As medically underserved rural parts of the country struggle with a critical shortage of MDs, and America’s healthcare system as a whole works to manage a growing number of patients and too few doctors, physician assistants have become vital to ensuring Americans have adequate access to medical care.
Since PA graduate programs provide a much faster path to a career in medicine than medical school and residency training, while still offering the assurance of top salaries and a strong job market, enrollment in PA programs has increased dramatically in recent years. Even with a significant increase in the number of physician assistants expected to become licensed in the coming years and job growth projections to match, the availability of resources for aspiring PA graduate students and licensure candidates has not kept pace.
This need for a dedicated resource inspired us to create PhysicianAssistantEDU.org. As PA graduate students and recent licensees ourselves, we decided to create the kind of resource we would have liked to have while selecting a graduate program, preparing for the PANCE exam, and navigating the state licensing process.
PhysicianAssistantEDU.org is comprised of step-by-step state licensing guides, details on pursuing a specialty area of practice and earning a certificate of added qualification (CAQ), and state salary data. This makes PhysicianAssistantEDU.org a useful resource for aspiring grad students, recently graduated candidates for licensure, and practicing PAs alike.
As we look to contribute to the PA community by offering useful information on preparing for and advancing a career in physician assisting, we encourage undergrads, grad students, and PA license holders in all stages of their career to use PhysicianAssistantEDU.org freely, and to share the resource with classmates and colleagues.