Physician assistants can relieve physicians of routine duties and procedures. Besides the traditional office-based setting, PA's should find a growing number of jobs in institutional settings such as hospitals, academic medical centers, public clinics, and prisons. Additional PA's may be needed to augment medical staffing in inpatient teaching hospital settings if the number of physician residents is reduced. In addition, State-imposed legal limitations on the numbers of hours worked by physician residents are increasingly common and encourage hospitals to use PA's to supply some physician resident services. Opportunities will be best in States that allow PA's a wider scope of practice, such as the ability to prescribe medication.
Income varies by specialty, practice setting, geographical location, and years of experience.
Related Occupations Other health workers who provide direct patient care that requires a similar level of skill and training include nurse practitioners, physical therapists , occupational therapists , clinical psychologists, speech-language pathologists, and audiologists .