Widen Your Perspectives regarding Physician and Medical Assistants: Choosing a Career in Healthcare – the Download on Physician Assistant and Medical Assistant Jobs
August 3rd, 2011, 3:06 pm
Even though they have similar titles, physician assistant positions and medical assistant careers don’t have much in common. Here, we take a deeper glance at each profession,including differences in educational requisites, job functions and salaries.
Do not have them confused. Even though they sound similar, physician assistants and medical assistants are very different in practice. Both require their own type of training, consist of their own job procedures, and result in their own, distinct earnings. They do have a few things shared, though: both careers include frequent patient contact–which means both demand a strong set of ethics, as well as strong communication skills and compassion.
The formal training for physician assistants and medical assistants is quite different, as far as program prerequisites, length of program and coursework. While medical assistant school admissions requirements do not include already having a degree of any sort, in order to be admitted to an licensed physician assistant program, a Bachelors degree is required. Once enrolled, medical assistant programs could last one to 2 years and result in a certificate or an Associates degree; physician assistant schools however, have two year programs that grant Masters degrees. Lastly, training at medical assistant school focuses chiefly on laboratory techniques, clinical procedures and first aid while training at physician assistant school includes coursework in biochemistry, pharmacology and other stringent science classes. Additionally, physician assistant training requires hands-on training in various specialties for short periods of time.
A day in the life of a physician assistant and medical assistant involves working with patients, but that is about the only thing that is similar about them. While medical assistants spend their days performing routine administrative and clinical tasks such as arranging for patient laboratory services or preparing patients for examinations, physician assistants actually practice medicine under a doctors supervision. This might even include diagnosing patients and prescribing certain medications.
Finally, another difference between physician assistants and medical assistants is their salary. After going to a medical assistant school , you can expect to earn a salary of about $28,300 each year, based on occupational data from the U.S. BLS. After attending physician assistant school, on the other hand, you can expect to earn a salary of about $81,230 per year. This data varies though depending on factors such as geo location, speciality, and industry exposure.