If you are just about to graduate from high school, or you are thinking about changing careers, you may want to consider a career as a physician assistant. If you are wondering exactly what that is, a physician assistant, also called a PA, can practice medicine with the supervision of a medically certified and licensed physician. He or she is nationally certified and state licensed to do so after successfully completing a bachelor’s program. There are Physician Assistant Bachelor Programs in Arkansas for those interested in pursuing this line of work.
Naturally, you may want to know more about this field, in which many are venturing. A physician assistant has been trained in the same methods as his or her counterpart who has received a medical doctorate. Most usually go on to obtain a Master’s Degree in their field. The attractive thing about being a physician assistant is the ability to practice more than a discipline of medicine without having to do a residency program. As long as the PA has a medically certified and licensed physician supervising, he or she can practice their craft with ease.
Another thing students may want to keep in mind, who are interested in Physician Assistant Bachelor Programs in Arkansas, is that there is a shortage of primary care physicians in Arkansas. The American Academy of Physician Assistants listed in 2013 that the ratio of physicians to potential patients was one to two. In other words, for every portion of the rural areas where twenty percent of people lived, there were only ten percent of physicians nationwide who practiced in those areas. This makes those areas a wide open market for physician assistants.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, or the UAMS, is encouraging eager students to apply for the physician assistant programs. The entrance requirements can be found on the website. Interested students have until November 1 of this year (2015) to apply for the program. Scholarships are available for those needing to access grants. If you are still interested in Physician Assistant Bachelor Programs in Arkansas, you can get more information by visiting the school’s website, http://aboutarkansaspa.com/.
