PA Programs in Florida > FL Physican Assistant Information

Last Updated on December 8, 2023 by admin

Physician Assistant In Florida – Job Description

Physician assistants, often referred to as PAs, are professional health care providers who are licensed to offer both basic and advanced medical care, under the close supervision of a licensed physician. These professionals have some degree of autonomy when it comes to medical decision making, and they often provide a wide array of medical treatments and therapeutic services.

These professionals not only perform thorough physical examinations, but they also order, perform an interpret x-rays and variout laboratory tests, they take the medical history of the patients prior to checking them in, they book appointments and update the patient files whenever needed, they apply casts and dressings, they clean and manage wounds and injuries and so forth. In some US states, such as Florida, physician assistants are also allowed to prescribe medications and therapies designed to help patients overcome certain conditions.

In addition to this, it is also the duty of the physician assistant to provide tailored pre-operative and post-operative medical care services. Nonetheless, it must be mentioned that the duties and responsibilities of these professionals vary greatly depending on their work environment as well as on the state laws that regulate their activities.

Physician assistants receive in-depth training in all the different fields of medicine, ranging from geriatrics, paediatrics and obstetrics to cardiology, surgery, neurology and occupational medicine. For this reason, PAs both in Florida and in the other states of the US can be found in a variety of clinical settings, from schools, home health agencies and prisons to rehab centers, nursing homes, state hospitals as well as private clinics and private physician’s offices.

How To Become A Licensed Physician Assistant In Florida

If you are an aspiring PA in the state of Florida, then you should know that you can pursue a two-year Associate’s Degree provided by a community college upon graduating from one of their physician assistant training programs, and you can also get a two-year Master’s Degree from an institution of higher learning such as a university, if you want to take your career as a PA to the next level.

The curricula of both the Associate’s and the Master’s degree training programs include in-depth laboratory work, classroom teaching as well as clinical rotations, and it must be mentioned that the admission requirements for these medical training programs tend to be rather competitive. In addition to the pre-requisite coursework, students who want to become licensed physician assistants in the state of Florida should also offer letters of reference and get some in-depth work experience as well.

Before applying for an entry-level job as a physician assistant in the state of Florida, all applicants must firstly obtain their licensure from the FCPA, or the Florida Council on Physician Assistants, which is the institution that regulates the licensure and certification for PAs in Florida. As you may know already, in order to be eligible for the licensure all future physician assistants must sit for the PANCE exam, or the Physician Assistant National Certification Exam, and pass it.

Licensure/Certification

The primary requirement for all physician assistants who want to become either licensed or certified in Florida is to graduate from a program that is approved by the FBMNC, or the Florida Board of Medicine and National Certification. Only after that, these health care professionals can apply for the NCCPA exam, which is administered by the National Commission on Certification of PAs, along with the NBME or the National Board of Medical Examiners. Upon receiving their certification, it is paramount for physician assistants in Florida to log 100 hours of medical education every 24 months in order to maintain it active, as well as to sit for a recertification examination after six years.

Salary and Career Info

The interactive chart above is a visual representation of the annual salary of Florida 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 Florida

There are several accredited institutions that offer this type of training in the state of Florida, and one of the most prominent ones is the Barry University, where all those that are interested can pursue not just a Master’s Degree, but also a certification. In addition to this, those who want to get a Master’s of Science degree and become PAs can also enroll in the Keiser University in Fort Lauderdale, or in the Miami Dade College which is known to offer an Associate’s Degree for PAs.

List of All 16 Accredited PA Programs

The accrediting agency is ARC-PA and they have 16 accredited AL programs listed as of December 2023. Two of these are provisional and two are on probation.