31 Key Attributes Physician Assistants Need To Succeed In Their Career

by Alex Garcia

Monday, January 4, 2016

Physician assistants provide healthcare services typically performed by a physician, under the supervision of a physician. Conduct complete physicals, provide treatment, and counsel patients. They may also, in some cases, prescribe medication. Must graduate from an accredited educational program for physician assistants.

The core tasks that physician assistants are likely to carry out include:

Examine patients to obtain information about their physical condition.
Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal.
Obtain, compile and record patient medical data, including health history, progress notes and results of physical examination.
Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients.
Prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval.
Administer or order diagnostic tests, such as x-ray, electrocardiogram, and laboratory tests.

In order to successfully forge ahead with their careers, analysts in a survey carried out by U.S. Department of Labor (via O*NET) have marked out the following as important attributes that physician assistants would need. These attributes have been selected from characteristics and requirements strongly associated with the occupation. They are

Abilities: Enduring attributes of the individual that influence performance
Interests: Preferences for work environments. Occupational Interest Profiles (OIPs) are compatible with Holland's (1985, 1997) model of personality types and work environments. Six interest categories are used to describe the work environment of occupations: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional. An OIP consists of six numerical scores indicating how descriptive and characteristic each work environment (or interest area) is for an occupation
Knowledge: Organized sets of principles and facts applying in general domains
Skills: These include basic skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate learning or the more rapid acquisition of knowledge. Plus cross-functional skills, which are developed capacities that facilitate performance of activities that occur across jobs
Style: Personal characteristics that can affect how well someone performs a job

We have listed out attributes which were scored 80% or more in terms of importance by the analysts.

Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 98.4%

Being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 95%

Being honest and ethical.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 92.4%

Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 92.4%

Being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 92.4%

Being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 91.6%

Having a strong preference for investigative work environments. Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
Attribute Type: Interests Score: 90.43%

Having a strong preference for social work environments. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.
Attribute Type: Interests Score: 90.43%

Analyzing information and using logic to address work-related issues and problems.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 87.8%

Being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 87.6%

A willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 86.6%

Accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 86.6%

Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 85%

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 85%

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 85%

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 85%

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 84.2%

Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 84.2%

Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Attribute Type: Knowledge Score: 84.2%

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 82.4%

Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 82.4%

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 82.4%

The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 82.4%

The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 82.4%

Preferring to work with others rather than alone, and being personally connected with others on the job.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 82.4%

Maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 81.6%

Being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 81.6%

Establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 81.6%

Persistence in the face of obstacles.
Attribute Type: Style Score: 80.8%

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Attribute Type: Skills Score: 80%

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Attribute Type: Abilities Score: 80%