Last Updated on October 21, 2021 by admin
How To Become A Physician Assistant In Mississippi
If you have decided to become a physician assistant in the state of Mississippi, then you should know that there are two very specific steps that you need to take, the first one is getting all your pre-requisites and the necessary practical experience in the health care industry. Before you move on to search for ARC-PA approved physician assistant schools, it is important to know that the applications are highly competitive and you usually need a minimum of 24 months of college coursework in basic behavioral sciences, chemistry, biology as well as math before you start applying to the physician assistant training program of your choice.
That being said, you may also need to complete pre-requisites in physiology, anatomy as well as microbiology, as most of the PA programs require you to do so. Regarding the practical healthcare experience that is of paramount importance for every future physician assistant in Mississippi, you can get yours in several different ways before you enroll in the four-year Bachelor’s Degree program: you can work as a medical assistant, a lab assistant or phlebotomist, a certified nursing assistant, a surgical technician, a Peace Corps volunteer, a medic corpsman, a paramedic, a medical assistant and so forth.
The second step is to attend the accredited physician assistant program, which typically lasts for three academic years and results in a Master’s Degree. These comprehensive training programs encompass both classroom instruction and clinical rotations, and most of the programs require you to complete at least two thousand hours of clinical rotations before you get to graduate. These rotations are done in a variety of different areas of medicine, from general surgery and pediatrics to emergency medicine, internal medicine, family medicine and such.
Physician Assistant In Mississippi – Job Description
Physician assistant are nationally certified and state licensed health care professionals who are a very important part of a larger medical team. These professionals can prescribe medication in all the 50 states, with the exception of Puerto Rico. Having said that, physician assistants in Mississippi are allowed to perform a variety of medical tasks, such as conducting thorough physical examinations, taking the patient’s medical history, assisting licensed surgeons and medical doctors in surgery, provide counseling services on preventive care, developing treatment plans, order and interpret tests, diagnose and test illnesses and diseases, prescribe medications whenever needed and so forth.
Certification
All physician assistants are required to become certified nationwide and to become state licensed in order to be able to practice legally in the United States of America. Upon graduation from an ARC-PA accredited physician assistant training program, students are able to take the PANCE examination which is administered by the NCCPA, or the National Commission on Certifying Physician Assistants. If you manage to pass the PANCE examination, then you will receive your certification along with the designation of Physician Assistant-Certified, also known as PA-C.
In addition to this nationwide certification, all physician assistants must also apply for the state license, as all states require that. In order to be eligible for licensure, all applicants must be at least 21 years of age, they must be in good moral standing, they must provide proof of current credentials to the Mississippi State Board, along with two references from physicians as well as an application fee. The PANCE examination is the most difficult one, as it is a lengthy examination that consists of 300 multiple questions, computerized test.
The in-depth PANCE examination is specifically designed to test the medical skills, knowledge and overall expertise of the applicant, especially in fields like clinical intervention, cardiovascular system, performance of patient physical exam, health maintenance, the musculoskeletal system and such. After receiving their certification, all physician assistants in the state of Mississippi are required to maintain it active by completing one hundred hours of CME credits, or Continuing Medical Education Credits once every two years. In addition to the CME credits, all certified and licensed physician assistants must also take the recertification examination, or the Physician Assistant National Recertifying Exam once every 10 years.
Salary and Career Info
The interactive chart above is a visual representation of the annual salary of Mississippi 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 Mississippi
At the time being, there is only one ARC-PA approved physician assistant training program in the state of Mississippi, and that is offered by the Mississippi College in Clinton. Non-native English speakers are required to take the TOEFL examination, in addition to meeting all the other admission requirements that apply to native speakers.
List of All Accredited PA Programs
The accrediting agency is ARC-PA and they have 1 fully accredited AL programs listed as of November 2014.
1. Mississippi College
Initial Accreditation Date: March 4, 2011
Next ARC-PA Review: March 2021
Website: http://www.mc.edu/academics/departments/pa/
