 All right, you guys, so I had a really interesting question posed to me recently. Well, not really recently, it's just that I recently got around to that question. So sorry for that, but I decided to answer it in a video for you because it's actually a very interesting question. And it was essentially like, can you be a physician assistant and this other career at the same time that deals with anesthesia? And so I wanted to answer that question for you in today's video. So let's get into the video right now. What's up, you guys? Sonana, welcome back to my channel. So as my title says, I'm talking about physician assistance in anesthesia, but not physician assistant in terms of the PA, like me, that you would think. It's really the physician assistant comparable. Now, typically we would think that a PA of the physician assistant in anesthesia is the CRNA, the certified registered nurse anesthetist. However, I was privied to another career that is more comparable to the physician assistant role and model. So I wanted to talk to you guys about that and just kind of give you a little bit of background in what I've learned thus far in my research. So the question was posed to me by one of my subscribers asking if it was possible to be a PA as well as a certified anesthesiology assistant. Now, I had never heard of a certified anesthesiology assistant. And really, to my knowledge, to my understanding, there wasn't a route for PAs in anesthesia that was kind of really held and kind of like a chokehold by the NP model, right, being a CRNA. And so I was very surprised to hear that there was an option, an APP option for people that wanted a more medical, like through the physician-trained route in terms of their grad school to be in anesthesia. And so the subscriber wanted to know if she could be able to do both, because her advisor was saying that it was not a possibility. And at first and foremost, I just want to say that's absolutely ridiculous if you want to get to master's degree and be in two different careers. You can absolutely do so as long as you are following the guidelines and the scope of practice of each one in the area that you're working in. That's why there are people in cardiothoracic surgery or various different types of surgery. I know a general surgeon, actually, I know an intensivist that does plastic surgery. So just saying, there are some nuances to that. And if you do want to go to the four years of schooling that it will typically take while getting your master's degree at minimum in these various different career choices, then by all means, go ahead and do it. And don't let anybody stop you from that. So that's like me on my soapbox to these advisors that are giving wrong advice. It's a possibility. It's just going to be a little bit harder, a little bit more difficult, a little bit more time consuming. But you can absolutely do it. So let's get back to what I want to talk to you guys about, the CAA. So I had never heard of it. And I wanted to see what this is all about and come to find out. Like I said, it is very much in tandem, very much in sync with what a PA does on a regular basis. The only thing is that if you become a CAA, that's who you are. And so it's similar in the CRNA route. If you're a CRNA, like you're a CRNA, you can't go in moonlight in family practice really and truly. You stay in anesthesia. So it's the same thing unless you get certified or licensed in something else, which is what that student was thinking about doing. So there are some little nuances that I wanted to talk to you guys about with this career. Because first and foremost, it is actually a very lucrative career. But there are some things that you have to be mindful of and be aware of before you decide that you want to be a certified anesthesiology assistant. So the first thing that I think you should absolutely keep in mind is that this is a very kind of new, still up and coming career path. So right now, there are only 22 state slash territories that you can work that allows you to work as a CAA. And so I will list those on the screen right here for you. But really and truly, if you live in any of these states, then great, good for you. You're able to do that. You're able to work as a CAA. However, if you do not live in any of these states, then it looks a little bit less appealing to you because you're going to get into, and also if you don't want to live in any of these states, then you're going to want to get into a career that gives you a little bit more lateral mobility or be able to work across the board like being a PA or a certified registered nurse anesthesist. So those are things just to keep in mind. But I wanted to list those states for you. And the territory is Guam, so you can work as a CAA in Guam. While you're only allowed to work in 22 states and territories, there is something that's pretty unique because there are only four of those 22 states where you actually need a delegation agreement with an anesthesiologist, where PAs need delegation agreements across the board for the most part. And so it's rather interesting that you're able to work under your own licensure and certification as a CAA. It's you. It's you. It's yours. You don't need to wait for anybody to sign off on your notes or anything like that, which is interesting. So a little bit more autonomy in that sense. But again, you're still working in collaboration and in tandem with the anesthesiologist, especially in the hospital setting. Let me talk to you specifically about what CAAs are. So a CAA is a certified anesthesiology assistant that is highly skilled and specialized in terms of being under the directions and licensure of an anesthesiologist within the anesthesia care team. So you're going to be giving medications. You're going to be starting inductions. You're going to be doing intubations, like that kind of stuff. Basically, anything that you can think of that the anesthesiologist or the CRNA does, that is similar to what you're going to be doing. You're going to be going to rapid responses and situations where people are coding and assisting with placing a line ultimately administering the propofol or fentanyl or whatever rock or sucks or all of these different inacidating drugs, you're going to be doing that. And so that is essentially what a CAA does. Specifically, there are only 16 programs currently in the United States. And so I will list those there for you as well. So check those out. The 16 programs are really kind of all centered around the same state. So definitely, like if you live in Florida, Georgia, Colorado, Ohio, there are a little bit more options for you for schools that offer certified anesthesiologists assistant programs. I did see some in Wisconsin and Indiana as well as Missouri. And then Case Western actually has several different schools in different states. So you apply to Case Western's CAA program as a whole, but you can choose which program you specifically want to go to, which state. So that is something that you can do or keep in mind. So nuances, only 22 states and a territory that you're able to practice in, only 16 programs available, okay? I didn't look to see go into the weeds of like, all right, well, how much does each program admit? How many students come through their program? How many different starts do these have? If you're interested in that, these are things that you're gonna have to get into. And how you can find that information out is by going to their version of CASPA. So CASPA is our centralized application service for physician assistants. However, they have a CASSA, which is their centralized application services for anesthesiology assistants. So if you are interested in becoming a certified anesthesiology assistant, you have to go check them out on CASSA, okay? And so I'll leave a link for that like right here for you. So you guys can go check that out, just copy and paste it into your browser. All right, so with that being said, like what are some of the prerequisite requirements? And essentially it's exactly the same as, you know, as becoming a PA, a little bit more focused on your chemistries. And I know, I'm sorry if you're not into just chemistry, but your chemistry is in your maps. But typically this is what they require, a biochemistry, biology, anatomy and physiology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, a calculus, statistics, and then English. And so when you're trying to get into PA school, those are kind of typically the things that you're already looking at taking or you've taken because you were a science major. And so if you are interested in kind of making the switch where you've always wanted to be an anesthesiologist or be in anesthesia, but you don't wanna go through all of the schooling and you want to be able to have like a different kind of lifestyle, then this is an option for you, okay? Those are the prerequisites generally that I've seen across the board. And so if there are any specific questions concerning prerequisites per school, what you can do again is go to the link that I left for CASA, click on each program and see what their prerequisites are. The GPA requirement can vary. I saw some, I was like 2.75, I saw some that you have to like maintain overall like GPA of 3.5. So again, school specific, you just have to check in on that. What also is school specific that I saw was whether or not you need to take the GRE or the MCAT, okay? And so it is a graduate program, it's a master's degree, just like the PA degree. So typically the schools are requiring the GRE. However, there are some options where you can take the MCAT. And what I did also see was with the prerequisite requirements, you guys, they still also like in PA school have a kind of cap on when they should have been taken either three years, five years, seven years, depending on which prerequisite they're asking you for. But for there was one program that I saw where if you didn't want to like retake your prerequisite requirements, although the school doesn't require a GRE or an MCAT, you can take the GRE or MCAT so that you don't have to retake your prerequisite requirements, which is pretty cool and pretty important because you might just take one test, study really hard, take the one test, hopefully do really well on that. And then you don't have to retake five to seven courses, pushing back your time to actually apply. So just keep that in mind. I did want to read this little thing for you guys because I thought that it was pretty amazing. Okay, so this is from Case Western's CAA program. It says, our graduate program immerses students in didactic instruction, simulation and hands-on clinical training over the course of two years. So very similar to what you do in PA school, okay guys? This rigorous curriculum enables students to work higher acuity cases, test their skills in emergency situations and grow increasingly confident in the operating room, which is why nearly 100% of CWRU, which is Case Western's universities program, MSA graduates have job offers before graduation with starting salaries averaging above $160,000 a year. Guys, you're coming out of school. Excuse me, oh my gosh. I'm like breathless and my throat is itching on that one. You're coming out of school with an average salary above 160,000. So for those of you who are like always about like, oh, well, what is the salary? Like this is a great starting off salary. But again, you have to keep in mind that you're only able to work in a few states, 22 states, okay? So just some things to kind of mull over. I hope this was like interesting to you because it's interesting to me. I was like, man, you know, I don't know. Maybe in the future I might wanna be like a certified anesthesiology assistant and see, check my hand at that. Like I was talking to my husband about that. He's like, oh no, are we gonna have to move to Colorado? But he's from Colorado, so it made, it was fine. But it's just something that you guys can think about, different routes that you guys can go because again, like I said, this is an option for you. And that's what it's all about. It's all about opening yourselves up to the various different options that you have as a pre-healthcare student, okay? There's so much for you to get into outside of just being your typical, you know, doctor, nurse, PA, NP thing, right? You know, there is so much outside of that. So definitely open your horizons if there are things that you're interested in. Do your research and make sure that you make the best decision for your life and the lifestyle that you wanna afford, okay? All right, hopefully this was interesting. If you have any other questions from leaving in the comment section below, don't forget to subscribe and like this video. Follow me on Instagram and on the PA. I'm back guys, I'm back posting on Instagram. So follow me on Instagram and on the PA and on Instagram at getthatsyuniversity where we help you not only get into but through PA school. Thank you guys so much for watching. I will talk to you guys next time. Bye.