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physician assistant residency/fellowship programs

Instructional content for this group of programs is defined in codes 60.0901 - 60.0999. These CIP codes are not valid for IPEDS reporting.

What physician assistant residency/fellowship programs Majors Need to Know

Coursework for physician assistant residency/fellowship programs emphasize a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that physician assistant residency/fellowship programs graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in physician assistant residency/fellowship programs emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 5.0 / 5; level 6.4 / 7.
• Biology — Importance 4.7 / 5; level 5.5 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.6 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 5.9 / 7.
• Therapy and Counseling — Importance 4.4 / 5; level 5.8 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set developed in a physician assistant residency/fellowship programs program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.6 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Judgment and Decision Making — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.

Abilities

Abilities most relevant to physician assistant residency/fellowship programs careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.0 / 7.
• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Inductive Reasoning — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, physician assistant residency/fellowship programs graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.9 / 7
Getting Information	4.8 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.8 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.8 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.8 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.7 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.5 / 7
Analyzing Data or Information	4.4 / 7
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others	4.4 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.4 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by physician assistant residency/fellowship programs professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Word processing software	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	—
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	—
eClinicalWorks EHR software	Medical software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Electronic medical record EMR software	Medical software	—
Teleradiology systems	Medical software	—
Spreadsheet software	Spreadsheet software	—
Medical procedure coding software	Medical software	—
ChartWare EMR	Medical software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for physician assistant residency/fellowship programs graduates include:

• Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C)
• Gynecological Assistant
• Family Physician Assistant
• Radiology Practitioner Assistant
• Advanced Practice Provider (AAP)
• Orthopedic Physician Assistant
• Physician Assistant (PA)
• Anesthetic Assistant
• Certified Physician’s Assistant (PA-C)
• Physician’s Assistant
• Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant (Emergency Medicine PA)
• Urgent Care PA (Urgent Care Physician Assistant)
• Family Practice Physician Assistant
• Neurosurgery PA (Neurosurgery Physician Assistant)
• Pediatric Physician Assistant

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to physician assistant residency/fellowship programs graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Master’s degree	79.3%
First professional degree	13.6%
Bachelor’s degree	5.2%
High school diploma or equivalent	1.0%
Postsecondary certificate	0.8%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	0.2%
Post-master’s certificate	0.1%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Professional Residency Programs	—
Dental Residency/Fellowship Programs	—
HEALTH PROFESSIONS RESIDENCY/FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS	—
Medical Residency Programs	—
Medical Residency Programs - General Certificates	—
Medical Residency Programs - Subspecialty Certificates	—
Nurse Practitioner Residency/Fellowship Programs	—
Podiatric Medicine Residency Programs	—
Veterinary Residency/Fellowship Programs	—

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.