There are 9 Physician Assistant programs in California that are accredited by the ARC-PA. New York and Pennsylvania leads the number of physician assistant programs with accreditation; California comes in at 3rd. There are different eligibility requirements depending on the school and the programs that you want to apply for. There are some that require having at least two years of credits in college. Most of the schools offering physician assistant programs in California require a certain number of hours of direct contact with patients. A set minimum GPA may also be required to be eligible for a program.
One of the schools offering programs in the Golden State is based in Palo Alto, which is the Stanford School of Medicine. This California based school also provides programs leading to a master’s degree or a bachelor’s degree. There are two colleges in Visalia, California that offer programs leading to an associate’s degree, namely: The Riverside Community College in Moreno Valley and the San Joaquin Valley College.
Other notable schools offering physician assistant programs in California are: the Loma Linda University, Touro University, University of Southern California (Keck), Western University Health Sciences, Samuel Merritt University, and University of California Davis School of Medicine in Sacramento.
If you aspire to become a physician assistant and is interested in applying for these programs, you must first find out if you are qualified to apply for them. Since every school has a different set of requirements, it is best to contact the school that you intend to apply. Completing an accredited program is not enough if you want to take physician assistant programs in California. You must also pass the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination. Those who pass the exam are allowed to use the Physician Assistant certified title.
100 hours of continuing education is required every 2 years for physician assistants. A re-certification exam must also be taken (and passed) every 6 years. Learning and experience basically doesn’t end as a physician assistant.
If you want to become a physician assistant and earn from $51,000 up to $125,000 a year, act quick and apply for a program now. There are a lot more physician assistant programs in California that are available for you. You must first make sure that you have the necessary requirements for eligibility in the said program. Take note that not all programs have the same requirements, which is why thorough research is needed.