Physician Assistant Programs in Florida
The physician assistant programs in Florida have provided a range of health care services which are supervised of doctors who are licensed. In launching their respective careers, the students can earn an undergraduate degree in physician assistant program in Florida. The graduate degree can be an aid in advancing and in specializing a career of an individual. Miami Dade College and Nova Southeastern University are two of the schools that have physician assistant programs in Florida. In the former, you can have an associate’s degree if you aspire to be a physician assistant while the latter offer master’s degree.
The Miami Dade College offers a physician assistant program. It is a public school that offers the program in four year course. It is considered as one of those institutions in the United States that is a large pre-secondary school. The college has already served approximately165000 undergraduate students through its eight campuses during the school year 2009-2010. The students can take non-credit continuing education as well as career courses or even earn certificates that are credited, associate’s degrees or even a bachelor’s degree. The School of Health Sciences at the Medical Center Campus is offering one of only four accredited associate’s degree programs for only two years for those who are aspiring to become physician assistants.
The associate of science in physician assisting is an 88-credit program that includes the courses in behavioral as well as community medicine, surgical procedures, diagnostic imaging, pharmacology and even cardiology. In their second year, the students will participate in the clerkships in a number of medical disciplines which include obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, pediatrics and even emergency medicine.
The graduates are qualified to take the certification exam which is administered by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. They are also eligible to register as licensed physician assistants with the Florida State Medical Board.
The Nova Southeastern University which offers physician assistant program has its main campus located in Fort Lauderdale. The Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a private institution, 4-year school with four campuses and several distance learning sites throughout the state. This school offers more than 28700 careers, and during the autumn season in the 2010 semester, lots of undergraduate and graduate students have enrolled.
To be a master of medical science in physician assisting, there should be 15 months of classroom learning first before a person can provide a full year of clinical experience. The academic portion of the degree familiarizes the students with clinical science as they can develop their skills in problem-solving. The courses explore anatomy, medical terminology, physical diagnostics, healthcare research microbiology as well as ethical issues. The students will be receiving training of how to handle the psychological, behavioral as well as issues on domestic violence.
In the last 12 months of the physician assistant program, the curriculum will comprise the clinical rotations at the hospitals or the clinics. The students can prefer to specialize in a specific field like prenatal care, pediatrics, surgery or even emergency medicine.