You previously thought you might want to be a doctor, but you really don’t want to put in so many years of school beyond high school — as well as a residency — before starting your career. Becoming a physician assistant might be a good option for you. By completing a Medical Assistance Degree Program in Arkansas after doing your undergraduate work, you’ll be able to do many of the tasks a medical doctor does but you’ll only need to do about two years of graduate-level work. You’ll have a master’s degree when you finish.
Physician assistants are qualified to diagnose injuries and illness, and they prescribe medication and other treatments. They are important members of a facility’s medical team because a shortage of family-practice doctors would otherwise mean having to turn patients away. With so many doctors choosing to enter specialties rather than general practice in the 21st century, many communities rely on physician assistants to provide care.
To be accepted into a program at a school such as the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, or UAMS, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree with an emphasis on science. Your major typically doesn’t matter, but it makes sense to major in one of the hard sciences because there are many science prerequisites for the physician assistant training. For instance, you’ll need the basics in anatomy, physiology, chemistry, genetics and microbiology.
You can expect to make good money after completing a Medical Assistance Degree Program in Arkansas as well. As of 2014, the average salary for physician assistants nationwide was about $94,000 per year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. You already know that average salaries in Arkansas tend to be lower than they are nationwide. If you want to stay in this state, you can expect an average physician assistant salary of about $79,000 per year, which is still an excellent income.
After Graduation from a Medical Assistance Degree Program in Arkansas, you have an array of possible career options. You might work in an emergency room, an urgent care clinic, a hospital or any other medical facility that cannot hire enough physicians. If you’re interested in working in a rural area or an inner city facility, you’ll have a multitude of choices, since these settings tend to have the most difficulty hiring enough medical doctors. Visit us website for more information.
