Even though they have similar titles, physician assistant careers and med assistant careers dont really have a lot in common. Follows is a closer look at each job,including differences in educational demands, job functions and pays.
Just don’t mix them up. While they appear alike, physician assistants and medical assistants are very disparate in practice. They each require different training, includes various job roles and result in different salaries. But they are not entirely different: both careers include prevalent patient interaction–which means both necessitate a strong set of ethics, as well as solid communication skills and compassion.
Training requisites are quite different for physician assistants and medical assistants, 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, a Bachelors degree is mandatory in order to be admitted into an accredited physician assistant school. Once enrolled, medical assistant schools can last anywhere between 1 and 2 years, and can grant either a certificate or an Associates degree; physician assistant schools however, have 2 year programs that award Masters degrees. Lastly, medical assistant training is centered principally on laboratory techniques and clinical procedures while physician assistant training is more focused on rigorous science coursework such as biochemistry and pharmacology. Additionally, physician assistant scholars often times are required to serve in a specific area of medicine for a brief period of time called a rotation.
The periodic functions of physician assistants and medical assistants both involve working with patients, but apart from this patient care aspect, the rest of the day-to-day functions are very different. 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 assistant jobs require them to actually practice medicine under the supervision of a doctor. This might even include diagnosing patients and prescribing certain medications.
Another difference between physician assistants and medical assistants is their salary. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean salary for a medical assistant is $28,300. The average salary for a physician assistant, on the other hand, is $81,230 per year. This figure changes though depending on constituents such as geo location, specialisation, and hands-on experience.