Why should you become a physician assistant?

Here are ten good reasons why you should choose to be a PA:

1. You get to help people every day and get paid to do it:

Honestly, I could stop here. Every day I wake up to go to work I look forward to the work I am privileged to do. What an amazing experience!

2.  You get to do really cool procedures:

Have you ever dreamed of closing a gnarly flesh wound with 4.0 Vicryl suture? If so, then this job’s for you.

3.  As a PA your brain is a valuable asset:

The key to a rewarding job is having a constant challenge. Not a day goes by where I don’t have an opportunity to use my creative juices to solve somebody’s unique problem. It doesn’t have to be a cure for malaria, just providing a therapeutic treatment plan for your patient’s hemorrhoids can have a remarkable effect on a person’s life.

4.  You get to wear a stethoscope:

The first day I got to place that iconic, beautiful Littmann Cardiology IV stethoscope around my neck well, it was perfect! And there is even more cool gear we get to use.

5.  You can write prescriptions:

This is something I take for granted after 14 years in practice. Yes, your family may hit you up for a refill of their Verapamil from time to time but, nothing beats the ability to solve a problem with a swipe of your pen. It is just plain cool, and the first time you do it, you will be in shock that it actually worked.

6. You can wear a white coat:

I choose not to but most PAs I know love their big white lab jackets, and you even get your name on it!

7. You will make your mom proud:

My mom still tells her friends that her son is a PA. It makes me proud that she is proud of me, and that all those years of breastfeeding actually paid off. Thanks, mom!

8. People ask you incredibly strange questions:

I can’t tell you all the bizarre questions I have received since graduating from PA school. It is just one of the reasons I recommend “why do men have nipples” as one of my required reading books after graduation. Trust me, the first time I volunteered to assist with the Q&A at the junior high sex education session, I was glad I had that in my arsenal.

9. You get to use very big words that will impress (annoy) your friends

Esophagogastroduodenoscopy… I prove my point!

10. You will be an integral part of the solution to America’s growing healthcare crisis:

It is my belief (and many others) that physician assistants are the key to providing cost-effective quality care to America’s growing population of sick and underinsured. With the outrageous cost of healthcare and increasing wait times to see doctors, PAs offer the perfect solution. Your patients will agree, and this will be evident when you see your fully booked schedule growing with happy patients who are starting to make appointments with their PAs often despite an opening with the clinic’s Doctors.