Nurse Practitioners vs. Physician Assistants

There are many professional healthcare occupations out there in society that several individuals look into and consider. However, this also means there are several careers that are similar with one another and a certain individual may be torn between certain choices. This can be the same for those who consider the occupational careers of a nurse practitioner (NP) and a physician assistant (PA). A nurse practitioner and physician can be very similar but different in many ways. This can be explained through various resources provided below.

 

Video: Nurse Practitioner (NP) vs. Physician Assistant (PA)

The video above provides a brief explanation of the similarities and differences between a nurse practitioner and physician assistant. Caroline (the individual figure within the video) provides brief explanations of each career path. For example, she explains how each career path starts off in different viewpoints educationally. As stated in the video, nurse practitioners go through nursing school using a “Nursing Model.” For physician assistants, those individuals go to medical school following “Medical Model.” More similarities and differences of both occupations can be observed within the video.

 

News: How to Compare Nursing vs. Physician Assistant Grad School

Link: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/2019-10-24/should-you-attend-a-nurse-practitioner-or-a-physician-assistant-grad-school

According to this news article from U.S. News, reporter Ilana Kowarski addresses the varying characteristics of both careers of a nurse practitioner and a physician assistant. Within the news article, Kowarski includes information on how to become either a NP or PA, the differences between the two, and much more information on the two similar but different careers. The news article itself will provide aid in informing an individual about these specific careers.

 

News Article: Physicians, NPs, and PAs: Where’s This All Going?

Article Link: https://www.medscape.com/features/content/6006318

 

Medscape is known to be an official website where individuals are able to locate certain medical news, journal articles, and much more. Not only that, but it’s also a site where individuals are able to access certain medical information clinicians. Within this specific article, Leigh Page addresses the roles and positions each occupation of a nurse practitioner and physician assistant holds within healthcare settings. Page specifically includes information on how doctors/physicians view nurse practitioners and physician assistants separately in work settings. There includes various explanations on how the two careers may be similar. But within work settings according to the article, there are certain differences that can be seen.

 

 

Organizational Website: Nurse Practitioners vs. Physician Assistant

Link: https://nursejournal.org/nurse-practitioner/np-vs-physician-assistants/

The Nurse Journal website is known to be a form of community website for nurses and healthcare professionals to provide educational/informational source to those who are interested in nursing careers. Within this specific site, an individual would be able to find various information that would help them distinguish between both a nurse practitioner and physician assistant. The site includes the similarities, differences, work setting descriptions, educational requirement informations, salary and job outlooks, and much more about the two occupations. This site would definitely provide aid in informing an individual about both occupations in a fairly descriptive manner.

 

Other Additional Website Links That Distinguish Both Occupations

  • https://www.nursinglicensure.org/articles/np-vs-pa.html
  • https://www.physicianassistantedu.org/pa-vs-np/
  • https://www.mastersinnursing.com/nurse-practitioner-vs-physician-assistant/
  • https://practicingclinicians.com/content/all-you-need-to-know-about-nps-and-pas
  • https://nurse.org/articles/rise-of-non-physician-roles-in-medicine/

All of these additional websites provide various forms of information regarding both nurse practitioners and physician assistants!