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Physician Assistant (PA)
Diagnose and prescribe alongside doctors, without med school.
Entry earning
$115k
New
Senior tier earning
$165k
Lead / Surgical PA
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook
Words with a dotted underline are industry terms. Hover or tap for a plain-English definition.
What the job actually looks like
Physician assistants (PAs) do much of what doctors do — see patients, diagnose, prescribe medication, do minor procedures — under a supervising doctor. Most PA training is 2 to 3 years after college, not 7+ like medical school.
Paths inside the field
Pick a branch to retrace the arc
Click any specialization. The timeline and salary curve above update to match.
The full arc
How this career unfolds
Student
~27 months of grad school
New
Senior
Lead / Surgical PA
Surgical average $165k+
Surprising fact
start earning in ~6 years vs ~11 for physicians, and mid-career PAs in dermatology regularly clear $180k without .
Two ways in
Education paths & payback
Standard route
Public undergrad + public program
Total cost
$130k
Length
6 yrs
How we calculate it: total education cost ÷ (15% of first-year pay put toward paying it back).
Standard route
Private undergrad + private
Total cost
$320k
Length
6 yrs
How we calculate it: total education cost ÷ (15% of first-year pay put toward paying it back).
The real cost will be different for you
The numbers above are medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The price you actually pay depends on financial aid, scholarships, family help, state residency, and which schools accept you. A "$250k" private university is often $60k to $120k after aid. A "cheap" community college can still be out of reach without a plan. Use these as a starting point, then get real quotes from the specific schools you're considering.
Location matters
How pay changes by metro
Pay differs by about 20-35% across the country. Cost of living often cancels most of it.
| Metro | Pay at Senior PA |
|---|---|
San Francisco Bay Area, CA | $182k |
New York City, NY | $176k |
Seattle, WA | $165k |
Boston, MA | $159k |
Washington, DC | $158k |
Los Angeles, CA | $155k |
Denver, CO | $143k |
Chicago, IL | $140k |
Austin, TX | $139k |
Atlanta, GA | $132k |
Dallas–Fort Worth, TX | $131k |
Phoenix, AZ | $127k |
Nashville, TN | $124k |
Indianapolis, IN | $119k |
Rural / small metro | $105k |
How to read this: Pay is US median for Senior PA scaled by BLS metro wage data. Cost of living index is C2ER (US avg = 100). A means that metro isn't just paid better. It's essentially required to work at the top of this field.
Start now
What you can do in high school
Classes & electives
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Anatomy & Physiology
- Psychology
Things to try outside class
- Volunteer at a hospital, clinic, or nursing home
- Get CPR / First Aid certified
- Shadow a professional for a day
- Join HOSA (Future Health Professionals) if your school has it
Read, listen, watch
The cheapest way to find out whether you actually like a field is to read what people in it read.
- 'Being Mortal' by Atul Gawande (what medicine gets wrong about the end of life)
- 'When Breath Becomes Air' by Paul Kalanithi (a neurosurgeon's memoir)
- The NEJM 'Case Records' podcast (real diagnostic mysteries, free)
- Medscape and STAT News (daily medicine journalism)
None of this is required. It's just the lowest-friction way to find out if you actually like this kind of work before you commit money or time.
Salary and progression source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook (bls.gov/ooh). Figures are medians or typical ranges in today's dollars; real outcomes vary by employer, city, and specialty.