Don’t just consider the physician assistant profession as another job while you are researching physician assistant requirements. This is a career and one that can be very lucrative in a short period of time.
One thing most people don’t realize is that this career is fairly new and it’s only been around since the late 1960s right after the Vietnam War ended. There were a lot of experienced naval officers coming home that needed jobs. Since there was no equivalent profession to what these people did during the war, the physician assistant profession was born.
When researching physician assistant prerequisites, you’ll learn that it’s no longer necessary for you to have miltary experience, but it is very important that you have medical experience under your belt.
Physician Assistant Work Experience Requirements
Most physician assistant programs want all of their applicants to have around two years of a relevant medical background in order to apply. What exactly is a relevant medical background? Working as a paramedic, a nurse, a respiratory therapist, or a medical assistant. These fields are all very valid as part of a relevant medical background.
Things like volunteering, office work, medical billing and coding are not considered to be relevant medical experience at all. You need to have hands on experience with patients in order to qualify.
Physician Assistant Work Education Requirements
But there’s more to the physician assistant requirements than just having a medical background. You also have to have a solid academic standing in order to qualify. You need to have taken certain prerequisite classes, and you also had to have completed them, prior to ever filling out any kind of application.
Although every program is different, the general areas of study required are English, chemistry, anatomy and physiology, and microbiology as well. The majority of the physician assistant programs out there will require that you have a bachelors degree also. There are still some programs that don’t require this as a prerequisite, but that will not last much longer so focus on getting your bachelors degree because you will certainly need it.
Physician Assistant Application Process
The toughest of the physician assistant requirements is the application process. The reason why this is so tough is because you are battling a lot of other applicants in order to get a spot in the available classes that you need to take. That’s why it’s so important that your application is of the highest quality, and you need to make a strong personal statement on it so you differentiate yourself from the pack.
Physician Assistant Interview Process
The second toughest thing of the physician assistant requirements is the interview process. This is a good sign though, as there was obviously some really good things on your application because you would never even made it this far. So it is a strong possibility that other professionals in the field believe you are worthy to join the physician’s assistant profession.
You will often have to answer very personal questions that will help establish your character. So, while you are taking this interview make sure that you seem like the type of person that the interviewer would want taking care of one of the members of their family. If you can get that across than your chances of becoming a physician assistant are really good.