What is a Physician Assistant?
A Physician Assistant (PA) is a health care professional licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision. PAs are educated in the medical model designed to complement physician training. As part of their comprehensive responsibilities, Physician Assistants:
- conduct physical exams,
- diagnose and treat illnesses,
- order and interpret tests,
- counsel on preventive health care,
- assist in surgery,
- have prescriptive rights in virtually all states.
Within the physician-PA relationship, physician assistants exercise autonomy in medical decision making and provide a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services. A PA's practice may also include education, research, and administrative services.
As one of the fastest-growing health professions in the country, PAs practice in a variety of settings including physician’s offices, hospitals, clinics, community health centers, military and VA installations. These practitioners are no longer solely primary care providers; their scope of practice now includes all areas of medical specialties. They are physician “associates” in surgery and neurology, they staff hospitalist and oncology teams, and are specialists in pediatrics and geriatrics. Patient care responsibilities have and will continue to increase as health care delivery systems change to address worldwide challenges. Physician Assistants have become physician- colleagues and part of a health care team that works together towards a better future for patients.
For More Information
- American Academy of Physician Assistant - www.aapa.org
- Pennsylvania Society of Physician Assistant - www.pspa.net
- Physician Assistant History Website - www.pahx.org
- Physician Assistant Educators - www.paeaonline.org
- Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant - www.arc-pa.org