Physician assistants are in high demand and the trend is expected to continue through 2018. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for physician assistants is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations—to the tune of 39 percent from 2008-2018. The healthcare industry is experiencing tremendous growth overall, accounting for 26 percent of all new jobs created in the U.S. today. But like many other occupations in the healthcare industry, such as registered nurses and occupational therapists, physician assistants are right at the top of the list for job growth. 

 Physician assistant jobs are also ranked high on the pay scale—even for first-year graduates. Although income varies by specialty, location, years of experience, and geographical location, according to the American Academy of Physician Assistants’ 2008 Census Report, median income for first-year graduates was an impressive $74,470. A recent Forbes article discussing the ‘best master’s degrees for jobs’ told the story of one graduate who switched careers in 2006, graduated from a two-year physician assistant master’s program at Duke University in 2008, and found a job as a physician assistant that paid more than triple his old salary as a teacher.

 Shane Tysinger graduated in 2008, in the middle of a recession, but says there were jobs everywhere for students in his graduating class. Today he works in an Eden, N.C. clinic that focuses on family medicine. His salary has more than tripled from his days as a teacher. “I found the career I was meant to do,” says Tysinger.

In May 2008, the median annual wage for physician assistants was $81,320. The middle 50 percent earned between $68,210 and $97,070 and the lowest 10 percent earned less than $51,360. The top ten percent earned $110,240 per year.

To become a physician assistant, you must complete a training program at an accredited school of allied health, academic health center, medical school, or four-year college. A few accredited training programs are available at community colleges, through the military, and at hospitals. As of 2008, there were 142 education programs for physician assistants accredited or provisionally accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant. Eighty percent of these programs offered a master’s degree, 21 offered a bachelor’s degree, three awarded associate degrees, and five awarded a certificate.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

All States and the District of Columbia have legislation governing the practice of physician assistants. All jurisdictions require physician assistants to pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination, administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) and open only to graduates of accredited PA education programs.

100 hours of continuing medical education every two years is mandatory in order to order to remain certified, plus successful completion of a re-certification examination every six years.