Amelia PA Blog

A Physician Assistant is someone who has pursued a professional track of medical education – usually a Bachelor’s degree with core science and math requirements followed by a Physician Assistant degree.  The length of education can vary from 4-6 years in total.  The Physician Assistant degree entails a didactic section followed by rotations (internships) in many areas of Medicine and Surgery. It culminates in the PA student taking a National Board exam (PANCE – Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam). After passing the PANCE, the student becomes certified and can apply for a PA license within their state in order to become a practicing provider. PAs must complete 100 hours of CME (continuing medical education) every two years and must re-certify with the Board exam every five years.

The profession has it’s roots from military medics when they returned from the Vietnam War; they started a PA program at Duke University under Dr. Eugene Stead.  These pioneer PAs were able to take didactic courses to add to their field experience. The first class graduated from Duke University in the mid 1960s.

Today there are probably close to 80,000 practicing Physician Assistants and 149 PA programs nationwide.  You will find Physician Assistants seeing patients in the Emergency Room, doing procedures such as suturing and casting and in the  Operating Room assisting in cardiac surgeries to brain surgeries . You will find Physician Assistants seeing you in a Family Practice setting to a specialty field like Dermatology, Plastic Surgery or Otolaryngology.  Most Physician Assistants attain hands on training with a mentor at their job.  They function under the legal supervision of an MD.  Many are autonomous and examine and treat patients within their scope daily.