If you're interested in medicine and in helping people but are concerned about the requirements and cost of a lengthy medical school program and residency, physician assistant studies may be a good choice for you.
Physician assistants (PAs) are health professionals licensed to practice medicine with supervision by a physician. PAs work together with other medical professionals as members of health care teams.
In collaboration with a physician, a PA may be responsible for making medical decisions and providing a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services in a variety of settings, including doctors' offices, hospital emergency rooms, nursing homes, rural satellite clinics, and patients' homes. PAs also are involved in patient and community health education.
The Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) is a graduate degree program at Iowa. It is not offered as an undergraduate major, but undergraduates interested in the field can designate themselves as pre-physician assistant students to receive specialized advising and course work in preparation for applying to the MPAS program.
