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Direct Care & Collaborative$110,000 - $160,000+
Physician Assistant (PA-C)
Diagnoses illness, prescribes medication, and first-assists in surgery with the flexibility to switch medical specialties throughout their career.
Min Degree
Master
Years Post-HS
6 Years
Patient Contact
Continuous Bedside
Setting
Emergency Departments, Surgical Subspecialties, Urgent Care
The PrePro Hidden Gem Factor
Lateral career mobility: can change medical specialties freely over a 30-year career without completing a new 4-year residency.
Clinical Role Overview
PAs practice medicine in collaboration with physicians. Unlike doctors who are locked into one specialty after residency, PAs can work in trauma surgery for 5 years, switch to dermatology, and later transition to pediatric cardiology without retraining.
A Day in the Life (Hospital Shift Chronology)
08:00 - Morning patient visits in the orthopedic outpatient clinic
10:00 - Performing joint aspiration and corticosteroid injections for osteoarthritis
12:30 - Scrubbing into surgery as first assistant for total knee arthroplasty
15:00 - Reviewing post-op radiograph alignments and writing medication discharge orders
17:00 - Signing charts and consulting with collaborating orthopedic surgeon
Core Clinical Tools & Hardware
- Surgical Instruments
- Ultrasound for Joint Injections
- Electronic Health Records (Epic)
- Prescriptive Authority
Educational Prerequisites
- Bachelor's degree with 1,000+ Patient Care Hours (CNA, EMT, MA)
- 2-2.5 Year ARC-PA Accredited PA Program
- PANCE National Certification