Physician Assistants
On the Job
Physician Assistants provide services that are often performed by a doctor. They complete physicals, provide treatment, and counsel patients. They may prescribe medication.
Typical Work Tasks
People who work in this career often:
- Collect medical information from patients, family members, or other medical professionals.
- Administer intravenous medications.
- Assist healthcare practitioners during surgery.
- Immunize patients.
- Record patient medical histories.
- Diagnose medical conditions.
- Monitor patient conditions during treatments, procedures, or activities.
- Monitor patient progress or responses to treatments.
- Maintain medical or professional knowledge.
- Analyze test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment.
Typical Working Conditions
- Having face-to-face discussions.
- Working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions.
- Exposure to disease or infections.
- Frequent decision-making.
- The importance of being accurate or exact.
- Working with a group or team.
- Wearing common protective or safety equipment such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, hard hats, or life jackets.
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people.
- Meeting strict deadlines.
- Responsibility for others' health and safety.
- Using your hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools, or controls.
This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.