Physician Assistant Jobs and What You Need To Know

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crop_1400xIf you are looking for information on what it takes to become a Physician Assistant, this is a great place to start. Physician Assistants are considered one of the fastest-growing, competitive and lucrative occupations in America along with Nurse Practitioners. CNN has already ranked the Physician Assistant occupation at the second position in 2010′s Top 100 jobs in America. U.S. Department of Labor has predicted that Physician Assistant jobs will increase by 27% through the year 2016.  Other staffing and recruiting firms have also seen PA and NP jobs grow in demand, most dramatically beginning in the latter half of 2011 as murmurs of physician shortages grew louder and louder.

For those who don’t know much about this profession and would like to learn more about Physician Assistant careers, let’s explore this topic a bit. A Physician Assistant is a medical professional that is trained to work under the guidance and supervision of a Physician. Physician Assistants are trained to help physicians in different medical procedures like ordering and interpreting medical reports, diagnostic care, conducting physical exams, treating and managing illness and injury and writing medical prescriptions. Of course, we now know that due to several factors, including the recent healthcare industry changes such as the Affordable Care bill, we actually are facing a shortage of doctors in our health care system. The Council on Graduate Medical Education predicts a shortage of 85,000 medical doctors by 2020. The only solution to this problem is to train and hire more Physician Assistants to reduce the shortage. PAs cannot completely replace doctors, but can help them in saving time by performing 70-80% of their work. Also, it takes less time to become a Physician Assistant than a doctor.

So, how to become a Physician Assistant? This profession is in high demand and is a very highly competitive profession. There are several stages involved if you are serious about becoming a PA. To become a PA, you need to graduate from an accredited PA program, of which there are currently over 150 accredited educational institutes in the United States that offer programs at the level of Bachelor’s, Master’s or Associate’s degree. Most of the educational institutes offer programs at the Master’s level. This means you need to have a Bachelor’s degree at the very least in order to apply for the Physician Assistant program. Other than the Bachelor’s degree, there are a many other requirements to apply for a PA position, all of which vary from program to program, as well as what the employer is seeking. Much of the initial program requires an applicant to have courses completed in Anatomy, Math, Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biology, Microbiology and English. You will also need to have significant health-related work experience, which you will want to have anyway to make sure . The amount of experience can vary from a couple of thousand hours to several years. You may also need to pass additional exams such as the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or TOEFL (if you are an international student). Almost all programs will also require applicants to submit reference letters from their previous supervisors or managers if you are applying elsewhere.  These requirements may vary from program to program. So, it’s recommended to check the requirements for the PA program closest to you in order to find out more about the prerequisites.

If you already meet the requirements for, and are looking for PA related opportunities, there are many good job boards such as Career Builder and Indeed.com that are a good resource.  We have also found StaffPointe.com, to have some of the most recent Physician Assistant jobs listed on their website.

Physician Assistant Salary Ranges: How Much Do They Command?

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physician-assistant-careerPhysician Assistant’s (PA’s) command some of the highest and fastest growing salaries of any profession. How much could you expect to earn upon graduation if you were just starting a program today? What are some things you can do in your education and job experience that can earn you even more? Lets have a look.

Physician assistant positions are growing quickly for many reasons, some political, some market driven. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), passed in 2012, will require coverage provisions for nearly 30 million new individuals. You may have already noticed some physicians employing PA’s in their offices, in part since there is already a shortage of primary care physicians.

You may have noticed that, for follow-ups and routine physicals, you may not even see the doctor.   This will likely only increase as the mandate for physicians to care for more patients only grows.  Hiring physician assistants in greater numbers allows these doctors to expand their practice to cover these additional patients by utilizing well-trained medical staff that are perfectly capable of doing 80% of what the physician does already. If something serious is discovered in the exam, a PA is trained to spot it and then the supervising doctor involved.

Physician Assistant opportunities are also growing because insurance premiums are getting to expensive for people to continue their coverage. Insurance companies are limiting the amount of reimbursement for doctor visits. By hiring additional physician assistants for routine exams and diagnoses, the costs can be lowered per individual while maintaining the overall income of the doctors practice by expanding the amount of patients he can see. Additionally, they will be able to spend more of time on more serious conditions that require additional expertise, while also providing more individual time to managing his patients diseases.

At the time I am writing this, the average for all Physician Assistant Salaries, according to a job site with access to over 38,000 PA Job postings, was $93,000. A starting PA might start in the mid $60′s today for a general primary care position, There are several specialty fields that you will find physician assistants making over $110,000 in as an average, with experience. Among these are cardio PA’s, correctional facility PA’s, and emergency room PA’s, all of which are in high demand. In 2006 the average was around $75,000 and in 2008 around $85,000, meaning salaries appear to be growing at a rate of $10,000 every 2 years! If this trend continues, those graduating 2 years from now in 2015 could look at starting salaries in the $80,000 range, with average salaries for experienced physician assistants in the $115,000 range.

Physician Medication Dispensing – A Healthy Choice for Primary Care Practices and Patients Alike

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C--Users-emily.mckenzie-Desktop-MED3OOO-Emily's Files-Images-Photos-21Physician dispensing envisages a dual role for the physician i.e. of prescribing medication, and distributing the same to patients at ‘Point of Care’. Although this concept is currently being followed by a mere 10% of physicians in the country, it is gaining momentum because of the inherent benefits to both the physician and the patients.

Till the early 20th century, pharmacists manufactured medications and physicians prescribed and dispensed them. Then the trend changed around early to mid 20th century, when physicians only prescribed medications, pharmaceutical companies manufactured them and pharmacists dispensed them. This trend seems to be changing once again.

Benefits of Physician Dispensing

1) Increased Revenue: The most important benefit is the increase in physician’s revenue through this new revenue stream. Initially, however, the staff will have to be trained and the process of implementing physician dispensing might take time and some investment, but in the long run it will prove to be financially beneficial.

2) Reduced Pharmacy Callbacks: Physicians have to spend a lot of time everyday dealing with pharmacy issues and attending to pharmacy call backs. Moreover, each callback costs $5-$7 per call and roughly $30,000 a year. These costs and time losses can be avoided with physician dispensing.

3) Improved Patient Care and Patient Compliance: Writing and dispensing errors will be eliminated. The compliance rate of patients getting prescriptions filled and taking the medicines as directed will improve by more than 60%. The overall health care costs will reduce with improved compliance.

4) Reduction of Adverse Drug Events: Illegible writing of prescriptions, unclear abbreviations, unclear or inappropriate dosages, and unclear telephone/verbal orders cost primary care practices a large sum of money as overheads and these can be avoided with physician medication dispensing.

5) Increased Convenience: It will be more convenient for the patients as they will not have to drive to the pharmacy and wait for dispensing of the prescription which can be upwards of one hour. Patients can receive their medication at the point-of-care with physician dispensing and save time spent on commuting and waiting at the pharmacy. This will be especially convenient for the disabled, elderly patients and parents with sick children.

6) Lower Cost Substitution: Since physicians are aware of the costs of different medications, they can make substitutions on-the-spot for needy patients, or if a particular medication is not available. Pharmacists on the other hand would have to call the physician and wait for the physician to call back to approve any change required. This loss of vital time can be avoided with physician dispensing.

In 44 out of 50 states in the US, physician dispensing is completely legal. In some other states, there are restrictions on this practice and other states have prohibited it altogether. However, there is no doubt that physician dispensing improves health of patients and it increases the physician’s practice revenue. Overall healthcare costs for patients are reduced with a higher compliance rate, achieved through physician dispensing. This practice is safe and endorsed by AMA provided the physicians comply with federal and state guidelines and give their patients a choice of where to purchase medications.

The practice of physician dispensing is gaining momentum because of its inherent advantages to both patients and physicians. It increases the physician’s revenue and makes it more convenient for patients, by providing them with a one-stop solution to their ailments.