Practicing
as a PA in the United States
Graduates of foreign medical
schools frequently express interest in practicing as physician assistants
when they come to the United States. However, having a medical degree,
even from a U.S. medical school, does not qualify an individual to practice
as a physician assistant (PA). Likewise, individuals from other countries
who have been educated to provide health care, whether as "PAs" or as
other kinds of health professionals, are not eligible to practice as
PAs in the United States.
There are three requirements
that must be met before a person can practice as a PA.
Anyone who wishes to enter
the PA profession must graduate from a PA educational program in the
United States that is accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission
on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA). There are more
than 130 accredited PA programs
located throughout the United States. A complete list of these programs
is available on the AAPA Web site. A growing number of foreign medical
school graduates are enrolled in PA programs. These programs, which
are typically 24-25 months in length, generally do not grant advanced
standing to medical school graduates, nor do they amend their tightly
structured curricula to suit individual students who may have prior
training. Contact should be made directly with the programs to determine
their admissions policy.
Graduates of accredited PA
programs must then sit for and pass the Physician Assistant National
Certification Examination, which is administered by the National
Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Only
accredited PA program graduates are allowed to take this examination.
Graduation from a medical school does not make a person eligible for
this examination.
The third requirement is a
license to practice, which is granted by a state medical or PA licensing
board. Although each state handles licensure separately, the general
prerequisites are the same: graduation from an accredited PA program
and passage of the national certification examination. There are no
exceptions. (In 1991, the state of Florida allowed some state residents
who were foreign physicians to register for a state PA certification
examination. This was only for a limited period of time and is no longer
an option.)
Foreign trained graduates
may apply to PA programs just as U.S. citizens do. The PA Programs
Directory is the most useful resource to learn the prerequisites,
length of programs, tuition fees, and other aspects of the programs.
Some programs require certain coursework to have been completed in the
United States. Others ask that applicants take the Test of English as
a Foreign Language (TOEFL). These requirements, as well as detailed
descriptions of each accredited program, are included in the directory.
Subscribe to the directory by going to www.paeaonline.org/applicantdirectory.html.
