General surgery physician assistants are healthcare professionals that assist surgeons during surgery. They play a significant role in ensuring each surgery is a success and that patients recover from their operations as effectively as possible.
In the operating room, general surgery physician assistants perform various tasks such as inserting tubes, handing tools to surgeons, retracting tissues, cleaning up the operation area, and many more. Outside of the actual surgery, general surgery physician assistants help prepare patients for their operations as well as monitor them afterward. They may also provide comfort to patients who are nervous about their surgery or have undergone traumatic operations.
The general requirements for this role are a degree in physician assistant, clinical or medical laboratory science, or something similar, as well as experience working in an operating room or other similar healthcare settings. They may also need to have an appropriate license to practice, depending on their state.
On average, general surgery physician assistants earn $85,000 a year. In terms of the work environment, one can expect to encounter a lot of blood and high-stress situations for this role, which requires the ability to stay calm under pressure.
How to Become a General Surgery Physician Assistant
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a general surgery physician assistant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $82.77 an hour? That's $172,165 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 31% and produce 37,000 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a General Surgery Physician Assistant Do
There are certain skills that many general surgery physician assistants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, compassion and detail oriented.
How To Become a General Surgery Physician Assistant
If you're interested in becoming a general surgery physician assistant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 45.0% of general surgery physician assistants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 39.6% of general surgery physician assistants have master's degrees. Even though most general surgery physician assistants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a general surgery physician assistant. When we researched the most common majors for a general surgery physician assistant, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on general surgery physician assistant resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a general surgery physician assistant. In fact, many general surgery physician assistant jobs require experience in a role such as physician assistant. Meanwhile, many general surgery physician assistants also have previous career experience in roles such as physician assistant student or emergency medicine, physician assistant.
Average Salary for a General Surgery Physician Assistant
What Am I Worth?
Top Colleges for General Surgery Physician Assistants
1. Duke University
Durham, NC • Private
2. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI • Private
3. Yale University
New Haven, CT • Private
4. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
6. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
7. Georgetown University
Washington, DC • Private
8. Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN • Private
9. Tufts University
Medford, MA • Private
10. University of Florida
Gainesville, FL • Private
Top Skills For a General Surgery Physician Assistant
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 24.4% of general surgery physician assistants listed surgery on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and compassion are important as well.
General Surgery Physician Assistant Demographics
General Surgery Physician Assistant Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among general surgery physician assistants, 62.0% of them are women, while 38.0% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among general surgery physician assistants is White, which makes up 70.3% of all general surgery physician assistants.
- The most common foreign language among general surgery physician assistants is Spanish at 57.1%.
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Best States For a General Surgery Physician Assistant
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a general surgery physician assistant. The best states for people in this position are North Dakota, Washington, Minnesota, and Vermont. General surgery physician assistants make the most in North Dakota with an average salary of $207,653. Whereas in Washington and Minnesota, they would average $204,866 and $202,392, respectively. While general surgery physician assistants would only make an average of $196,114 in Vermont, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. North Dakota
$207,653
Avg. Salary
2. Washington
$204,866
Avg. Salary
3. Nebraska
$192,733
Avg. Salary
How Do General Surgery Physician Assistant Rate Their Jobs?
Top General Surgery Physician Assistant Employers
Most Common Employers For General Surgery Physician Assistant
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Presbyterian | $281,501 | $135.34 | 3 |
| 2 | CHRISTUS Health | $265,384 | $127.59 | 6 |
| 3 | Kaiser Permanente | $249,847 | $120.12 | 3 |
| 4 | UC Health | $247,528 | $119.00 | 5 |
| 5 | Cleveland Clinic | $241,899 | $116.30 | 2 |
| 6 | Mayo Clinic | $235,009 | $112.99 | 3 |
| 7 | Baptist Health | $232,151 | $111.61 | 3 |
| 8 | LifeBridge Health | $230,271 | $110.71 | 3 |
| 9 | Banner Health | $225,417 | $108.37 | 24 |
| 10 | NorthShore University HealthSystem | $216,659 | $104.16 | 3 |