Pediatric Physician Assistant

A Pediatric Physician Assistant is a healer of the smallest patients. These patients range in age from 1 to 18.

Although technically, Pediatric Physician Assistants work under the supervision of a Doctor or Pediatrician, they actually have a lot of autonomy. Your duties as a Pediatric Physician Assistant include gathering information, formulating diagnoses, and recommending additional tests. Designing treatment plans, either on your own or with the supervising Doctor, is also part of the job.

As part of a comprehensive medical team in an office, clinic, or hospital, you need to be a good communicator. Your subordinates and superiors need your unique insight and input, and you have a degree of hands-on experience that even seasoned Doctors may need to tap for special situations.

A warm, reassuring personality can take you far in this career. That’s because children need to feel at ease before they can begin to heal. You’ll also have a unique chance to develop a great bedside manner because of the high volume of young patients that you’ll help every year.

Expect to work five days a week for a total of at least 40 hours. You may need to work emergencies on off hours when you’re “on call.” While some may think that being a Physician Assistant is a middle step before becoming a full Doctor, many in this career like the unique level of autonomy that PAs get, without having to deal with all the headaches of being a Doctor. They get more time to do what they want: helping people.