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This question is about what a physician assistant does.
Is being a physician assistant hard?
Yes, being a physician assistant is hard. Here are some of the top reasons being a physician assistant is hard:
Becoming a physician assistant is hard. To start with, the path to becoming a physician assistant is hard. Physician assistant school is nearly as intense, rigorous, and hard as medical school.
This is because PAs need exceptional training to properly perform their job. They take on many of the same serious responsibilities as doctors, like:
Diagnosing patient's illnesses and other medical conditions
Coming up with proper treatment plans for patients
Responsibility for the lives of the patients they work with and treat
There are a few universities that offer PA-specific degrees at the undergraduate level. Ultimately, you need to obtain a master's degree to practice in the profession. Majors or coursework for undergraduates should include the following:
Biochemistry
Organic chemistry
Immunology
Pathophysiology
Genetics
Molecular biology
Cellular biology
Many PA master's programs also require candidates to have previous healthcare experience. Some schools offer dual bachelor's and master's physician assistant programs.
The job of a physician assistant is stressful. Like most careers in the medical field, there is a fair amount of stress that comes with being a PA.
This mostly comes from working in high-stress medical environments and from the responsibility PAs have to care for the welfare of their patients. Some PAs can feel overwhelmed daily, especially if they work in:
Hospitals
Emergency rooms
Other intense medical facilities
In these environments, lives often hang in balance, and mistakes can cause deaths. This weighs heavily on PAs, and the stress of it can cause anxiety, depression, and other mental issues.
Many of the same responsibilities as a physician. Many PAs perform the same types of tasks that a doctor does.
While this can be good if a PA wants to eventually advance their career, it can also be discouraging because they do not make as much money as a doctor, even though they are doing a lot of the same work.
Even though being a physician's assistant is hard, the career has many benefits. A recent survey of healthcare workers ranked physician assistant as the Best Healthcare job in the United States. Here are some reasons why:
PAs are in demand. To start, it is a position in high demand with over 40,000 open PA jobs.
High compensation. Physician assistants make really good money. The average salary of the role is $112,260 per year. In areas where the cost of living is average to low, this can provide a great quality of life.
Educational path. Getting the education to become a physician's assistant is much faster and cheaper than most professions in the medical field.
Where it takes most doctors and even some specialized nurses over a decade to begin practicing, a physician's assistant can usually get out of school and begin working in half that amount of time.
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