<p>I was wondering about the following careers Physician Assistant, Pharmacist, and Nurse Practitioner. Are all of these careers somewhat similar?? Do they all take 6 years of college??? What are differences between these 3 careers?? Which one do you think is the best??? Thanks for giving me more information. </p>
<p>Physician Assistant ¶ and Nurse Practitioner (CNP) are similar jobs; pharmacist is not. </p>
<p>Both PAs and CNPs are mid level healthcare providers. (Below the level of training and responsibility of a physician, but above the level of a nurse.) The exact types of medical services PAs and CNPs can provide vary by state. (Each state has its own unique regulations.) In some state CNPs may have their own independent medical practices; in others they must work under the supervision of physician. In all states PAs work under the supervision of a physician.</p>
<p>PA training is either a 5 year combined undergrad and graduate program, or a undergraduate degree followed by a (usually) 2 years Master’s degree.</p>
<p>Read more about physician assistant here:
<a href=“Physician Assistant”>http://explorehealthcareers.org/en/Career/19/Physician_Assistant</a></p>
<p>NPs need to have a graduate degree (either a master’s degree or a doctorate degree in nursing–which depends on the specialty. Nurse midwife is a MS program. Nurse anesthetist is a MS program. Certified Nurse Practitioner is a doctorate.) Advance practice nurses are required to earn a BSRN degree (4 years) then have 1-3 years of nursing experience before they can enter a graduate nursing program. Nurse midwife training takes 2 more years. Nurse anesthetist requires two more years. A Doctorate of Nursing Practice takes 3-4 year to complete.</p>
<p>Read more about Nurse Practitioner here:
<a href=“Nurse Practitioner”>http://explorehealthcareers.org/en/Career/75/Nurse_Practitioner</a></p>
<p>A pharmacist dispenses medication prescribed by other healthcare professionals. A pharmacist is required to have doctorate degree (D.Pharm). While there are some combined undergrad-grad programs for pharmacy that are 6 years long, most pharmacists complete an undergraduate degree (4 years) and enter a 4 year long graduate program. Total 8 years.</p>
<p>Read more about pharmacy here:</p>
<p><a href=“Pharmacist”>Pharmacist;
<p><a href=“LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You”>LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You;
<a href=“LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You”>LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You;
<a href=“LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You”>LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You;
<a href=“LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You”>LMGTFY - Let Me Google That For You;
<p>I have a lot of second hand insight into this: My partner is a respiratory therapist and has had clinical sites in his undergraduate career at Akron Children’s Hospital, some local community hospitals, and most notably Cleveland Clinic Foundation. </p>
<p>Consider these thoughts: The above poster provided a lot of great information. My partner is partial to NP’s because they generally have more experience than PA (PA’s can more often enter their program with little to no actual patient care experience). At the clinic he very rarely encountered PA’s and when he did they were simply assisting a physician. NP’s have more freedom and like the above poster said, can often times have their own practice.</p>
<p>Have you considered any other medical degrees? If you want something faster than earning a masters, respiratory therapy is a good degree to consider. RT’s are responsible for running life support (mechanical ventilators) and in many institutions they are considered the cardiopulmonary experts and airway management experts. You can earn an AS in respiratory, BS, and MS depending on your goals.</p>