All About Physician Assistants

Some days are ordinary. And some days aren’t. I recently finished with a short period of my life interspersed with extraordinary days. Over the course of two months, I interviewed for four physician assistant (PA) programs.

August, 15, 2012 – Glenside, PA: Arcadia University

September 6 & 7, 2012 – Springfield, MO: Missouri State University

September 14, 2012 – Downers Grove, IL: Midwestern University*

September 17, 2012 – Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa*

*Affiliated with a medical school

I chose each school for different reasons, and I didn’t have a clear preference before I began the interview process. All were accredited and had good PANCE (national certification) pass rates. Some offered international rotations. Others were less expensive. A few were closer to home. Others offered the diversity of a big city and the variety of people naturally included with that status. The lengths of the programs and number of students differed as well. Two were affiliated with a medical school.

With all of these factors to consider, I was at a loss on how to answer the question, “So, what’s your top choice?” In fact, I even candidly (and perhaps bluntly) told one interview committee that I didn’t have a top choice. (Turns out, that’s the school I ended up choosing in the end. I guess honesty does pay off. Haha.)

Acceptance Letters

But, let me back up. Let me answer one of the most commonly asked questions I encounter. What’s a PA? You can Google or Wikipedia the answer, but here’s a simple definition. A physician assistant is a mid-level provider who works in a dependent-autonomous relationship with a supervising physician and is able to take a history and physical, form a differential diagnosis, order tests and interpret results, formulate a treatment plan, educate patients, and prescribe medications.

Clinically, a PA is similar from a patient standpoint to a nurse practitioner (NP), although PAs can’t work independently and in some states have tighter regulations on prescribing privileges. PAs also differ from NPs in that they are educated in the medical model versus the nursing model. (According to a nursing forum I was browsing, “the medical model focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of disease, [while] the nursing model focuses on the treatment of the human response to disease and also incorporates the prevention of disease.” I often associate the models with the keywords technical and social.)

In order to apply to PA programs, one has to submit a lengthy application through a central agency called CASPA, and then wait to hear back for an interview. The sooner you submit an application after the cycle opens, the better the chance of getting into your preferred school, especially if that school functions on a rolling-admissions basis. The application includes individual entry of every class recorded on your transcript(s), mailed transcripts, letters of recommendation, work experience, volunteer hours, awards, personal information, personal narrative, selection of schools, and payment. It took me hours of working on my application for several weeks in order to have it ready to submit the first week of June. The last week of June it was mailed out with the first batch of applications. I heard back for my first interview mid-July.

My Completed CASPA Application Mailed 

So, now that you know what it is I’ll do when I become a PA-C (physician assistant-certified) and how the application stuff works, let me share how I’ll get there from here. In one word, work. Lots and lots of hard work. And probably lots of caffeine. (Although neither of that is news when it comes to my education; those two things are certainly reminiscent of my undergrad.) How much work, you ask. Well, here’s an overview of my schedule from May 2013 to June 2015. Master credit total = 105 hours

•          Didactic year (54 s.h.)  - gross anatomy, biochemistry, human physiology, clinical decision making I & II, intro to medical history and physical examination, pharmacology, intro to human pathology, principles of infectious disease, foundations of clinical practice III & IV, ethics/law/& policy, and clinical lab medicine.
•          Clinical year (51 s.h.) – intro to clinical skills, clinical decision making III (including senior clinical project) seminar for PA students, and 40 weeks of clinical rotations
• 4 weeks in pediatrics, gynecology, emergency medicine, psychiatry, & two rotations of family practice
• 6 weeks each in general surgery and internal medicine
• 8-12 weeks of elective rotations 

I’m excited and nervous at the same time for the next phase of my education, career, and life. It’s been a wonderful experience working as a technician in the ER these last (nearly) two years, but I’m ready for a change. It’s always a good thing to challenge our comfort zones. May God use the talents, interests, and education I am blessed to possess for His eternal glory. Truly, that’s my heart’s cry.