What is the difference between a doctor and a Physician Assistant?

Question

What is the difference in the schooling for a doctor and a physician assistant (PA)?

Answer 1

i'm in a pa program right now at wagner college in staten island, ny. it's a 5-year program and at the end of it, i'll have a b.s. and m.s. degree!

the best thing about being a pa is that you don't have to deal with malpractice, only doctors do!

Answer 2

Physician assistants are trained in the medical model. In some schools they attend many of the same classes as medical students. One of the main differences between P.A. education and physician education is not the core content of the curriculum but the amount of time spent in school. The length of a P.A. program is about two thirds that of medical school. Physicians also are required to do an internship, and the majority also complete a residency in a specialty; P.A.'s do not have to undertake an internship or residency. A doctor has complete responsibility for the care of the patient; P.A.'s share that responsibility with the doctors. Doctors are independent practitioners; P.A.'s practice medicine under the supervision of a physician.

Answer 3

PA's go through a graduate level (in most cases) course of training and certification, while MD's go through medical school and then a period of internship, which is a supervised training period.

After graduating from medical school, physicians who wish to practice in the U.S. usually take standardized exams, such as the USMLE or COMLEX, which enable them to obtain a certificate to practice from the appropriate state agency. All American states have an agency which is usually called the "Medical Board," although there are alternate names such as "Board of Medicine," "Board of Medical Examiners," "Board of Medical Licensure," "Board of Healing Arts," etc. Australian states usually have a "Medical Board," while Canadian provinces usually have a "College of Physicians and Surgeons."

PA's have to complete a certain amount of hours annually to remain certified. A Physician Assistant may use the post-nominal initials PA, RPA, PA-C or RPA-C, where the R indicates Registered and the C indicates "Certified." The "R" designation is unique to only a couple of states; most Physician Assistants use the PA-C. The use of the "PA-C" is limited only to those physician assistants certified and currently in compliance with the regulations of one certifying body, the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).'Every two years, a PA must earn and log 100 CME hours and reregister her/his certificate with the NCCPA (second and fourth years), and by the end of the sixth year, recertify by successfully completing the Physician Assistant National Recertifying Examination (PANRE).' [5]

Answer 4

a doctor has completed residency term with a hospital for the required amount of time. A PA has not. As far as medical school goes, they have roughly the same amount of schooling unless the doctor decides to go into a more specific field of medicine, i.e. psychiatry, dermatology, etc.

Answer 5

PA can be done in 4 years, where doctors take 6-10 years for their schooling.

Answer 6

their credentials