Physician Assistant Programs In Colorado

Last Updated on December 8, 2023 by admin

How To Become A Physician Assistant In Colorado

Physician assistants are very appreciated and sought-after in the state of Colorado, both in the public andin the private sector. There is expected to be a one-third increase in the physician assistant industry until 2025, according to the CDLE, or the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, and the median yearly salary for a physician assistant who works in Colorado is of approximately $122,000, which is very encouraging for most applicants.

If you have decided to pursue a lucrative career in the medical industry as a PA, then you should know that the first step you need to take is completing a Bachelor’s Degree training program for physician assistants, offered by an accredited institution. After that, you will be only two-years away from receiving your license and certification. The final step is taking the Physician Assistant National Certification Exam that applies to each state, then to apply for a Colorado Physician Assistant License and then to maintain both your license and your certification active and valid over the years.

It is also very important to make sure that you qualify for the Colorado PA Programs designed to help students get their licensure. The Colorado state licensing board only recognized degrees that come from an ARC-PA accredited program – in other words, it is absolutely vital to make sure that the University you have chosen is properly reviewed and accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on the education of Physician Assistants, otherwise the state of Colorado may not recognize your degree, which means it will be impossible for you to pursue the license and certification. There are two institutions that currently offer PA training programs and that have been ARC-PA accredited in the state of Colorado.

In addition to getting your Bachelor’s Degree as a physician assistant, it is also highly recommended to pursue a Master’s Degree in Physician Assistant Studies, as well as a Certificate of Physician Assistant Studies, the latter significantly increases your chances of getting a job. In order to be eligible for these advanced training programs for physician assistants in Colorado, you must have some pre-requisite courses in chemistry, biology and psychology, you must take the GRE or the Graduate Record Examinations and you must also have at least some basic clinical experience in a health care setting.

Physician Assistant In Colorado – Job Description, Career Overview And Duties

These professionals have the same duties and responsibilities in Colorado as they do in any other state across America – they work under the direct supervision of licensed doctors and physicians, and they interpret blood tests and X-rays wheneve needed. Moreover, these health care providers are also trained to treat a wide array of ailments, they are trained to conduct routine physical examinations and they also aim to record the patient progress. Physician assistants practice in a wide array of medical specialties and subspecialties, ranging all the way from emergency medicine and primary care to family medicine and even psychiatry.

Getting Your License And Certification As A Physician Assistant In Colorado

Just like any other state in the United States of America, the state of Colorado also requires its physician assistants to pass the PANCE exam, or the Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam, which will result in the well known PA-C denotation in the title of these health care providers. Nonetheless, what often turns out to be more challenging than obtaining the PA license and certification is maintaining them active over the years, and in order for that to be possible the physician assistants must complete 100 hours of continuing education every couple of years, and in addition to this they must also re-take the exam on a six year basis. These professionals also have to get some practice in different specialty medical fields like rural care, emergency medicine, paediatrics and such. It is highly recommended for physician assistants in the state of Colorado to renew their licenses approximately 6 weeks before they expire, and this can be easily done on the Internet.

Salary and Career Info

The interactive chart above is a visual representation of the annual salary of Colorado PA’s compared to the national annual salaries, all based on the latest May 2022 Occupational Employment Statistics figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Physician Assistant Programs In Colorado

As mentioned above, there are currently four approved physician assistant training programs that the board of the State of Colorado recognizes. The first one is the PA training program offered by the University of Colorado, Denver, while the second one is offered by the Red Rocks Community College located in Lakewood.

List of All 4 Accredited PA Programs

As of December 2023, the accrediting agency is ARC-PA and they have 4 fully accredited programs listed for Colorado.

1. Red Rocks Community College

Initial Accreditation Date: October 1, 1998

Next ARC-PA Review: March 2027

Website: https://www.rrcc.edu/physician-assistant

2. University of Colorado

Initial Accreditation Date: February 1, 1973

Next ARC-PA Review: September 2026

Website: https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/physician-assistant-program

3. Rocky Vista University

Initial Accreditation Date: March 10, 2018

Next ARC-PA Review: March 2033

Website: https://www.rvu.edu/directory/academic-departments/physician-assistant-program/

4. Colorado Mesa University

Initial Accreditation Date: March 10, 2018

Next ARC-PA Review: March 2033

Website: https://www.coloradomesa.edu/kinesiology/graduate/pa-program/index.html