Physician Assistant Presidency Careers

Once a physician assistant gains acceptance into a residency program they embark on another six to twenty-four month journey pending on the program and chosen specialty. However, the length of most of these programs is around 12 months. The majority of residency programs provide a broad variety of didactic and clinical education. This is a key factor for those that choose the residency route in continuing education as a PA, as opposed to just attending medical conferences and other meetings that most physician assistants do once they are employed (Polansky, Garver, Wilson, Pugh, & Hilton, 2012). According to Ballweg et al., (2013), “residents estimated their total number of hours of didactic education associated with the residency program they attended to be 350.4 hours for
residents in internship model programs and 413.4 hours for residents enrolled in an academic model program.” This alone seems like a lot of education hours, however, keep in mind that each resident is also enduring a heavy load of clinical hours during this same time. Clinical hours vary depending on the specialty that the resident is enrolled in. It has been approximated that a resident typically will work more than a 40 hour week during the program. After months of hard work and studying the credential that is awarded for completion of the program is a certificate of completion (Ballweg et al., 2013 p.564-565). Keeping the above in mind, there are many different stances one can take on whether or not a physician assistant residency is beneficial or not. Looking at the big picture, continuing education is a big factor in the medical field.. A key role of postgraduate residency programs offers the physician assistant a way to enrich their knowledge and skills through specializing in a field. Many long didactic and clinical hours will be pursued in residency. Many PA’s that begin employment right away mention that initially they are nervous and don’t feel the confidence they should in an autonomous role. A pro of the PA residency is that it gives more preparation time for actual real world medical duties, thus giving the PA more confidence in fulfilling their role on a medical team and with the care of patients. As a PA, proactivity is important, therefore, during this time marketing yourself in the medical world is important. Over the years of working in the medical field I have learned the value of networking. As a resident in a program, this can be looked at not only as furthering your education, but as an interview into potential job openings. Another benefit according to Stephen Pasquini PA-C (2017), is that some employers are willing to pay more to get a Physician Assistant that has completed a residency program. This usually means that the employer feels the PA is proficient enough to start at a higher, more autonomous level and can adapt faster, therefore, deserves a salary increase. Although there are many great attributes that postgraduate residencies offer for a physician assistant, there are negative components as well.
To begin, residency programs are extremely competitive; therefore, if you spend time trying to get into one of these programs as opposed to looking for a career, one may miss out on a great job opportunity. Worst yet, not everyone who applies gets accepted into a program, therefore, you may be without a job and without acceptance into a postgraduate residency program. As stated above, the duration of a PA residency is usually around twelve months. Though twelve months is not too long, this time still postpones the physician assistant in starting their career. Not only does it slow down the entry into the medical field, it also decreases the amount of readily available PA’s to healthcare providers. With medicine increasing in demand, it is important to have as many care providers available as possible. A big aspect of enrolling into a residency program is to specialize in a certain field of medicine. As MaryAnn DePietro (2015) states, “It is also possible to start a PA residency only to find out you selected the wrong specialty.” Imagine going through
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