About my Dream Job: Physician Assistant
Basic PA Career Information
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What is a PA? : A physician assistant is a healthcare provider who practices medicine on teams with physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare workers. Like regular doctors, they examine, diagnose, and treat patients; the only difference is that they have to work under the supervision of a physician.
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What are their daily tasks? : They do almost everything a regular physician does and are very multifarious in what they do; they take or review patients’ medical histories, examine patients, order and interpret diagnostic tests, give treatment, educate and counsel patients and their families, prescribe medicine, assess and record a patient’s progress, research the latest treatments to ensure the quality of patient care, and conduct or participate in outreach programs.
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What is their average salary? : In May 2016, the median annual wage for physician assistants was $101,480. The lowest 10% earned less than $65,620, and the highest 10% earned more than $142,210.
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What is the required education? : Before they apply to PA school, most students have a bachelor’s degree and a decent amount of clinical hours or patient work experience, and they usually know a lot about medicine and dentistry, biology, psychology, therapy and counseling, and the English language. Physician assistant education programs vary in length, but most programs take at least two years of full-time study. 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.
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What are the required licenses? : 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).
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital
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A children's hospital located in Ann Arbor, MI that is part of the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers and admits about 150 children each day.
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It is the only children's hospital in Michigan ranked among the nation's best in all 10 specialties, according to U.S. News & World Report.
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It's Pediatric Cardiology & Heart Surgery is what it is best known for, since it is ranked #1 in Michigan and #3 in the nation.
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Because this hospital is located in Ann Arbor, MI, which is only about 15 minutes away from where my family lives, a job here would be ideal and very convenient. Although I do plan on being independent from my family, they're still the most important people in my life and I want to live close to them. When I do decide to get married and have kids, I want them to have a close relationship with my parents and siblings, and a job in Ann Arbor would be perfect for that.