{"id":29702,"date":"2026-09-03T05:24:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T05:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/?page_id=29702---5bc2da4c-c87c-45fc-ac4b-fcb55a7576ea"},"modified":"2026-09-29T04:05:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T04:05:46","slug":"how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many Hours a Week Will I Typically Need to Dedicate to My PA Studies and Classes? Will I Have Time for a Job?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you prepare to apply to the top physician assistant degree programs<\/a>, it\u2019s important that you develop a realistic idea of how time-consuming your PA studies will be. Although 43 percent of full-time undergraduate students worked during college, according to the National Center for Education Statistics<\/a>, there\u2019s a big difference between working as an undergrad and working while in PA school. Most physician assistant students don\u2019t have time for a job alongside their demanding coursework and clinical rotations, and some schools actively discourage<\/a> \u2013 or even prohibit \u2013 students from working during their program.<\/p>\n

Preparing to be a Physician Assistant is a Full-Time Job<\/h2>\n

Generally, you should plan to treat your physician assistant program as a full-time job \u2013 and a demanding one, at that. During your first year of PA studies, called the didactic year, you\u2019re likely to spend as much time in class Mondays through Fridays as you would in a full-time job that observes regular business hours, if not longer. Course schedules that run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday aren\u2019t uncommon in physician assistant programs<\/a>. When you go home, you still don\u2019t really have \u201cfree time\u201d to speak of. It\u2019s time to study, which can easily require two to three more hours of your time each night. Many students report having little time during the week for matters other than basic exercise and mealtimes.<\/p>\n

When you get to your second year of master\u2019s-level PA studies, your obligations as a student become even more intense. At the beginning of your second year of physician assistant school<\/a>, you start the clinical phase of your education. As you venture out into clinical settings to gain hands-on experience, you may have to travel and stay in another region of the country for weeks at a time. You may work unpredictable schedules that include weekends, evenings and holidays. Your on-site time at your clinical assignments can easily add up to 45 to 75 hours per week.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very difficult to find time to work outside of your program when you\u2019re already performing the equivalent of nearly two full-time jobs, especially when that work is as physically and mentally taxing as a healthcare role. Even if you managed to find the time and energy, finding an employer willing to work with your unpredictable schedule and time off for travel would be a challenge.<\/p>\n

Even the <\/strong>American Academy of PAs<\/strong><\/a> calls physician assistant school the \u201ctoughest\u201d time of students\u2019 lives due to the heavy demands of studying. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Your Options for Working \u2013 and Not Working \u2013 as a PA Students<\/h2>\n

If you do choose to work while going to PA school \u2013 assuming your institution doesn\u2019t expressly prohibit students from doing so \u2013 then you shouldn\u2019t expect any leniency from your instructors. Physician assistant programs<\/a> often forbid students from seeking changes to their courses, projects, assignments, clinical rotations or laboratory schedules for the purpose of accommodating outside work schedules. You can\u2019t substitute your work experiences for any of the clinical or laboratory experiences required by your program.<\/p>\n

Some PA students find part-time work they can do on their own schedule, often in the medical or healthcare field. Working as a tutor, a medical transcriptionist or a freelance editor for a medical journal are all options that allow you to earn some cash without having to follow a prescribed work schedule, and there\u2019s an overlap between these job duties and the studying you would have to do for your PA program anyway.<\/p>\n

Since many PAs already have at least one to two years of experience working full-time, no longer being able to work can seem like a financial setback. This choice can be particularly difficult to make when you consider the cost of a PA program \u2013 on average, $70,000 to $90,000, according to BeMo Academic Consulting<\/a>. Fortunately, students have a variety of options for financing their education, according to the American Academy of PAs Student Academy<\/a>. Although many PA students do finance their education with loans, you can offset some of this debt by applying for scholarships as well as taking advantage of loan repayment or forgiveness programs.<\/p>\n

Many PAs prefer to focus on doing well in school now and then pick up some extra shifts on a temporary <\/strong>locum tenens<\/strong><\/a> basis after they become a fully qualified PA. Not only do you no longer have to worry about failing out of PA school this way, but you\u2019ll also earn more. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Additional Resources <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

With the Current Crisis, Are Any Programs Offering Online Courses and Programs to Become a PA?<\/a><\/p>\n

I’ve Read Something About Direct Patient Care Experience to Get Into PA School. What Are Some Examples That Fall Into This Area?<\/a><\/p>\n

I Hear PA Programs Are Very Expensive. Will I Be Able to Survive on a PA Salary and Still Be Able to Pay Off My Loans?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you prepare to apply to the top physician assistant degree programs, it\u2019s important that you develop a realistic idea of how time-consuming your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":12117,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"mobius_hide_qdf":false,"mobius_hide_el":false,"mobius_limit":"","mobius_degree":"","mobius_category":"","mobius_subject":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-29702","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Many Hours a Week Will I Typically Need to Dedicate to My PA Studies and Classes? Will I Have Time for a Job?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - DegreeQuery.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Many Hours a Week Will I Typically Need to Dedicate to My PA Studies and Classes? Will I Have Time for a Job?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - DegreeQuery.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As you prepare to apply to the top physician assistant degree programs, it\u2019s important that you develop a realistic idea of how time-consuming your […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"DegreeQuery.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-29T04:05:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/\",\"name\":\"How Many Hours a Week Will I Typically Need to Dedicate to My PA Studies and Classes? Will I Have Time for a Job?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - DegreeQuery.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-03T05:24:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-29T04:05:46+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Can I Do With a Degree in Medicine?\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"How Many Hours a Week Will I Typically Need to Dedicate to My PA Studies and Classes? Will I Have Time for a Job?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/\",\"name\":\"DegreeQuery.com\",\"description\":\"Get Answers To Your Questions About College Degrees\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"DegreeQuery.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/degreequery-logo-mark.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/degreequery-logo-mark.svg\",\"caption\":\"DegreeQuery.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Many Hours a Week Will I Typically Need to Dedicate to My PA Studies and Classes? Will I Have Time for a Job?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - DegreeQuery.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Many Hours a Week Will I Typically Need to Dedicate to My PA Studies and Classes? Will I Have Time for a Job?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - DegreeQuery.com","og_description":"As you prepare to apply to the top physician assistant degree programs, it\u2019s important that you develop a realistic idea of how time-consuming your […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/","og_site_name":"DegreeQuery.com","article_modified_time":"2026-09-29T04:05:46+00:00","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/","url":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/","name":"How Many Hours a Week Will I Typically Need to Dedicate to My PA Studies and Classes? Will I Have Time for a Job?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - DegreeQuery.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-09-03T05:24:43+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-29T04:05:46+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/how-many-hours-a-week-will-i-typically-need-to-dedicate-to-my-pa-studies-and-classes-will-i-have-time-for-a-job\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Can I Do With a Degree in Medicine?","item":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/medicine-degrees\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"How Many Hours a Week Will I Typically Need to Dedicate to My PA Studies and Classes? Will I Have Time for a Job?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/","name":"DegreeQuery.com","description":"Get Answers To Your Questions About College Degrees","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/#organization","name":"DegreeQuery.com","url":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/degreequery-logo-mark.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/degreequery-logo-mark.svg","caption":"DegreeQuery.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29702"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29702"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41629,"href":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/29702\/revisions\/41629"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.degreequery.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}