| Course | PA 501 PA Professional Practice Seminar I |
|---|---|
| Week | 3 |
| Paper type | State practice act analysis |
| Length | About 1,100 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PA 501 Week 3
State Practice Act Analysis: What Montana's Physician Assistant Chapter Permits, What It Requires and What It Leaves Unsaid, Read From the 2025 Code
Student Name
Chamberlain University
PA 501: PA Professional Practice Seminar I
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
State Practice Act Analysis: What Montana's Physician Assistant Chapter Permits, What It Requires and What It Leaves Unsaid, Read From the 2025 Code
Which Text, Which Day
This analysis reads Title 37, chapter 20 of the Montana Code Annotated, the chapter governing physician assistants, in the 2025 edition published by the Montana Legislature and read online in September 2026 (Montana Legislature, 2025). Acts change between legislative sessions, and Montana's chapter was substantially amended in 2023, so the version matters. The sections examined are 37-20-203 on licensing and collaborative agreements, 37-20-301 on requirements for practice, 37-20-401 on definitions, 37-20-402 on criteria for licensing, 37-20-403 on scope of practice and 37-20-404 on prescribing. I sort the provisions into three piles: what the act permits, what it requires and what it does not address.
The Definitions Carry the Limits
The definitions section is short, and that is its significance. It defines a physician assistant as "an individual licensed pursuant to this chapter who provides medical services that may include but are not limited to examination, diagnosis, prescription of medications, and treatment." The phrase "may include but are not limited to" means the definition sets no ceiling on the kind of medical service a PA provides. The limits in Montana's chapter therefore do not sit in the definitions, as they do in some states' acts, but in the conditions attached to experience and in the general requirement of competence.
Pile 1: What the Act Permits
Section 37-20-403 lists what a PA may do: "diagnose, examine, and treat human conditions, ailments, diseases, injuries, or infirmities, either physical or mental, by any means, method, device, or instrumentality"; obtain informed consent; "supervise, delegate, and assign therapeutic and diagnostic measures"; certify health or disability for public programs; and "authenticate any document that a physician may authenticate." The breadth matters in practice. The last clause, in particular, means that a form requiring a physician's signature, such as a disability certification, can be signed by a PA, which removes a common reason for a rural patient to wait for a physician.
Section 37-20-404 gives prescribing authority. A PA "may prescribe, dispense, and administer drugs," including drugs in Schedules III to V. Schedule II drugs "may be authorized for limited periods not to exceed 34 days," and a PA who prescribes controlled substances must hold federal registration.
Pile 2: What the Act Requires
The requirements fall into three groups. To be licensed, a PA must graduate from an accredited program, pass the national certifying examination and submit fingerprints for a criminal background check (section 37-20-402). To practice, a PA must be licensed, pay fees and engage only in practice for which the PA "is educationally prepared and for which the physician assistant has achieved and maintained competency" (section 37-20-301). And a PA with fewer than 8,000 hours of postgraduate clinical experience "shall practice medicine with a collaborative agreement" with a physician or with a PA who has 8,000 or more hours (section 37-20-203).
The collaborative agreement is defined by what happens in it rather than by a document. The PA and collaborating provider must be "cognizant of the physician assistant's qualifications and limitations"; the PA "consults with the collaborating provider while remaining responsible for care"; and the collaborating provider "gives direction and guidance." The PA must practice under written policies "established at a practice level" that describe how collaboration will occur and how the PA's competency will be evaluated, and must give the board a copy on request.
Table 1
Provisions of Montana's Physician Assistant Chapter Sorted by Effect
| Provision | Pile | What changes in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Definition: services "not limited to" those listed | Permits | No ceiling on type of service in the definition |
| Scope: diagnose and treat "by any means" | Permits | Procedures and treatment within competence need no extra authorization |
| Authenticate documents a physician may | Permits | PAs can sign forms that once needed a physician |
| Schedule II prescribing for up to 34 days | Permits, with a limit | Longer controlled-substance courses need renewal |
| Collaborative agreement under 8,000 hours | Requires | New PAs need a collaborating physician or senior PA |
| Written practice-level policies | Requires | The practice, not the state, writes how collaboration works |
| Practice within competence | Requires | Self-limiting duty replaces a fixed list |
Note. Note. Quotations from the 2025 Montana Code Annotated, Title 37, chapter 20.
Pile 3: Where the Act Says Nothing
Several matters common in other states' acts do not appear in these sections. There is no ratio limiting how many PAs a collaborating provider may work with. There is no required percentage of charts a physician must review. There is no list of procedures a PA may not perform. And there is no requirement that the collaborating provider be on site or reachable within a set time. The silence is deliberate in effect: by moving the detail into "written policies and procedures established at a practice level," the act leaves those choices to each practice. That is a real difference for a new graduate. Two clinics in Montana may set very different expectations for how often a new PA must consult, and the law allows both.
What the 2023 Changes Did
The history notes show that sections 37-20-203, 37-20-301, 37-20-401, 37-20-403 and 37-20-404 were all amended in 2023 by chapter 88 of that year's session laws. The amendments replaced the earlier supervision framework with the collaboration framework described here and created the 8,000-hour threshold. A PA licensed and actively practicing for 8,000 hours before October 1, 2023, is exempt from the collaborative agreement requirement. These changes put Montana among the states that allow experienced PAs to practice without a formal agreement with a physician, a direction most practicing PAs in a recent national survey supported (Hulse et al., 2025).
What This Means for a New Graduate
For a new graduate who plans to practice in rural Montana, the act's practical meaning is clear. For roughly the first four years of full-time work, at about 2,000 hours a year, a collaborative agreement is required, and its content will be set by the practice, not by the state. The new graduate should therefore read the practice's written collaboration policy before accepting a job, since it will determine how often consultation is expected and who the collaborating provider is when the usual one is away. After 8,000 hours, the act asks only for licensure and practice within competence.
References
Hulse, B., Schweinle, W. E., Kassin, K., & Trimble, N. D. (2025). Physician assistant training, collaboration, and practice act legislation: Perspectives from practicing physician assistants. The Journal of Physician Assistant Education, 36(1), e25-e33. https://doi.org/10.1097/JPA.0000000000000628
Montana Legislature. (2025). Montana Code Annotated, Title 37, chapter 20: Physician assistants. https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0370/chapter_0200/part_0020/section_0030/0370-0200-0020-0030.html
Reading the PA 501 Week 3 instructions
In week three you analyze the physician assistant practice act of one state. Begin by fixing which state, which part of the code and which version you are reading, since acts are amended. Read the definitions carefully, because limits often sit there. Sort the act's provisions into what it permits, what it requires and what it does not address, rather than walking through it section by section. Quote short passages and say what each changes in practice. Note recent amendments and their effect. Identify where the act is silent and who fills the gap. Finish by explaining what the act means for a new graduate practicing in that state.
How the PA 501 Week 3 example is put together
The analysis reads Montana Code Annotated Title 37, chapter 20, in the 2025 edition, sections 203, 301 and 401 to 404. It notes that the definition's phrase "not limited to" sets no ceiling. The permits pile covers diagnosis and treatment by any means, informed consent, authenticating documents a physician may sign and prescribing, with Schedule II limited to 34 days. The requires pile covers licensure, practice within competence and the collaborative agreement for PAs below 8,000 postgraduate hours, defined by consultation and written practice-level policies. The silent pile includes ratios, chart review and on-site rules. A section explains the 2023 amendments, and a closing section turns the act into job-interview questions.
Where the points sit in the PA 501 Week 3 rubric
Nothing loses more ground than an analysis that walks the act in order, section by section, reproducing a table of contents and analyzing none of it. Skipping the definitions is close behind, since operative limits often live there rather than under a heading about scope. Long quotations with no statement of what they change, no version or date for the text and no attention to what the act leaves unsaid also cost points. Strong analyses fix the text and date, read definitions first, sort provisions by effect, quote briefly and explain each, note amendments, identify silences and who fills them and translate the act into practical meaning. Citing a superseded version of the act is an easy error to make and an expensive one.
PA 501 Week 3 help: mistakes that cost points
Statutes are dense, and many students find it hard to see past section numbers to what a provision actually changes. If you tell us which state you are analyzing, we can help you locate the current text, read the definitions for hidden limits and sort provisions into what the act permits, requires and leaves unsaid. We can also help you explain what each quoted passage changes for a working PA. The state and the reading of it are yours. Where a state's board has rules that add detail to the act, we can help you note where the rules, rather than the statute, set a requirement. We can also help you check the amendment history so you know which version you are reading.
Get a PA-501 Week 3 example written to your instructions
Send the assignment file, the rubric, and the state your section assigned or the one you have chosen, plus the chapter your classroom pointed at if it named one. A custom example analysis is written to that statute and returned inside 24-48h. The first one is free, and it is built to your own instructions.
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PA 501 Week 3 questions, answered
The act does not mention the thing I want to write about. Is that a dead end?
It is often the most interesting passage in the paper. Under a delegation arrangement an act the legislature never listed may still be available if it falls inside the supervising physician's own practice and the agreement covers it, while under a positively enumerated grant the same silence reads as a refusal. Say which arrangement your state uses and what its silence therefore means.
How much of the statute should actually be quoted?
Less than most drafts carry. Long block quotations read as filler, and a grader is looking at the sentences around them. A short quoted phrase, the citation, and then a statement of what somebody may now do is the unit that earns points. Four or five of those carry a whole analysis without the page turning into a reprint.
Does the analysis have to cover prescribing?
Where your section lists required elements, that list governs. Where the choice is open, prescribing is worth including because it is the area most likely to carry a condition rather than a flat permission: a schedule excluded, a quantity capped, a signature required within a stated period. Conditional provisions give an analysis considerably more to do than unconditional ones.
Where can I find a free PA 501 Week 3 sample paper?
This page holds a full PA 501 Week 3 analysis of Montana's physician assistant practice act, sorted into what it permits, requires and leaves unsaid.
Where does the PA 501 Week 3 sample find Montana's real limits?
Not in the definitions, which set no ceiling, but in the collaborative agreement required below 8,000 postgraduate hours and the duty to practice within competence.