Career Spotlight: Physician assistant

Physician Assistant explains career and difference between a PA and a doctor and a PA and a nurse practitioner. Excellent explanation of the career by a knowledgeable physician assistant. This is from an instructor's resource CD for a medical terminology book. If the creator or PA depicted in this video would like this remove please email me and I will do so. I figured this was meant for education and what better way to educate the public than put it on youtube! Thank you. -Chris, PA-S

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• physician
• physician's
• assistant
• associate
• PA
• PA-C
• plastic
• surgery
• NP
• nurse
• practitioner
• difference

[spider23000]

When she's talking about medical terminology: "...Pre-operative; post-operative...", er, you don't need a Master's to know what those things mean.

[MichaelHunter2]

Hey I found a great site with a lot of information on the PA profession in case anyone is interested. It is called the PA Forum and is located at PhysicianAssistantForum Com

[WeiSugarD]

@strawberriesncandii I also want to be a PA in dermatology :)

[jhout978]

very well said.

[shollo12]

If you're a nurse stop bloody whining. I'm a nurse and there is no point in being bitter and twisted OR having mindless optimism that everyone will suddenly realise how wonderful you are. If you don't like it, train to be something else, that's what I'm doing.

[whygeorgia10]

i didn't take medical terminology... I know what edema is... since freshman year lol

[townkevin59]

Physicians Assistants (In my Opinion) are a fuckin' pain in the ass. I would rather see an actual Doctor rather than some understudy elf that thinks they know as much as the actual Dr. I am truly sick of the way this world has become & the bad part is, it's only going to get worse!

[captiannn]

@spider23000 I knew what hemmorging Hemorrhaging was when I was 10

[TheBratcat1]

@bomberfun1 What about Physical Therapy? Is it better?

[uvidga]

@backtoharmony To wrap up my rant, if you are already a nurse, be a nurse practitioner. If you are in another health care field, maybe PA is better for you. Either way, you will assess, diagnose, and treat patients autonomously. As a PA, you have a physician supervisor. He/she does NOT have to be present for a PA to practice medicine. As a NP, you "collaborate" with a physician. Same damn thing. PA's and NP's are equally well-respected, contrary to your implication above. Bottom line: TEAM.

[uvidga]

@backtoharmony So I am only responding to these posts to make sure that anyone interested in PA is not misinformed. There are a lot of forums out there that try to say why one is better than the other. At the end of the day, we both do virtually the same job. People end up in front of us because they have a need. Both NP's and PA's assess patients, determine the best course of action, and implement the best plan for the individual.

[uvidga]

@backtoharmony This is an untrue statement. PA's receive a Master's degree after completing an accredited program taught in the medical model similar to the training of physicians. Also, the most recent Bureau of Labor statistics regarding salaries lists PA's median as $81,230/year while NP's are listed at $76,000. Even more recently (2010), CNNMoney lists PA as the #2 ranked job in America, with median income at $92,000. You will find NP on the list as well, at #65 with median $86,000.