When I was about four years old, I was asked the question that every child is asked: “What do you want to be when you grow up? ” My response was a princess. A couple years later I was asked again and my response was a zoo keeper. When I was about thirteen they asked again and my response was a veterinarian. Now that I am a freshman in college the question is very serious. What do I want to be when I grow up? To be honest I would still really like to be a princess but that is far from an actual career and highly unlikely. The career I am looking into right now is a physician’s assistant.
As a physician’s assistant, there are many key components to this job, like the work environment, the duties they have, and all of the different medical areas I could be involved in. For instance I could be in the emergency room, in pediatrics, or any area my heart desires. To become a physician’s assistant, one would need a bachelor’s degree and some type of health field related experience. Many applicants already have experience as registered nurses or as EMTs and paramedics before they apply to a physician assistant program (handbook).
I am taking an EMT class in the summer to get my health field experience. Physician’s assistant’s 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 hundreds of hours of supervised clinical training in several areas, including family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, and pediatrics. All of these classes and clinical hours will let me get the feel for the duties, the different areas, and see the work environment.
A physician’s assistant practices medicine on a team under the supervision of a physician or surgeon [occ15]. They are educated to examine patients, diagnose injuries and illnesses, and provide treatment. They work in physician’s offices, hospitals, and other healthcare settings.. They make 90,930 annually and about 43. 72 per hour[occ15]. They typically work long hours. Most physician assistants work full time. In hospitals, physician assistants might work nights, weekends, and/or holidays.
They might also be on call, meaning that they must be ready to go to work with little notice[occ15]. Physician assistant work can be both physically and emotionally demanding. They spend most of their time on their feet, making rounds and evaluating patients. Physician assistants who work in operating rooms most likely stand for extended periods. Even though the work is stressful and demanding it is really rewarding in the end. Physician’s assistants have many duties. They review patient’s histories, they conduct physical exams to check the person’s health.
Physician’s assistants diagnose tests like x-rays and blood tests, and they can fix injuries or illnesses. They can also give treatments like setting bones and immunizing. They also educate and counsel patients and prescribe medicine and record patient’s progress. They can basically do everything a doctor can do under the supervision of a doctor. Many physician’s assistants work in a physician’s office, or hospital and other healthcare settings. According to the bureau of labor statistics, Physician assistants held about 86,700 jobs in 2012.
The industries that employed the most physician assistants in 2012 were as follows: Offices of health practitioners-58%, Hospitals; state, local, and private- 23%, Outpatient care centers -7%, Government- 4 %, and Educational services; state, local, and private- 3% [occ15]. Physician assistants, who can perform many of the same things as doctors, are expected to have a larger role in giving routine care because they are more cost effective than physicians. As more physicians retire or enter specialty areas of medicine, more physician assistants are expected to take on the role of primary care provider.
Furthermore, the number of individuals who have access to primary care services will increase as a result of federal health insurance reform. Now when someone asks me what I want to be when I grow up, I can give them a confident and straight answer. I want to be a physician’s assistant. As a physician’s assistant there is a wide variety of options for me to choose from. I could be in any field of medicine I chose to be in and I feel that I would love this job. I am currently on the right track to become a physician’s assistant and I am enjoying every step of the way.
