Literature Review Of Pa Education In An Evolving Health Care

The Physician Assistant (PA) and Nurse Practitioner (NP) career fields were the medical fields’ response to the physician shortage that began in the 1960s, but the shortage still exists today. As the population continues to grow, the gap continues to grow as well. Medical schools were having a hard time producing as many doctors that were needed to fill in the gaps in a timely manner, leaving the medical field looking for ways they could have health care providers diagnose and treat patients, but educated in half the time of a doctor. The PA program was then born out of the military. Medical doctors watched as military doctors and medics came back, but they had no formal training except for on-the-job training. The NP program was derived from previous midwifery program. Currently, as the physician shortage is still impending more and more PAs and NPs are being hired to fill in the gaps. This is causing many questions to arise: Are they qualified?, What kind of education do they have?, and Should I feel safe?. Patients want to know that they are getting excellent care, and that their medical providers are qualified to diagnose and treat patients accurately.

From a personal standpoint, the history of the physician assistant profession is remarkable, especially in regard to how established the profession became in such a rapid time. Ultimately, the profession was designed with the goal to benefit patients, and as a physician assistant, the approaches to accomplish this goal are infinite. Anyone would be honored to be a part of such an established profession and contribute to such a noble

Physician assistant (PA) is a career that allows an individual to work independently to treat patients. While the physician is available to reference if any questions or concerns arise about patient care issue. The position of PA is diverse, and the delegated duties may range from surgical assistant to family practice. If a PA chooses to specialize then their knowledge and training is revered to be desired by employers. The career is fast growing and beneficial as a mid-level practitioner for physicians.

Every year, an estimate of 5.9 million people dies from disease (World Health Organization, 2016). Some of these diseases are caused by bacteria, parasites, virus, trauma, mutations, and environment. Although these diseases can cause death and injury, in many cases, they can be treated by a specialist called a physician. A physician is a person who is qualified to practice medicine. Often, these medical specialists need help in treating large numbers of patients in need of care. In the 1960s, the physician assistant (PA) profession was created.in 1965, there was a noticeable shortage of physicians. Eugene A. Stead Jr., MD, of the Duke University Medical Center assembled the first class to take on the role as physician assistants. These men received medical training in fast track manner to what a physician might learn (Academic Academy of Physician Assistants Organization, 2014).The duties of a physician assistant are similar to what a physician may carry out but differ in some ways. Today, the physician assistant profession is a growing field, but more difficult to achieve. Recently, there has been an increase in the amount of school time and pre requisites to be accepted into a physician assistant graduate program. Specialization of a particular field is even more difficult to achieve. In addition, work environments can be often challenging. However, high salaries and benefits of working in the medical field give reward to the employee.

“A Council on Graduate Medical Education document anticipated that there had, “been 242,500 PCPs within the United States in 2010, and nearly 25% (55,000) of them aged ≥56 years. The common reimbursement for PCPs is approximately only 55% that of other scientific specialties, main to a cumulative lifetime internet income gap of about $ 3.5 million per primary care physician” (Collins, 2012). This makes being a primary care physician less desirable since the incentive is so low. A similar associated issue is the very low percent of medical institution students who are choosing to become primary care physicians. Another issue is that about 59 million Americans live in regions with health professional shortages. Shortages in a number of other primary care healthcare specialists exist, especially with nurses. “In 2014, US schools turned away almost 70,000 qualified nursing applicants because they didn’t have the capacity for them. In fact, almost two-thirds of surveyed nursing schools cited faculty shortages as the reason for not accepting all qualified applicants into nursing baccalaureate programs” (Erickson, 2016). This greatly contributes to the shortage of nurses if they cannot receive proper education and training to join the workforce. Many healthcare service professionals shortages are in regions within

PAs were utilized initially rural areas as primary health care providers and later used in economically depressed urban areas (Oliver). The first education program for physician assistants began in 1965, in response to a perceived shortage of physicians. (Yale Medical Program) Since the world of physician assistants is still fairly new, the ASPAA still exists because it emphasizes support for PA students by providing sources, opportunities and scholarships. They also provide state-of-the-art job listings, and is a partnering organization of the AAPA, which is the American Academy of PAs.

They have improved access to health care for populations in rural, inner city and other medically underserviced areas. With their training modified as needed to integrate with local health systems, PAs are considered a viable adjunct to physicians in areas with shortages of

Several months ago, while sitting at work the command phone rang. Moments later, the doctor states “cardiac arrest, ETA 5 minutes." My heart dropped - this is the second one this week. After a flutter of activity and preparation, the stretcher finally comes barreling through the double doors. The EMT states, "I have a 37 year old male with a sudden onset of left sided chest pain that radiates into his left arm. He went into cardiac arrest secondary to ventricular fibrillation while en route to the hospital." I diligently document every detail into the computer.

“Barriers to Nurse Practitioner Practice that Impact Healthcare Redesign” is the article written by two physicians, Debra Hain and Laureen M. Fleck. The two physicians explain the barriers and setbacks that the scope of practice prevents APNs from practicing from. This article also gives suggestions of what steps they think should be taken in order to completely make the scope of practice fair for everyone who has been trained to practice specific skills. This will be extremely beneficial to my proposal because Hain and Fleck describe the same steps to completely even the scope of practice that I am proposing. I will be using this article mainly in my first and second body paragraph so the readers know quickly what I am proposing and that there is support from physicians on my side as well. This will hook the readers quickly and they will instantly want to know more about how the scope of practice should be made completely even. The article also gives examples about how the future of APNs education will look after the scope is made completely equal. While talking about the future of education, the article mentions The Robert Wood Foundation. This foundation was previously talked about in my call-to-action essay, when I first discussed the scope of practice in nursing. With

Attending a physician 's assistant (PA) program has been my desire since beginning work in the mental health field. I am a licensed professional counselor intern (LPC-Intern) working towards full licensure as a licensed professional counselor (LPC). I conduct individual and group psychotherapy sessions in a private practice and a mental health hospital. I enjoy doing therapy with clients, however, I want to include another perspective into my treatment, the medical perspective.

One of the important acts that brought in the role of the Physician Assistants is the Affordable Care Act--ACA, passed by Congress in 2010 which created a value for the PA profession. Thus now there is a "formal recognition of PAs as providers of patient-centered, team-based primary medical care." (Hanson, Physician Assistants: Recognized, Valued in Healthcare Reform) Physician Assistants are now one of the vital parts of healthcare professionals in the U.S, and they are now integrated into newly established models of coordinated care. PAs are indispensable

With increasing number of Physicians choosing not to go into primary care and increasing number of baby boomers crossing 65 years by the 2030, there is a very high demand for APRNs to fill up those gaps. The consensus model, which was first initiated in 2004, has been revised many times and finalized in 2008. It helps to regulate APRNs with licensure, accreditation, certification and education (Stanley, 2012).

A Physician Assistant (PA) is a mid-level medical provider who works under the supervision of Physicians. PAs have to pass multiple exams to start the practice. Although some of the Physician Assistant programs in the United States accept students who do not have an undergraduate degree, most of the program now require to have a Baccalaureate degree. Students can choose any major during their undergraduate degree; however, they must complete the pre-requisite course of the Physician Assistant program. Some of the major pre-requisites of the PA program are: Human Anatomy and Physiology, Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, General Biology, and English. Although there are variation in the pre-requisite for different programs, most of the pre-requisite

Over the years, PA training has evolved to advanced competency based curriculum with over 200 accredited educational programs nationwide that award a master’s degree, bachelors degree, Associates degree, or certificate degree. It should be noted that the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) holds all of these programs to the same educational standards regardless of the degree conferred.

The ATSU PA program is one of the very few programs that emphasizes health care for the whole person. I have always been a proponent of a holistic approach to health care, including integrating a multidisciplinary approach to care. The goal of health care should be a focus on taking care of patients’ physical, mental, and social well being.