How to become a physician assistant
PA school is a master's program that runs about 27 months, and many programs want patient care hours before you apply. About 6 to 7 years from high school.
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A physician assistant examines a patient in a clinic exam room while a physician works at the desk behind.
What a physician assistant does
A physician assistant examines patients, diagnoses illness and injury, orders and interprets tests, prescribes medication and treats what they find, under an agreement with a supervising or collaborating physician. PAs held about 162,700 US jobs in 2024 and work across specialties including primary care, emergency medicine, psychiatry and surgery (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook).
People search for this job as "doctor's assistant," and two other jobs get mixed up with it. A medical assistant is a separate profession trained at a different level. They take vital signs and handle clerical work, they typically train through a certificate or associate program of 1 or 2 years, and some learn on the job. The Occupational Outlook Handbook says they do not practice medicine. A physician earns an MD or a DO after a bachelor's degree and then completes a residency. A physician assistant holds a master's degree, passes one national exam, and can diagnose and prescribe on the terms each state sets for the physician agreement.
Job ads use several names. PA-C is the credential and often goes straight into the posting title. Advanced practice provider and advanced practice clinician cover PAs and nurse practitioners at once, and a posting headed PA-C/ARNP is open to both. The American Academy of PAs House of Delegates voted in 2021 to make physician associate the profession's official title, by 198 votes to 68, but that change needs state legislation, so licenses and job ads still say physician assistant.
How long it takes to become a physician assistant
About 6 years from high school: 4 years for a bachelor's degree and roughly 27 months of PA school. Make it 7 if you spend a gap year collecting the patient care hours most schools require instead of building them up alongside your degree.
| Bachelor's degree | 4 years. BLS says applicants typically hold one, often in healthcare or a science such as biology, and most programs want undergraduate science coursework. |
|---|---|
| Patient care hours | A few months to a year, depending on the program. Utah's 2,000-hour floor is the highest of the schools below. |
| The CASPA application | You apply about a year before you would start, so the application year sits inside your final undergraduate year or your gap year rather than on top of them. The 2026-2027 cycle opened on April 30, 2026 (CASPA, 2026). |
| PA program | 27 months at the median. PAEA's Program Report 36 puts the mean at 26.7 months across 204 programs, the shortest at 24 and the longest at 40 (2021 Program Survey). |
| PANCE and state license | Weeks after graduation. You sit the exam once your program signs off, then apply to your state board. |
| Total from high school | About 6 years if you collect your hours during your degree, 7 if you take a gap year to build them working full time. |
The degree or program you need
A graduate degree from a PA program accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), which in practice means a master's. The NCCPA will not let you sit the PANCE unless you graduated from an ARC-PA accredited entry-level program, and every state licenses on that exam. ARC-PA listed 330 accredited entry-level programs in July 2026, and any program you enter now has to confer a graduate degree, a rule that applies to everyone matriculating after 2020. In practice that degree is a master's: 95.1% of programs told PAEA they award one (Program Report 36).
Length and degree title vary by school. Duke runs 24 months to a Master of Health Sciences, Wake Forest 24 months to a Master of Medical Science, Tufts 25 months to a master's degree, Utah 27 months over 7 continuous semesters to a Master of Physician Assistant Studies, and Yale 28 months to a Master of Medical Science, split into 12 months of classroom work and 16 months of rotations (program pages, 2026). PAEA describes the standard shape as a year of classroom and laboratory instruction followed by a year of clinical rotations, and the two phases are close to even nationally: 56.6 weeks against 54.8 (PAEA Program Report 36).
Most of these schools publish a GPA floor. Wake Forest will not consider an application with a verified overall GPA under 3.2. Utah asks for 3.0 in both the total and the science GPA as CASPA calculates them, Yale requires a 3.0 science GPA, and Tufts asks for 3.0 in science and prerequisite coursework, calling 3.2 the ideal overall figure. Duke publishes no minimum and reviews each application on its own merits; its fall 2025 class ranged from 3.4 to 4.0 overall, with the middle half between 3.71 and 3.9, with the middle half between 3.71 and 3.9. The GRE is a separate school-by-school question: Duke requires it of every candidate, Yale does not waive it, Tufts treats it as optional, and Utah will not consider scores at all. Of the 156 programs that answered PAEA's admissions-exam question in 2021, 87 required the GRE and 48 required no admissions exam at all.
Patient care hours decide when you can apply. BLS names medical assistant, EMT and paramedic work as the kind of experience programs count. Duke sets a floor of 1,000 hands-on hours and will not consider an application below it, while the middle half of its fall 2025 class arrived with 2,172 to 3,729 hours. Utah requires 2,000 hours of health care experience, Tufts and Wake Forest 1,000. Yale requires none, recommends about 1,000 hours or 6 months of full-time healthcare work, and states that shadowing does not count. Across programs reporting to PAEA in 2021, first-year students averaged 3,235 hours of patient contact.
Tufts lists its 25-month program as full time and on campus, and describes the clinical year as supervised rotations at sites the program assigns.
Getting certified and licensed
Two steps follow graduation, in this order: pass the PANCE, then get a state license. All 50 states and the District of Columbia license physician assistants, and every one of them requires a passing score on that qualifying exam (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). Passing earns you the Physician Assistant-Certified designation from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, which is what PA-C after a name means.
What the exam costs, how it is built, how many attempts you get, and how you keep it current afterwards are all in our PA-C certification guide, which also compares the PA route with the nurse practitioner one. Many postings also ask for a current BLS or CPR card; the Occupational Outlook Handbook lists basic life support certification among the things PA positions may require.
Step by step: how to become a physician assistant
- Finish a bachelor's degree. Any major works. The science prerequisites differ enough between schools that you should pull your target programs' lists early.
- Get hands-on patient care hours. Medical assistant, EMT and paramedic jobs all count, and the number you need depends entirely on where you apply, from none at Yale to 2,000 at Utah.
- Sit the GRE if your list needs it. Some require it of everyone and some will not look at a score, so check before you pay.
- Apply through CASPA. One application covers several programs and costs $185 for the first and $65 for each one after that.
- Confirm ARC-PA accreditation before you accept a seat. Without it you cannot sit the PANCE, and the degree will not lead to a license.
- Finish the program. Roughly a year of classroom and laboratory work, then rotations in areas such as family medicine, internal medicine and emergency medicine.
- Pass the PANCE and start using PA-C after your name.
- Apply to your state medical or PA board for a license, then start applying to jobs.
What physician assistants earn
The median wage for physician assistants was $133,260 a year in May 2024, or $64.07 an hour (BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook). That is the midpoint across all experience levels, so a first job out of a program usually starts below it.
Some employers publish pay ranges. On our board in July 2026, Kittitas Valley Healthcare listed $136,000 to $180,000 for family medicine work in Washington, and CVS Health listed $87,000 to $187,000 in Arizona and New Mexico and $96,000 to $206,000 in Colorado. BLS projects the occupation to grow 20% between 2024 and 2034, to 195,800 jobs, with about 12,000 openings a year over the decade.
Where the job leads next
Specialty is the usual move, and it does not take another degree. PA training is generalist by design, and the specialties on our own board include neurosurgery, transplant, breast surgery/oncology and family care.
Formal postgraduate programs exist for PAs who want structured specialty training, in fields such as emergency medicine and psychiatry, and they take graduates of accredited programs who already hold the PA-C.
Where physician assistants are hiring now
Right now 60 of the active US openings we track are physician assistant roles. They come from hospital systems, regional medical centers and retail health chains, including HealthPartners, Atlantic Health System, INTEGRIS Health, Adventist Health and CVS Health, with postings in Minnesota, Oklahoma, California, Washington, Colorado and several other states.
The credentials named in these postings include PA-C, BLS or CPR and NP, the last one because postings titled Advanced Practice Clinician (PA-C/ARNP) consider both professions for the same job. You can see the current set on our physician assistant jobs page.
FAQ
About 6 years if you go straight through: 4 for a bachelor's degree and a little over 2 for PA school. Add a year if you take time out after your degree to collect patient care hours.
It depends on the program. Utah requires 2,000 hours of health care experience, Duke, Tufts and Wake Forest set a floor of 1,000, and Yale requires none but recommends about 1,000. Admitted applicants usually arrive with far more than the floor: first-year students across programs reporting to PAEA in 2021 averaged 3,235 hours.
No. They are different professions at different levels. A medical assistant usually trains through a certificate or associate program of 1 or 2 years, takes vital signs and handles clerical work, and does not practice medicine. A physician assistant holds a master's degree, passes the PANCE, and diagnoses, treats and prescribes under an agreement with a physician.
In practice, yes. BLS records a master's degree as the entry-level education, and applicants to those master's programs typically hold a bachelor's degree plus science prerequisites and patient care experience. The major itself is open.
Only at some schools. Of the 156 programs that answered PAEA's admissions-exam question in 2021, 87 required the GRE and 48 required none at all. Check each program on your list: Duke requires the test of every applicant, and Utah will not look at a score.
Not the whole thing. The clinical phase, which is about half the program, puts you with patients under a preceptor. Programs set their own format for the classroom phase: Tufts, for example, lists its 25-month program as full time and on campus.