Four Places Where a Physician Assistant (PA) Works

Physician assistants—or PAs, as they’re commonly called—are invaluable additions to the field of clinical medicine. PAs assume rewarding roles, handling everything from examining to diagnosing and treating patients.¹ With the ability to work in myriad clinical environments and earn a robust salary,¹ physician assistants are consistently ranked as one of the top three professions in healthcare and one of the best careers in the United States overall.²

Whether you have decided to take your healthcare calling to the next level, or are wondering how to become a physician assistant, a first question may be, “where can physician assistants work?” 

As you prepare to advance your career, follow this guide to learn more about the primary roles of the PA profession and the varied employment opportunities it offers.

What is a Physician Assistant?

Physician assistants, also referred to as physician associates, are advanced, licensed healthcare providers who perform many of the same responsibilities of a licensed physician but practice under the supervision of a licensed physician.²

PAs collaborate with a patient’s medical team to help provide routine, preventative and chronic care. Their obligations are contingent upon where they’re employed (including the state where they operate), as well as their educational path, level of experience and specialty.²

Here’s a sampling of PA responsibilities:²

• Performing physical exams
• Diagnosing illnesses, prescribing medications and developing treatment plans
• Recording medical histories
• Providing advice on preventative steps
• Assisting with surgeries
• Conducting clinical research

Where Do Physician Assistants Work? Four Leading Places

Given the breadth of healthcare duties for PAs, it’s no surprise that their services are needed in every clinical setting, and in some non-clinical settings—and in every state in the U.S., the District of Columbia and several U.S. Territories, including American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.³ The four most common places PAs work are:

#1 Medical Offices

Slightly over half, or 51%, of the approximately 139,100 PAs in the U.S. work in physician offices.⁴ These offices span a broad spectrum and may depend on the PA’s specialty, such as:⁷

• Pediatrics
• General internal medicine
• Family medicine

While the term “assistant” may make this job sound like a secondary position, it’s important to note that PAs have many of the same responsibilities as a physician.⁷ In a pediatrician’s office, for example, a PA may administer vaccinations.⁷ Other PAs act as primary care providers in some offices, particularly in remote locations where access to medical care is scarce.⁷

#2 Hospitals

According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 23% of physician assistants are employed by local, state and private hospitals.⁴ In a hospital setting a PA may fulfill several of the tasks outlined above, as well as:

• Making clinical rounds²
• Carrying out procedures²
• Ordering and evaluating tests²
• Performing minor surgeries⁵

Within hospital settings, it’s common for PAs to work in emergency medicine. In fact, during a 2021 survey, 88.7% of PA respondents reported working in emergency medicine (compared to 6.4% who reported working in urgent care).⁶

#3 Outpatient Care Centers

Approximately 10% of physician assistants work in outpatient care centers.⁴ These may include nursing homes or community health centers.²

A PA’s responsibilities within these settings may not differ much from their roles in hospitals or medical offices. However, in the nursing home or long-term care setting, PAs may also perform duties to care for senior patients, including:⁸

• Meeting with patients’ families and caregivers
• Admitting new patients and performing care assessments
• Providing care for conditions affecting senior patients, such as cognitive diseases, cardiovascular disease, bone and joint diseases and sight and hearing challenges

#4 Educational Services and Government Facilities

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that a smaller percentage of PAs, or 4%, work in private, local, and state educational services.⁴ About 2% work for the government.⁴ This includes:⁹

• Correctional institutions
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Uniformed services

Do PAs Work in Every Healthcare Field?

Indeed, they do—which is a large part of the PA profession’s appeal.² In fact, the question isn’t only “where do PAs work,” but also which areas of medicine they may pursue.

A few PA specialties include the following (and their sub-specialties):²

• Pediatrics
• Emergency medicine
• Internal medicine
• Surgery

As PAs are trained extensively in public health and generalist medicine, they also possess the knowledge and expertise to offer holistic treatment.²

For example, a PA employed in a private medical office may treat a patient for bronchitis but notice they have a case of untreated psoriasis and refer them to a dermatologist or treat the skin condition themselves.²

This ability to treat the whole patient has granted PAs the reputation as one of the keys to expanding and improving medical care—so much so results from a Harris Poll show that 92% of respondents reported an easier time securing a doctor’s appointment when there’s a PA on board.²

Which States Can a Physician Assistant Work In?

As mentioned above, PAs are needed in just about every part of the U.S.² If you’re interested in becoming a PA, it’s also important to note that all 50 states, as well as D.C., require licensure.¹⁰ After completion of a graduate degree (which is required for most PAs), licensure can be obtained and maintained by:¹⁰

• Passing the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE), which is given by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA),
• Completing continuing education, and
• Passing a recertification test within a set number of years (this may be determined by the state and/or facility where they’re employed).

Become a Physician Assistant and Work in a Dynamic, Rewarding Setting 

A physician assistant’s ability to work in every healthcare setting and specialty, with the requisite training, allows them to tailor their profession to their liking. They may choose to work in a psychiatric outpatient clinic in Oregon or in the emergency room at an urban hospital in Chicago.²

If you’re intrigued by the possibilities of this profession, the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) is excited to announce its new Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies (MSPAS) Program, with applications opening in April 2023.

Learn more about the PA program structure, accreditation status and what sets the USAHS MSPAS Program apart today.

*The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) is developing a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies (MSPAS) program. We will begin accepting applications in April 2023 for our first cohort, which will start in January 2024. The program will be held in person on our campus in Austin, Texas, and will consist of a four-trimester didactic phase and a three-trimester clinical phase. Students will complete seven core rotations in a variety of outpatient settings and hospitals, plus two elective rotations of their choice.

USAHS’ MSPAS program has applied for Accreditation-Provisional from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). USAHS’ MSPAS anticipates matriculating its first MSPAS class in January 2024, pending achieving Accreditation-Provisional status at the September 2023 ARC-PA meeting. Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards or when a program holding Accreditation-Provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students.

In the event that the program is not granted Accreditation-Provisional status by the ARC-PA, students accepted into USAHS’ MSPAS program will receive a full refund of their deposit, and the program will not matriculate in January 2024.

Sources:

1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Physician Assistants: Occupational Outlook Handbook,” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, last modified September 2022, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physician-assistants.htm
2. AAPA, “What is a PA?”, AAPA, last modified January 2023, https://www.aapa.org/about/what-is-a-pa/
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5. Ritsema, Tamara S. MMSc, MPH, PA-C; Cawley, James F. MPH, PA-C; Smith, Noël MA, “Physician Assistants in Urgent Care,” JAAPA, last modified August 2018, https://journals.lww.com/jaapa/Fulltext/2018/08000/Physician_assistants_in_urgent_care.7.aspx
6. “Newly Released Data on Certified PAs Working in Emergency Medicine and Urgent Care Demonstrate Their Significant Contributions to Patient Care,” NCCPA, last modified May 18, 2022, https://www.nccpa.net/emergency-medicine-urgent-care-pas-report/
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8. “Physician Assistants in Geriatrics,” PhysicianAssistantEdu, https://www.physicianassistantedu.org/geriatrics/
9. Noël E Smith, Andrzej Kozikowski, and Roderick S Hooker, “Physician Assistants Employed by the Federal Government,” Military Medicine, last modified March 2020, https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/185/5-6/e649/5811175
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11. AAPA, “What is a PA?”, AAPA, last modified January 2023, https://www.aapa.org/about/what-is-a-pa/.
12. Ritsema, Tamara S. MMSc, MPH, PA-C; Cawley, James F. MPH, PA-C; Smith, Noël MA, “Physician Assistants in Urgent Care,” JAAPA, last modified August 2018, https://journals.lww.com/jaapa/Fulltext/2018/08000/Physician_assistants_in_urgent_care.7.aspx. 
13. “Newly Released Data on Certified PAs Working in Emergency Medicine and Urgent Care Demonstrate Their Significant Contributions to Patient Care,” NCCPA, last modified May 18, 2022, https://www.nccpa.net/emergency-medicine-urgent-care-pas-report/. 
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20. AAPA, “What is a PA?”, AAPA, last modified January 2023, https://www.aapa.org/about/what-is-a-pa/.
21. “Physician Assistants in Geriatrics,” PhysicianAssistantEdu, https://www.physicianassistantedu.org/geriatrics/. 
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24. Noël E Smith, Andrzej Kozikowski, and Roderick S Hooker, “Physician Assistants Employed by the Federal Government,” Military Medicine, last modified March 2020, https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/185/5-6/e649/5811175?login=false.
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28. AAPA, “What is a PA?”, AAPA, last modified January 2023, https://www.aapa.org/about/what-is-a-pa/.
29. AAPA, “What is a PA?”, AAPA, last modified January 2023, https://www.aapa.org/about/what-is-a-pa/.
30. AAPA, “What is a PA?”, AAPA, last modified January 2023, https://www.aapa.org/about/what-is-a-pa/.
31. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Physician Assistants: Occupational Outlook Handbook,” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, last modified September 2022, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physician-assistants.htm#tab-4.
32. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Physician Assistants: Occupational Outlook Handbook,” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, last modified September 2022, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physician-assistants.htm#tab-4.
33.  AAPA, “What is a PA?”, AAPA, last modified January 2023, https://www.aapa.org/about/what-is-a-pa/.