What They Do: Physician assistants practice medicine on teams with physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare workers.
Work Environment: Physician assistants work in physicians' offices, hospitals, outpatient clinics, and other healthcare settings. Most work full time.
How to Become One: Physician assistants typically need a master’s degree from an accredited educational program. All states require physician assistants to be licensed.
Salary: The median annual wage for physician assistants is $121,530.
Job Outlook: Employment of physician assistants is projected to grow 28 percent over the next ten years, much faster than the average for all occupations.
Related Careers: Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of physician assistants with similar occupations.
Physician assistants, also known as PAs, practice medicine on teams with physicians, surgeons, and other healthcare workers. They examine, diagnose, and treat patients.
Physician assistants typically do the following:
Physician assistants work on teams with physicians or surgeons and other healthcare workers. Their specific duties and the extent to which they must be supervised by physicians or surgeons differ from state to state.
Physician assistants work in all areas of medicine, including primary care and family medicine, emergency medicine, surgery, and psychiatry. The work of physician assistants depends in large part on their specialty or the type of medical practice where they work. For example, a physician assistant working in surgery may close incisions and provide care before, during, and after the operation. A physician assistant working in pediatrics may examine a child and give routine vaccinations.
In some areas, especially rural and medically underserved communities, physician assistants may be the primary care providers at clinics where a physician is present only 1 or 2 days per week. In these locations, physician assistants collaborate with the physician as needed and as required by law.
Some physician assistants make house calls or visit nursing homes to treat patients.
Physician assistants are different from medical assistants. Medical assistants do routine clinical and clerical tasks and do not practice medicine.
Physician assistants hold about 139,100 jobs. The largest employers of physician assistants are as follows:
| Offices of physicians | 51% |
| Hospitals; state, local, and private | 23% |
| Outpatient care centers | 10% |
| Educational services; state, local, and private | 4% |
| Government | 2% |
Working with patients can be both physically and emotionally demanding. Physician assistants spend much of their time on their feet, making rounds and evaluating patients. Physician assistants who work in operating rooms often stand for extended periods.
Most physician assistants work full time. Some work more than 40 hours per week. Physician assistants may work nights, weekends, or holidays. They may also be on call, meaning that they must be ready to respond to a work request with little notice.
Get the education you need: Find schools for Physician Assistants near you!
Physician assistants typically need a master's degree from an accredited educational program. Earning that degree usually takes at least 2 years of full-time postgraduate study. All states require physician assistants to be licensed. Physician assistant graduate school applicants typically have experience caring directly for patients.
Most applicants to physician assistant education programs already have a bachelor's degree and some patient care work experience. Although admissions requirements vary from program to program, most programs require 2 to 4 years of undergraduate coursework with a focus in science. Many applicants already have experience as registered nurses or as EMTs or paramedics before they apply to a physician assistant program.
Physician assistant education programs usually take at least 2 years of full-time study. More than 200 education programs are accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA). Almost all of these accredited programs offer a master's degree.
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.
Sometimes students serve in one or more clinical rotations in these areas under the supervision of a physician who is looking to hire a physician assistant. In this way, clinical rotations may lead to permanent employment.
Applicants to physician assistant graduate programs typically need patient care experience for admission or to be competitive in entering the programs. Work as an EMT or paramedic, registered nurse, nursing assistant, or similar care position typically fulfills patient care experience requirements for admission to academic programs. Some applicants gain healthcare experience through volunteer opportunities at hospitals or clinics, or working with special-needs or at-risk groups, such as orphaned youth or homeless populations. For specific requirements, contact the program in which you are interested.
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). A physician assistant who passes the exam may use the credential "Physician Assistant-Certified (PA-C)."
To keep their certification, physician assistants must complete 100 hours of continuing education every 2 years. The recertification exam is required every 10 years.
In addition, state licensure laws require physician assistants to hold an agreement with a supervising physician. Although the physician does not need to be onsite at all times, collaboration between physicians and physician assistants is required for practice.
Communication skills. Physician assistants must explain complex medical issues in a way that patients can understand. They must also effectively communicate with doctors and other healthcare workers to ensure that they provide the best possible patient care.
Compassion. Physician assistants deal with patients who are sick or injured and may be in extreme pain or distress. They must treat patients and their families with compassion and understanding.
Detail oriented. Physician assistants should be observant and have a strong ability to focus when evaluating and treating patients.
Emotional stability. Physician assistants, particularly those working in surgery or emergency medicine, should work well under pressure. They must remain calm in stressful situations in order to provide quality care.
Problem-solving skills. Physician assistants need to evaluate patients' symptoms and administer the appropriate treatments. They must be diligent when investigating complicated medical issues so they can determine the best course of treatment for each patient.
Some physician assistants pursue additional education in a specialty. Postgraduate educational programs are available in areas such as emergency medicine and psychiatry. To enter one of these programs, a physician assistant must be a graduate of an accredited program and be certified by the NCCPA.
As they gain greater clinical knowledge and experience, physician assistants can earn new responsibilities and higher wages. For example, experienced physician assistants may supervise other staff and physician assistant students, or they may become an executive leader of a healthcare organization.
The median annual wage for physician assistants is $121,530. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $77,940, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $164,620.
The median annual wages for physician assistants in the top industries in which they work are as follows:
| Outpatient care centers | $128,430 |
| Hospitals; state, local, and private | $127,240 |
| Offices of physicians | $121,010 |
| Government | $106,910 |
| Educational services; state, local, and private | $101,040 |
Most physician assistants work full time. Some work more than 40 hours per week. Physician assistants may work nights, weekends, or holidays. They may also be on call, meaning that they must be ready to respond to a work request with little notice.
Employment of physician assistants is projected to grow 28 percent over the next ten years, much faster than the average for all occupations.
About 12,700 openings for physician assistants are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.
The growing population will continue to increase demand for healthcare services. A rise in the number of older people, who are more likely than young people to require medical care, and of patients with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, will also increase healthcare demand. These increases, in turn, drive the need for healthcare providers such as physician assistants (PAs), who often provide preventive care and treat the sick.
PAs, who can provide many of the same services as physicians, are expected to continue to expand their role in providing healthcare services for a number of reasons. They can be trained more quickly than physicians, and team-based healthcare provision models will continue to evolve and become more common. Furthermore, states continue to expand allowable procedures and autonomy, and insurance companies are extending coverage to physician assistant services.
| Occupational Title | Employment, 2021 | Projected Employment, 2031 | Change, 2021-31 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | Numeric | |||
| Physician assistants | 139,100 | 177,500 | 28 | 38,400 |
For more information about physician assistants, visit
For a list of accredited physician assistant programs, visit
Physician Assistant Education Association
Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA)
Association of Postgraduate Physician Assistant Programs
For information about certification requirements, visit
National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants
A portion of the information on this page is used by permission of the U.S. Department of Labor.