2-Year Physician Assistant Programs in Florida

If you’re considering a career in healthcare and are wondering what physician assistant programs in Florida are like, and what subjects and skills they teach, you’ve come to the right place.

Physician assistant programs in Florida teach the same basic healthcare skills as physician assistant programs in other areas of the United States, but each individual state has their own regulations that apply to the industry. Because of this, the more advanced healthcare skills that are taught in Florida can differ than that of other states.

2-year physician assistant programs in Florida consist of an academic year and a clinical year. The first year you attend, you will be in the academic year and the second year is for clinical studies. Each year will have 3 to 4 semesters depending on whether the college or university you attend offers summer classes.

Here’s a partial list of the curriculum that may be taught in the first year at physician assistant programs in Florida:

Radiology

Communicating in a Medical Environment

Medicine

Physiology

Pharmacotherapeutics

Patient Diagnostics

Clinical Procedures

Medical Lab

Hospital Practices and Procedures

And in the second year, physician assistant students will be able to learn and master hands on medical skills. A type of internship at a local clinic is included in the second year curriculum as well.

Second year students will learn emergency, intensive care and internal medicine. They will also gain experience in the areas of pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics, surgery and primary care. During this clinical year, individual students may study specialty areas that they are interested in as electives while attending physician assistant programs in Florida.

Usually physician assistant programs in Florida do not allow students to transfer credits from a previous college education, nor allow any type of life experience to be applied as credit hours instead of completing the required coursework.

Students are expected to keep their grades up to at least a C in order to continue the program. It’s very important that an individual that is training to deal with patients and their health be competent in their job. Professionalism is also very important in this healthcare career and is required from each student.

After completing the entire 2-year program’s curriculum and graduating from one of the accredited physician assistant programs in Florida, graduate physician assistants must take a national certification exam called the PANCE, which is short for Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination.

The PANCE is a multiple-choice test that is taken on a computer in one, of over 200 locations, around the United States. Everyone must register ahead of time and pay a registration fee in order to take the exam. Anyone who has previously received a medical degree from another country must still be a graduate of one of the accredited physician assistant programs in Florida in order to take the PANCE and become certified in the US.

After passing this exam, you will be certified for approximately 2 years. Continuing education is a requirement in order to keep your certification for subsequent years, as well as paying a certification maintenance fee.

After completing all the training from your choice of one of the many 2-year physician assistant programs in Florida, you will be on your path towards a fulfilling and rewarding career as a PA.