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Physician Assistant
Future Students
PA Profession
Physician assistants (PAs) are healthcare professionals licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision. PAs employed by the federal government are credentialed to practice. As part of their comprehensive responsibilities, PAs conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventive health care, assist in surgery, and in virtually all states can write prescriptions. Within the physician-PA relationship, PAs exercise autonomy in medical decision making and provide a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services. A PA's practice may also include education, research, and administrative services.
PAs are trained in intensive education programs accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) and receive a broad education in medicine. PA education is ongoing after graduation through continuing medical education requirements and continual interaction with physicians and other healthcare providers. Today, PAs are found in all areas of medicine. They practice in the areas of primary care medicine -- family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, and gynecology -- as well as in surgery and the surgical subspecialties.
Because of the close working relationship the PAs have with physicians, PAs are educated in the medical model designed to complement physician training. Upon graduation, physician assistants take a national certification examination developed by the National Commission on Certification of PAs in conjunction with the National Board of Medical Examiners. To maintain their national certification, PAs must log 100 hours of continuing medical education every two years and sit for a recertification every six years. Graduation from an accredited physician assistant program and passage of the national certifying exam are required for state licensure.
*Courtesy of American Academy of Physician Assistants
Apply to the Program
The South University
PA Program is now
accepting applications
for the class beginning
January 2009.
- – Admissions Requirements
- – Application Process
- – Open House
- – International Applicants
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– Health Insurance
& Immunization - – Tuition & Fees
- – National Certifying Exam Pass Rates
- – FAQs
- – Financial Aid
- – Contact Us
