As an Army Occupational Therapist, you'll use your time, skill and creativity working in a wide variety of roles. You'll not only have the opportunity to perform upper extremity evaluation and treatment, ergonomic evaluation, physical disability rehabilitation and mental health intervention, but you may also serve in the deployed environment on a Combat Stress Control team. You'll work closely with a talented team of physicians, psychiatrists and physical therapists who are interested in your professional opinion.

Physical therapists in the Army serve in a number of settings, in a variety of specialized areas and in all phases of treatment. You might perform musculoskeletal screening on new patients, provide amputee care, or get involved in sports medicine. Your clinic may be located in one of our state-of-the-art treatment facilities or in a troop medical clinic where you're providing direct access for Soldiers injured in training. You'll gain training and experience you can't get anywhere in the civilian world.

Keeping Soldiers and their families healthy through nutrition is critical to the success of today's Army. Working alongside other Health Care professionals, you'll be an integral part of the Army Medical Team dealing with fitness, health promotion, diabetes, oncology and countless other issues and diagnoses. Army Dietitians are involved with clinical dietetics, clinical research and nutrition education. Army hospital dining facilities are among the best in the Army and are run by qualified registered Dietitians.

As a Physician Assistant in the United States Army you will find yourself as the primary medical Officer of an airborne infantry battalion, armored cavalry squadron, or one of many combat arms or combat support units. It takes a high degree of personal responsibility and confidence in the field of medicine to manage the dual mission of caring for Soldiers in a field environment as well as for the Soldier's family members in a clinical setting. There's nothing comparable in the civilian PA world.

Army PAs practice under the supervision of licensed Army Physicians and work side by side with them, building mutual respect, while at the same time exercising the autonomy of medical decision-making above that of the civilian PA. As an Army PA, you'll have many opportunities to further your education in the Health Care field. Find out more about Physician Assistant benefits in the Army.

INTERSERVICE PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT PROGRAM (IPAP)

If you are a Soldier on Active Duty or in the Army Reserve you may be eligible to become a Physician Assistant in the Army and a commissioned Officer in the Medical Specialist Corps.

Through this two-year training program, you can earn a Master's of Science degree in Physician Assistant Studies and test for national certification through the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).

The Active Duty service obligation is four years following the training program, and the obligation for reserve component graduates is eight years. The basic prerequisites to attend the IPAP include:

Currently on Active Duty as an enlisted Soldier, commissioned or warrant Officer with between three and eight years active federal service, or an Enlisted Soldier in the Army Reserve.

• A sound working knowledge of the English language
• GT score of 110 or higher
• Pass the standard Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT)
• Have a minimum of 60 semester hours of college credit with a minimum of 30 of those hours earned as in-residence hours (See AR 601-20 for course prerequisites.)
• Meet the eligibility criteria for appointment as a commissioned Officer
• Active federal service may be waived