Physician assistants vs. nurse practitioners Many people think physician assistants and nurse practitioners are the same. Although they do similar things, they have different education and training.
A nurse practitioner studies advanced nursing. Their training and practice focus on a patient-centered model.
PAs receive training similar to that of a medical student and can dive in to different specializations, including:
A career as a physician assistant starts with a bachelor’s degree from an accredited (approved) college or university with coursework focused on science. Some schools offer a pre-PA degree. From there, students must complete a physician’s assistant program that has accreditation from the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).
Most physician assistant programs take about 2 years. Students take classes while getting at least 2,000 clinical rotation hours. They then receive a master’s degree in PA studies.
PAs must pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE), which is overseen and administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Afterward, they’re free to practice with physician assistant certified (PA-C) credentials.
A physician assistant must take 100 continuing education credit hours every 2 years to keep the certification. They must also take a recertification exam every 10 years.
