Eligibility for Physician Assistant course

A Physician Assistant(PA) is a skilled frontline health care professional with academic and clinical training providing support to healthcare teams working under the supervision of physicians or specialists. They are well qualified and trained to examine patients, provide surgical procedures, develop therapy or treatment plans, diagnosis, preventive healthcare service and write referrals to specialists when required. The first Physician Assistant (PA) program was by Dr.Eugene Stead in the year 1960 in North Carolina of Duke University Medical Center.

Q: Are there any specific eligibility requirements for it?
Ans: To get admission to a Physician Assistants(PA) graduate program, one needs to have a bachelor's degree in a relevant area i.e. health science or nursing, molecular or cellular biology, biochemistry or organic chemistry, immunology or pathophysiology or genetics, etc.

Q: Is it possible to get admission to a Physician Assistant's (PA) course?
Ans: As you have completed your graduation B.Sc. in Allied Science, you clear the eligibility criteria for getting through.

Q: How to become a Physician Assistant(PA)?
Ans: To become a Physician Assistant(PA), one needs to have a master's degree along with patient care experience. After a post-graduation(master's degree) in Physician Assistant(PA), one needs to clear the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) and get a state/country license to practice as a Physician Assistant(PA).

Q: What is the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE)?
Ans: PANCE is a qualifying exam for Physician Assistant comprising 95% medical content that includes organ systems and disorders, diseases and assessments.

Q: What is the role of a PA?
Ans: The role of a Physician Assistant(PA) is to meet patients, make critical decisions about patient's health, provide and communicate information about healthcare to patients and their families, provide assistance to anesthetists, pediatric, radiologists, orthopedic, surgeons, etc.

Q: What is the salary range for this profession?
Ans: The salary for Physician Assistant(PA) in India ranges from Rs. 15,000/- month to Rs. 25000/- month depending upon your experience.

Q: Name some of the colleges for Physician Assistant(PA) course in India?
Ans: Some of the colleges that provide graduation Physician Assistant(PA) are -
1. Dr. M.G.R. Medical University - Tamil Nadu (https://www.tnmgrmu.ac.in)
2. Ganga Institute of Health Sciences - Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (http://gangahealthsciences.com)
3. Apollo Institute of Hospital Management and Allied Sciences(AIHMAS) - Ayanambakkam, Chennai (http://aihmas.apollohospitalseducation.com)

Q: Any more information on Physician Assistant(PA)?
Ans: You can get more information on your desired profession from the Indian Association of Physician Assistant through the link: http://www.iapaonline.org

Generally after doing intermediate with Biology, students apply for B.Sc. in Physician Assistant course and after completing that one can go for M.Sc. in Physician Assistant course also. There after one can make a career in this line as positions would be available in hospitals and big medical centres and private dispensaries cum clinics. The job of a Physician assistant is something in between the nurse and the doctor and they can help the patient in many ways in health care maters. Basically the Physician Assistant is a health care profession.

You have done graduation in Allied Science. Please check with your documents or with your institutions whether this is equivalent to Physician Assistant course. There is difference between Allied Science and Allied Health Science. Why I am asking you to check this is because for taking admission in M.Sc. in Physician Assistant, the colleges ask eligibility as B.Sc. in Physician Assistant. Some of the colleges even ask 1 year internship also. So, in that case you can think of doing B.Sc. now in Physician Assistant course. For that the eligibility is only Intermediate with Biology with 50% marks in Intermediate. Of course institutions take their own entrance exam for it. In this option you would lose 2 years as you would get admission in M.Sc. in Physician Assistant course only after B.Sc. in Physician Assistant.

Some good colleges for B.Sc. in Physician Assistant course are A.D.N Institute of Paramedical Science and Hospitals, Nagpur; Khatu Shyam Institute of management and Technology, New Delhi; Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong; Jayashree Academy, Kolkata; BN Patel Institute of Paramedical and Science, Anand; Frontier Lifeline Hospital, Chennai; JSS Medical college and Hospital Mysuru; M.M.M college of Health Sciences, Chennai and Sri Gokulam college of Nursing, Salem.

The role of Physician Asstt is to assist the attending doctor with the different valuable inputs relating to his health parameters such as recording of blood pressure, weight, height, temperature apart from other disorders with which the patient is suffering presently. In that way, he curtails the investigation time of the doctor. With their increasing roles, they are recruited in Fortis, Max Hospitals and other medical colleges.
In order to secure admission in B.Sc in Physcian Assistant, the aspirant has to pass 10+2 level with Physics, Chemistry and Biology with a minimum of 55 percent of marks.
A few Institutions conduct their entrance entrance examination to select the aspirants.
Some of the top colleges in this line are -
1) ADN Institute of Paramedical Science and Hospitals, Nagpur
2) Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong
3) Jayasree Academy Kolkata
4) Khatu Shyam Institute of Management and Technology- New Delhi
5) Madras Medical Mission
6) JIPMER etc
The other alternative rout for admission to Physician Assistant could be to take up Master's course consisting of two year duration after passing out B.SC from the subjects Physics, Chemistry and Biology and follow the admission procedure indicated in the above institutes.
Even with the courses of Biochemistry, Microbilogy, Biotechnology are preferred in the admission procedure in M.Sc in Physcian Assistant.
The aspirants should have the passion to serve the patients with their full dedication and the same would be possible with their inclination towards serving the ailing patients. Moreover, while attending on the patients, they should not mind the time which they will put in their duty hours.
The course structure of this profession comprises the following subjects at the post graduate level-
1) Pathology
2) Human Anatomy
3) Physiology
4) Pharmocology
5) Medical Ethics etc
Structure of the course is resembling with that of MBBS, the only difference in the course of Physcian Assistant is that it is condensed one covering most of the medical syllabus.
Their staring remuneration would be between three and four lacks initially and after three to four year, it would touch around 7.5 lacks in some prominent private sector hospitals.

You had already graduation in B.Sc. in Allied Science. To go for B.Sc in Physician Assistant's (PA) course the eligibility is intermediate or +2 course with Biology as one of the subjects. As such the three years course what you did will not come in handy to save some time. So instead of going for again a graduation course, you can think of doing a diploma or PG diploma course in Physician Assistant may be a better option. Think about this option also. The PG diploma course is of 2 years duration and eligibility is graduation.
You will get full details about this course if you open the following link of ISC.
Post Graduate Diploma Physician Assistant

The following colleges are offering these courses.
1. Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh
2.Dr. M.G.R. Educational And Research Institute, Chennai
3. Hitkari College of Education, Bhiwani
4. Aarupadai Veedu Institute of Technology, Chennai
5. Indian Institute Of Hardware Technology Ltd., Faridabad
6. JSS Medical College, Mysuru
7.Surabi School of Nursing, Dindigul
8. Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Kanchipuram
9. Vijaya Educational Academy, Chennai

The career option for this qualification are
Diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive health care services can be handled. Nurse practitioner and Advanced Practice Clinician are two jobs for these students.
Career opportunities are there in the filed of the medical services sector, Government medical services, colleges and universities, etc.


The course offers the following jobs.
1. Dietician
2, Drug Safety Associate
3. Teacher
4.Assistant Physician Cardiology
5.Clinical Associate
6.Personal Health Facilitator

But if you want the B.Sc course only you can join in that also.

A Physician Assistant works as an assistant to a licensed medical practitioner and trained to provide the patients with healthcare services to treat ailments. Their role is not limited to diagnosis and measuring the health parameters and they actively participate in making the treatment plan of the patient. The course includes the subjects that cover various aspects of healthcare like preventive measures, a record of medical histories, examining the patient, educate the patient, etc.

Eligibility: This is an undergraduate course and to enrol for the course a 55% marks in the Intermediate (10+2) with Biology as a subject is required. Some institutes also conduct a merit test to enrol the students.

There are many colleges that offer B.Sc. Physician Assistant. Some of the colleges are:

1. Jayashree Academy, Kolkata
2. Martin Luther Christian University, Shillong
3. A.D.N Institute of Paramedical Sciences and Hospitals, Nagpur
4. Khatu Shyam Institute of Management and Technology, New Delhi
5. Vivekanandha Educational Institutions for Women, Namakkal

Role: After completion of the course, the graduates are recruited in various hospitals and organizations in the following roles:
1. Clinical Associate
2. Drug Safety Associate
3. Dietician
4. Personal Health Facilitator