A physician assistant is a profession in which a person can diagnose and treat a patient underneath the supervision of a physician. They can both practice and prescribe medication to patients in all 50 states ("What Is a PA?"). Physician assistants must go through a series of school and certifications, including being nationally certified and a state-licensed medical professional ("What Is a PA?"). As a patient, a physician assistant can take your medical history, conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illness, help develop a plan for treatment, assist in surgeries, and write prescriptions ("What Is a PA?"). The specific duties of a physician assistant vary slightly due to a few boundaries. The setting in which a PA works, the level of experience or time working in the field, the specialty they are in, and the laws that the state holds in which the PA is certified, all affect the amount a physician assistant can do ("What Is a PA?"). By looking at the education, cost of physician assistants, and rise of the medical field, I can argue that physician assistants are a necessity to the medical field and more specifically to the physicians in which they work under. 

Becoming a physician assistant takes less time than other medical occupations, because it does not require you to go to medical school. The first step in the educational process to become a physician assistant is to obtain your Bachelor’s Degree. There is not a specific major that you must graduate with, but a degree in health science helps to provide you with the knowledge needed to go to PA school. The next step is to complete a two-year master’s physician assistant program. These programs typically require the applicants to have at least three years of prior healthcare experience. A person can also become a physician assistant by completing a physician assistant bachelor’s degree. After completion, the student would graduate with a bachelor’s degree as well as a graduate-level certificate. This specific route is more rigorous, but does save time in the long run. Depending on where you are getting your master’s degree from, depends on the number of clinical hours you must complete before you can enter the field. Most schools require 2,000 hours, but help to fulfill these hours by offering internship and shadowing opportunities. After completing your master’s program, and getting a degree, you must pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE). The Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam is the only certifying exam for physician assistants. Without this certification, a physician assistant cannot practice on patients or be a part of a practice. This test is designed to make sure the graduate is knowledgeable on basic medical and surgical knowledge. The test takes roughly five hours and is three hundred multiple choice questions. Graduates can take this exam up to six times within six years, and if the test is not passed after then, then they must recomplete a master’s program to become a physician assistant. That is all the accreditation a physician assistant needs before entering the medical field, but they can gain further certifications if they choose. These certifications are in specialized fields such as nutrition support, ultrasound, or vascular access. Every six to ten years a physician assistant must take the Physician Assistant National Recertifying Exam (PANRE) in order to maintain their certification.  They must also take ongoing medical education classes as well. The classroom time must be 100 hours every two years, and this must continue for the entirety of the time the physician assistant is practicing. This amount of education and certification is important, because it helps to prove that a physician assistant is qualified for their job and to take care of and diagnose patients. 

The cost that it takes to become a physician assistant versus the amount a physician assistant is paid is very important. Education costs vary widely based on in-state versus out-of-state, as well as private versus public. On average the resident tuition of a physician assistant school in 2015 was $65,564, while the average non-resident tuition was $76,134. The cost of tuition varies from as low as $25,000 all the way to $150,000 and above. Public resident tuition is much more inexpensive then a private resident tuition, and the same applies for non-resident tuition. Although the cost of education for a physician assistant is costly, the salary compensates. The median salary for a physician assistant is $90,677. The salary of a physician assistant is based on a lot of different criteria, such as where they work, what state they are in, what specialty they are in, and how long they have been practicing as a physician assistant. The range of salaries goes from $91,433-$109,512. The top paying specialty of physician assistants was in outpatient care centers, and the lowest paying for PA’s was within the government. Physician assistant education can be costly but overall they are paid fairly for the amount of education and work that they do. They are not paid as much as physicians, because physician assistants work under physicians and did not attend as much schooling as they have. Physician assistants work similar hours and days as physicians due to the similarity in their jobs. PA’s tend to work full time, with 1 out of 5 PA working part-time. If a physician assistant works in a hospital, it is likely they work night shifts, weekends, or holidays, or they are at least on call during such times in case of an emergency.  

“In its Occupational Outlook Handbook, the Labor Department has projected job growth for more than 800 jobs, and 17 of the 30 fastest-growing jobs are in health care-related fields.” (Kurtzleben). The health field is one of the only industries that had uninterrupted growth during the recession (Kurtzleben). This growth in the field means not only more jobs are available for graduates and young adults, but also the job security in the field is on lockdown. This is important, because the more people get sick and age, which is not going to end anytime soon, the more healthcare providers are needed. Physicians cannot possibly take on all of the work that such a large and growing field requires. The amount of physician assistants grew from 83,466 in 2010 to 101,977 in 2015 (Unger). The percentage of growth from 2014 to 2024 is 30%, which is a much faster rise than average. This sudden rise in physician assistants is said to help alleviate health workforce shortages as well as decrease wait times (Picard). According to a new Conference Board of Canada report, physician assistants are not meant to replace physicians, but make their time more worthwhile (Unger). The PA’s can free up the doctor’s time by completing routine tasks and allowing the doctors to work more in depth with tougher cases. 

A physician assistant can follow a variety of career paths, very similar to a physician. They can work in hospitals, private practices or other health organizations. The majority of physician assistants work in primary care medicine, also known as family medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology. That does not mean that those are the only options, physician assistants also work in dermatology, psychiatry, radiology, and pathology. The education and accreditation of a physician assistant allows them to practice in any specialty they chose. They can gain spate certifications for those specialties if they chose, but it is not a requirement. A little more than 20% of physician assistants practice surgery or subspecialties involving surgery. 

Although physician assistants are rather independent in their practice, they still have to be supervised at least from a distance. Physician assistants cannot have or run their own practice. Thirty-five of the fifty states do however allow physicians to determine their scope of practice for their PA. This means that the physician can basically decide how far they are willing to let the physician assistant go until they need to consult or get assistance. Depending on where a PA works decides what their daily routine tasks are. A trauma physician assistant’s daily tasks vary greatly from a family medicine’s physician assistant. A PA is allowed to perform surgery under the doctor’s discretion, but for the most part they tend to assist the physician during surgery. A doctor does not even have to be on site for a physician assistant to practice medicine. A physician assistant just has to have a doctor available to contact in case of an emergency. The strictness of this varies on the law in the state that the physician and physician assistant are working. 

The main counter-argument for why physician assistants are helpful to the medical field is that they do not have enough education or experience to begin treating patients. Dr. Matt Hahn argues that although it is less expensive to have physician assistants, they do not have the depth of training to handle the variety of scenarios that arise in the primary care setting (Hedges). Hahn said that he hosted a physician assistant program at his practice in conjunction with the George Washington University School of Medicine but eventually cut it off (Hedges). The reason being is that he believed that the students had not been trained enough to take care of his patients in a proper manner (Hedges). Dr. Hahn said that by going through medical school, he had been trained for seven years before he could see patients. Meanwhile, physician assistants have to complete a four-year bachelor program and then a two-year physician assistant program. Hahn also believes that the trend of physician assistants threatens the quality of care for America (Hedges). He says this happens due to the liberties that physician assistants are being given but have yet to earn. Dr. Hahn’s beliefs of physician assistants come from a small sampling of people that he has worked with. Physician assistants work under the supervision of a physician for this very reason. Physician assistants go to school for a shorter amount of time versus physicians and therefore have less formal training. The job of a physician assistant is not to be the final say in diagnosis or treatment, but to work with some more simple cases in order to help the physician not waste time. Physician assistants are supervised not only by physicians themselves but also the law. States have different laws about the extent of care a physician assistant can give to a patient. That extent can be tightened by the physician depending on their method of both teaching and working. 

Physician assistants save money both to the practice or hospital they work for, as well as the patient. Physician assistants get paid less than physicians and therefore save their place of work money. Physicians assistants can be surgeons as well, and surgery is a very expensive procedure. Having a physician assistant perform surgery versus a physician could benefit both parties. The patient can save money by seeing a physician assistant instead of a physician. It is less expensive both out of pocket as well as through insurance. Insurance companies, in particular Medicare, allow for provision of medical services and procedures by licensed physician assistants. In pretty much all practice settings, Medicare will pay a physician assistant’s employer for both medical and surgical services performed by the physician assistant at 85% of the physician rate. Jennifer Van Atta states, “Far from limiting the practice, a licensed PA doesn’t take the place of a physician, but instead extends the physician’s services for a greater return on investment.”

“Your PA is an investment of your time, money and reputation. Make sure you are getting the most out of your investment in your PA” (Van Atta). A physician assistant is a profession in which a person can diagnose and treat a patient underneath the supervision of a physician. They can both practice and prescribe medication to patients in all 50 states ("What Is a PA?"). Physician assistants must go through a series of school and certifications, including being nationally certified and a state-licensed medical professional ("What Is a PA?"). A physician assistant’s ultimate role in the medical field is to make a patient’s experience more efficient and worthwhile. They can give more one on one attention that a physician assistant does not necessarily always have time for.  They always have the support and education given to them by their physician and therefore can always continue to learn and grow. The amount of education the receive does a substantial job in preparing them for the role they are about to take on. Physicians assistants are and continue to be a necessity to the medical field. Without them, the efficiency of a practice would be substantially lower and the physician would be both overworked and wasting time on procedures that would be better delegated. As a patient, a physician assistant can take your medical history, conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illness, help develop a plan for treatment, assist in surgeries, and write prescriptions ("What Is a PA?"). In conclusion, physician assistants save time and money in both the medical field as a whole and the practice they work for. By looking at the education, cost of physician assistants, and rise of the medical field, I can argue that physician assistants are a necessity to the medical field and more specifically to the physicians in which they work under. 
