Physician Assistant Duties

Physician assistant’s scope of practice is defined by the level of education, experience, state laws, facility policies and the supervising physician’s delegations. PAs work as a team with the supervising physician and they support the physician’s scope of practice. Since the physician assistants are also educated in the medical model, PAs also practice with physicians in every specialty and setting.

The biggest challenge that Physician Assistances face is when a patient questions their competency or their ability to care for them. PA’s are one of the youngest allied health fields and some people are unaware of the role of a physician assistant. The best way to reassure the patient that they are being properly taken care of is to educate the patient on the topic of Physician Assistant. The first Physician Assistant program started in 1960 in the military, to help with the growing need for primary care doctors (Mittman). Physician Assistance must first obtain a four year degree with a competitive GPA of 3.6 or

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.

Most PA's have their bachelor’s degree in some related science field, usually biology or chemistry before applying to the two-year physician assistant program at a medical school. The University of Nebraska Lincoln has a really good pre-medicine program and the yearly cost is $8,979. University of Nebraska Medical Center has two and half year PA program. Then physician assistants study underneath doctors during their three to four year residency. The average salary of a physician assistants is $101,480 and the starting salary is around $64,100. The percentage of physician assistant job opportunities is supposed to go up 23% in Nebraska. The number of PA jobs in Nebraska during the year of 2024 is predicted to be

Living in small-town southern Indiana, increased drug use has become a major burden. With the onset of the HIV outbreak in nearby counties, the need for clinical assistance has intensified. Becoming a physician assistant will afford me the opportunity to aid my community and the nation in addressing concerns such as the HIV outbreak and the increased drug use.

They work in offices, clinics, hospitals, and different healthcare settings. Most work full time, but for some, who work in clinics, work part time for a few hours each day. A PA faces catching the illnesses of patients and certain diseases. Most of the time PAs do not get sick due to precautions. They make sure that they wash their hands after every examination. The facilities are usually get clean and sanitized for bad germs or bacteria. This makes the working environment healthy and clean. A PA makes good money also. The beginning wage for a PA is about 46.77 per an hour (“29-1071 Physician Assistants”). It differs were a PA works. For an example, a PA that works in clinics beginning out makes a little less than a PA working in an emergency room. The maximum salary is $115,000. The average salary range between $99,000 to

A physician assistant provides patient services under the direct supervision and responsibility of physicians and directly assists the doctors as needed (waytogori.org). A typical work day for a PA would include visiting patients on hospital rounds, aiding the physician during surgery or intricate medical procedures, and prescribing therapy or medication with a physician’s consent. They may also perform therapeutic procedures,

The schooling required to become a PA is less than that of a physician or surgeon, yet still very competitive and rigorous. The first step to becoming a PA is earning a bachelor’s degree with all the science prerequisites, which are Chemistry, Physiology, Anatomy, Microbiology, and Biology. Three years of experience in the medical field is also needed in order to get into a PA school. A student might gain this experience through volunteering, shadowing, or working, however, some PA schools require the experience to be paid. Some paid positions in the medical field are EMTs, medical assistants, lab assistants, RNs, or a surgical technician. Once all the prerequisites for PA school have been completed, enrolling in a PA school is the next step, however, it is important to research and apply to PA schools early,

With advances in medicine, Americans are living longer and with chronic illnesses that require long term medical maintenance. As the population has grown with patients that are aging and becoming sicker in the process, there has presented a shortage of physicians to manage this rise in demand. Now, with the passage of new legislation such as the Affordable Care Act, more patients have access to health care than ever before. Many experts have suggested increasing the utilization of Nurse Practitioners and Physicians assistants as a cost effective resource to tackle to rising cost of healthcare amid a physician shortage in America. Several studies have been performed to assess the viability of these options, to address the advantages and

The enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 brought many changes to the United States health care system. Many Americans that did not have health coverage were finally able to acquire a health plan. Unfortunately, the increased influx of patients with new health coverage affected the clinician-to-population ratio. In addition, aging Baby Boomers have worsened the problem of an overflowing patient population. Currently, the United States faces a shortage of clinicians. Physician assistants (PAs), are licensed health professionals trained under a medical education model that can effectively fill the shortage of clinicians in the nation by providing health services and accommodating the imminent influx of patients.

The PA Platform is an online community targeted towards pre-physician assistants, physician assistants, as well as certified physician assistants.4 For certified physician assistants, there are many publications in this blog regarding topics such as: searching for a job in the physician assistant profession, tips for medical conferences, what to expect during your first year working as a physician assistant, how to properly respect patients and much more.5 All submissions for this blog are posted by Savanna Perry of Georgia.6 On this blog, there are posts on current news regarding the profession, tips to strive in the physician assistant profession, service opportunities, etc. The most current post on the blog was a volunteer opportunity the author of the blog participated in in Kenya, Africa providing health care services to the underserved population.7 This blog is an additional resource for physician assistant professionals to connect with other PA’s as well as learn what could be considered less formal information, such as tips. Although I am currently not a certified physician assistant, this blog also provides many resources for pre-physician assistant students such as mock interviews and even practice acceptance exams,8 which I intend to take advantage of these resources to prepare myself for my future as a physician

A study found that APRN’s, as well as Physician assistants (PA), educated their patients with chronic illness much better than that of a physician. This may be related to the education that the APRN and PA undertake in the educational process of patient care, in which physicians do not have this training in their programs. This again provides evidence of the model of care that physicians use demonstrating the disease process, rather than a holistic approach (Ritesma, T., Binegenheimer, J., Scholting, P. & Crawly, J., 2014).

Since the start of the PA profession in 1965, the number of practicing PAs has more than quadrupled to help bridge the gap in primary health care coverage in underserved areas and respond to a growing shortage of practicing physicians. There has been an even greater demand for PAs in more recent years as our population ages and a significant portion of our population has now gained healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act. In order to keep up with the demand, the number of PA programs in the United States has grown from 54 programs in 1991 to 196 programs in 2015 and there are currently dozens more that are currently pending accreditation.

Brittany, thank you for providing your insight on advanced practice nurses (APNs) and physicians assistants (PAs) in this discussion. With the increase demand for primary care providers (PCPs), the APNs, predominantly nurse practitioners (NPs) and PAs are in a position to help bridge the gap due to the shortage of physicians.

PA’s receive shorter schooling than a normal physician and yet can practice medicine in many of the same capacities; “The basic idea was to create a new type of care provider who would take on many of the