Physician assistants are health care 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 most states can write prescriptions.

Because of the close working relationship the PAs have with physicians, PAs are educated in the medical model; their educational program was designed by physicians to complement physician training. PA students are taught, as are medical students, to diagnose and treat medical problems. Physician assistants are educated in intensive medical programs accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). The average PA program curriculum is 111 weeks, compared with 155 weeks for medical school. Education consists of classroom and laboratory instruction in the basic medical and behavioral sciences (such as anatomy, pharmacology, pathophysiology, clinical medicine, and physical diagnosis), followed by clinical rotations in internal medicine, family medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, and geriatric medicine.

There are currently more than 130 accredited programs, but an explosion of interest in the PA profession is resulting in the establishment of many new educational programs. All PA programs must meet the same curriculum standards. For more information on PA education in NJ, please CLICK HERE.

Upon graduation, physician assistants take the PA National Certification Examination (PANCE) developed by the National Commission on Certification of PAs in conjunction with the National Board of Medical Examiners. Graduation from an accredited physician assistant program and passage of this national certifying exam are required for state licensure.