There are 2 main things that a PA must do after graduating from PA school and before getting a job:
1) BECOME NATIONALLY CERTIFIED - Regulated by the NCCPA, this involves passing the PANCE/PANRE (every 10 yrs) in addition to paying fees and meeting CME requirements every 2 yrs. You can take the PANCE in any state and it does not have any affect on where you can practice.
2) BECOME STATE LICENSED - You must become licensed in the state that you want to work in. This involves an application +/- background check, references, etc. It's important to note that as a PA, your scope of practice is determined at the state level - unless you are federally employed (see below).
When we discuss initiatives to broaden the scope of PAs, we must first determine if we are referring to federally or state mandated PAs. The verbiage gets tricky, but it makes a difference.
𝐎𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄 (𝐎𝐓𝐏) 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐀𝐒 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝗪𝐇𝐎 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄
To see changes at the state level, we must advocate for OTP alongside our state PA organizations. This means discussing laws governing PA practice with our state lawmakers. If instituted within each state, OTP does not benefit federally employed PAs.
𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘 (𝐅𝐏𝐀) 𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐅𝐄𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐎𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐀𝐒 𝗪𝐇𝐎 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐆𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓
This includes PAs employed by the VA and other federal government agencies. This lingo is reserved for those practicing at the federal level and if instituted, would have no effect on PAs in the private sector. You can think of FPA as the federal version of OTP.
𝗪𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐃𝐕𝐎𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐎𝐓𝐇 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐋 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐄: SIGN THE PETITION FOR FPA BUT DON'T FORGET TO ADVOCATE FOR OTP AT THE STATE LEVEL AS WELL.
What are your thoughts on FPA/OTP?
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