under the supervision of a physician who is looking to hire a physician assistant. In this way, clinical rotations may lead to permanent employment.

Work Experience in a Related Occupation

Applicants to physician assistant graduate programs typically need patient care experience for admission or to be competitive in entering the programs. Work as an EMT or paramedic, registered nurse, nursing assistant, or similar care position typically fulfills patient care experience requirements for admission to academic programs. Some applicants gain healthcare experience through volunteer opportunities at hospitals or clinics, or working with special-needs or at-risk groups, such as orphaned youth or homeless populations. For specific requirements, contact the program in which you are interested.

Licenses, Certifications, and Registrations

All states and the District of Columbia require physician assistants to be licensed. To become licensed, candidates must pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). A physician assistant who passes the exam may use the credential "Physician Assistant-Certified (PA-C)."

To keep their certification, physician assistants must complete 100 hours of continuing education every 2 years. The recertification exam is required every 10 years.

In addition, state licensure laws require physician assistants to hold an agreement with a supervising physician. Although the physician does not need to be onsite at all times, collaboration between physicians and physician assistants is required for practice.

Important Qualities

Communication skills. Physician assistants must explain complex medical issues in a way that patients can understand. They must also effectively communicate with doctors and other healthcare workers to ensure that they provide the best possible patient care.

Compassion. Physician assistants deal with patients who are sick or injured and may be in extreme pain or distress. They must treat patients and their families with compassion and understanding.

Detail oriented. Physician assistants should be observant and have a strong ability to focus when evaluating and treating patients.

Emotional stability. Physician assistants, particularly those working in surgery or emergency medicine, should work well under pressure. They must remain calm in stressful situations in order to provide quality care.

Problem-solving skills. Physician assistants need to evaluate patients' symptoms and administer the appropriate treatments. They must be diligent when investigating complicated medical issues so they can determine the best course of treatment for each patient.

Advancement

Some physician assistants pursue additional education in a specialty. Postgraduate educational programs are available in areas such as emergency medicine and psychiatry. To enter one of these programs, a physician assistant must be a graduate of an accredited program and be certified by the NCCPA.

As they gain greater clinical knowledge and experience, physician assistants can earn new responsibilities and higher wages. For example, experienced physician assistants may supervise other staff and physician assistant students, or they may become an executive leader of a healthcare organization.

Median annual wages, May 2020

The median annual wage for physician assistants was $115,390 in May 2020. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $76,700, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $162,470.

In May 2020, the median annual wages for physician assistants in the top industries in which they worked were as follows:

Outpatient care centers

$124,610

Hospitals; state, local, and private

118,600

Employment services

115,780

Offices of physicians

113,460

Educational services; state, local, and private

110,770

Most physician assistants work full time. Some work more than 40 hours per week. Physician assistants may work nights, weekends, or holidays. They may also be on call, meaning that they must be ready to respond to a work request with little notice.

Employment of physician assistants is projected to grow 31 percent from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations.

Demand for healthcare services will increase because of the growing and aging population. Growth of the population means more need for healthcare services generally, and members of the large baby boom generation will require more medical care as they age. An increase in the number of patients with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, will also increase healthcare demand and, in turn, drive the need for healthcare providers including physician assistants who often provide preventive care and treat the sick. Furthermore, increases in incomes may improve access to healthcare services, and advances in medical technology will continue to increase the number and types of treatments available.

Physician assistants can provide many of the same services as physicians. PAs are expected to continue to have a growing role in providing healthcare services because they can be trained more quickly than physicians. Team-based healthcare provision models will continue to evolve and become more commonly used. Physician assistants will have growing roles in all areas of medicine as states expand allowable procedures and autonomy, and as insurance companies expand their coverage of physician assistant services.

Job Prospects

Good job prospects are expected in primary care and across all specialties, particularly for physician assistants working in rural and medically underserved areas.

Occupational Title

SOC Code

Employment, 2019

Projected Employment, 2029

Change, 2019-29

Employment by Industry

Percent

Numeric

Physician assistants

29-1071

125,500

164,800

31

39,300
Get data

Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program produces employment and wage estimates annually for over 800 occupations. These estimates are available for the nation as a whole, for individual states, and for metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. The link(s) below go to OEWS data maps for employment and wages by state and area.

Projections Central

Occupational employment projections are developed for all states by Labor Market Information (LMI) or individual state Employment Projections offices. All state projections data are available at www.projectionscentral.com. Information on this site allows projected employment growth for an occupation to be compared among states or to be compared within one state. In addition, states may produce projections for areas; there are links to each state's websites where these data may be retrieved.

CareerOneStop

CareerOneStop includes hundreds of occupational profiles with data available by state and metro area. There are links in the left-hand side menu to compare occupational employment by state and occupational wages by local area or metro area. There is also a salary info tool to search for wages by zip code.

For more information about physician assistants, visit
American Academy of PAs
For a list of accredited physician assistant programs, visit
Physician Assistant Education Association Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA)Association of Postgraduate Physician Assistant Programs
For information about certification requirements, visit
National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants
O*NET
Anesthesiologist Assistants Physician Assistants

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Video transcript available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyLvqjTeMXM. Quick Facts: Physician Assistants 2020 Median Pay $115,390 per year $55.48 per hour Physician assistants practice medicine on teams with physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare workers. Physician assistants work in physicians' offices, hospitals, outpatient clinics, and other healthcare settings. Most work full time.

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$400,000