How to Become a Physicians Assistant in Nashville, Tennessee
The role of physician assistant is becoming more important as the time a doctor spends with individual patients shrinks. Physician assistants perform a variety of tasks under the direction of a doctor, including performing diagnostic tests, treating ailments or injuries--and, in Nashville, prescribing drugs if approved to do so by the state. Getting your license requires submitting a variety of key information to the state, which is why it is critical to know how to become a physician assistant in Nashville, Tenn.
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Instructions
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Attend an educational program for physician assistants. South College, Bethel College and Trevecca Nazarene University all offer 27-month programs that prepare you to become a physician assistant in Nashville. All three offer master’s degree, which means you will need to complete your bachelor’s degree prior to beginning the program.
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Apply for license as a physician assistant in Nashville. Once you have graduated from your PA program in Tennessee, you can apply for your license which will allow you to start serving as a professional physician’s assistant in Nashville.
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Attach required documents to application. While a licensing exam isn’t required for physician assistants in Nashville, there is a lot of additional documentation that must be submitted with your application. Verification of graduation from a PA program must be attached as well as a completed practitioner profile questionnaire. You must also submit a recent passport-sized photograph of yourself along with a notarized form indicating you are the person in the photo.
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Submit letters of recommendation. At least two medical professionals in Tennessee must attest to your ability to be a professional physician assistant in order to get a license to practice in Nashville. This requires submitting two letters of recommendation with your application. These must be on the physician’s letterhead, include their signature and identify them as licensed medical professionals in the state.
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While being able to prescribe drugs is more common for physican assistants in rural areas where doctors are not on location, a few physicans in Nashville allow their PAs to do this. If given this responsibility, you will need to submit forms listing what type of drugs you are allowed to administer, and all supervising physicians will need to sign off on it. You will need to have a Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) number to prescribe drugs, which can be obtained by calling 1-800-882-9539. You will also need to submit a copy of the form to the Tennessee Board of Pharmacy, in Nashville.
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The state of Tennessee requires a criminal background check on all physician assistants requesting a license in Nashville.
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Begin serving as a physician assistant. In most cases it takes six weeks to process license applications.
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Tips & Warnings
A $335 licensing fee must be submitted with the application.
Those requesting a Tennessee license after serving as a physician assistant in another state must send forms, available from the Tennessee Department of Health, to the licensing agency in the other state.
If you already have a supervising physician when applying for your license, they must complete a form as well.
You will receive a letter of deficiency if the licensing agency doesn't receive all papers and information needed to grant your license.
Getting a job as a physician assistant in Nashville may be difficult since health care facilities prefer experience. This differs from other locations in Tennessee, especially rural ones, where physician assistants are in high demand.
