Origins of the Physician Assistant Career
Physician assistants (PAs) are a significant part of the nation’s health care workforce. As licensed clinicians capable of performing multiple therapeutic and diagnostic tasks, PAs currently work across different medical care specialties. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the factors led to the development of the PA profession including, social catalysts, its founding characters, and the career’s initial philosophy.
In 1965, due to a scarcity of primary care providers, the first educational program for PAs was established at Duke University (Bodenheimer & Cramback, 2009). The society was in need of a new type of medical provider. Therefore, Duke University PA program’s intent was to mainly solve the issue in primary care workforce by educating midlevel providers. The first PA graduates in the nation were medically trained individuals with military background (Gerrie & Holbrook, 2013).
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Thelma Ingles, a registered nurse, and Dr. Eugene A, Stead, were the pioneers of Duke MSN program in 1958 (Pollitt & Raesman, 2011). Both wanted to bring a solution to the imminent shortage of clinicians during the 1950’s and 1960’s. However, due to inability to obtain program accreditation, the program soon closed and Stead shifted his perspective from training nurses to training military corpsmen.
According to Kent (2010), in 1965, Stead admitted and trained the first class of PAs consisting of former Navy corpsmen. The PA students were trained under a medical education model, to effectively provide health services. Two years later (1967), the first class of PAs consisting of three clinicians graduated. The initial role of PAs was to improve and expand health care at a primary care level. Nonetheless, over the years, the function of PAs in health care evolved
“Dedicated to enhancing professional and personal growth for allied health professionals, American Medical Technologists (AMT) awards the Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) credential to qualifying individuals.
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.
More than 39.4 percent practice in hospital settings and 40 percent work in group practice or solo-physician office. Medicare patients are generally satisfied with the quality of health care they receive. They offer great financial benefits to their employees. Job activations for general PAs increased by forty-eight percent. PAs can prevent disease outbreaks after a natural disaster by working as part of a mobile health clinic. If you are going to be a PA, you have to be caring, observant, patient, calm during emergency situations, and emotionally and physically strong. PAs are very important and have a huge impact on our lives.
According to Health Resources and Services Administration If the system for providing primary care in 2020 were to stay fundamentally the same as today, there will be an estimated shortage of 20,400 primary care physicians ("Projecting the Supply and Demand for Primary Care Practitioners Through 2020," n.d.). In addition this projection doesn’t include the decreasing number of people perusing the medical degree and the baby boomers retiring form this filed of science. In the hand we are experiencing a significant increase in NPs and PAs. Considering this projected shortage, which is actually a very frightening situation the increasing number of NPs and PAs, can effectively be integrated; we could reduce the number of physician shortage by over 69 percent in 2020.
The physician assistant (PA) profession has grown exponentially and as a consequence more people are becoming familiar with the profession. The profession has grown in the United States from 80,019 certified PAs in 2010 to 115,547 certified PAs in 2016 which is an increase of 44.4% over the past 6 years.1 Furthermore, in the United States there are 36 PAs per 100,000 population.1(p6) PAs are found in all 50 states and the average salary among all certified PAs in all specialties is $104,131 making the profession ranked number 3 out of 100 best jobs.1(p11,21) Therefore, the PA profession is becoming more popular and demanding which makes for a competitive environment when applying to a PA graduate program.
APRN’s have been practicing formally, providing primary care, since the 1960s. The importance of APRN’s role has increased over the years with the shortage of primary care physicians plus the increase demands of accessible and affordable care. It’s important to differentiate and understand APRN’s roles, and the purpose of this interview. Further, to develop my opinion and formulate a recommendation.
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).
Both the Physician’s Assistant and Nurse Practitioner professions are relatively new in medicine. (American Association of Physician Assistants, n.d) Interestingly, these professions were born of necessity during physician shortages in the 1960s. According to Michener, the first
The physician assistant profession has come a long way of / for the time of Buddy Treadwell . PAs have continued to earn respect and further increase awareness about the profession to the public . According to Research on the PA profession : The medical model shifts the measure of the overall clinical efficiency , with the addition of a PA , was found to be 76% . In addition to improving overall clinic experience , PAs are an extremely cost-effective addition to a practice . This is supported by evidence that dates back to the early 2000's .
Physician assistant were not to popular begin with unlike today. Many physicians opposed to the ideas of having physician assistant in presence as a territory invasion. Physician assistants were brought up as stole stealer, lesser doctor. Although some physicians saw the benefits of having extra hands to help around, but majority viewed it as someone taking their jobs and duty. However, a few years later, this view began to revise. Physicians began to notice the benefits of having physician assistants around. Physician assistant assisted generate surplus revenue for doctor expenses. In addition, PAs also aid doctors with stress as doctors have less patients to see for themselves and able to do other stuffs. These are just some of the historical fact of how Pas became into
Henry K Silver. MD, professor, and vice-chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC), established the first Physician Assistant program curriculum specializing on pediatrics/child specialist when there was an increased demand for pediatric health care providers. It was important to develop a program that will complement the skills and training of their pediatrician colleagues as well as develop a fast-paced program. Thus he developed a 36-month program curriculum focusing on providing high quality, comprehensive primary care to infants, children, and adolescents. In 1969, the legislature passed the Child Health Associate Act, which allowed non-physicians to practice medicine and provide the framework for the certification of an allied health care professional (Glicken et al). This law played an important role in further development of PA profession in the following years.
In the article "PA Education in an Evolving Health Care", they discuss modern PA education. PA education is known for its adaptability. Adaptability, I feel, is an important quality in a program. Why? This is important since times change, so do the needs of people. It is also known for being able to change based on society. The average program length, is 26 months (Glicken 17). One question proposed in the article was if the PA programs were actually preparing people. The curriculum needs to challenge students, and also teach them. Schools only want the best education possible. I like that education is a concern. I like how they want an excellent education. Within courses, PAs have the opportunity to provide checkups under supervision. We need more programs with hands-on opportunities.
Physician Assistants are also known as a PA’s; they practice medicine under the direction of physicians and surgeons. They formally trained to examine patients, diagnose injures and illness, and provide treatment. Physician Assistants also evaluate and treat patients under the supervision of doctors and surgeons. A Physician Assistants is a graduate of an accredited Physician Assistant educational program who is nationally certified and state- licensed to practice medicine with the supervision of a physician. Core tasks of a Physician Assistant are they take medical histories and examine patients. They Interpret lab test and make diagnoses, Treat minor injuries with stitches, splints, casts, and prescribes certain medications, The
The various kinds of health professionals are educated in separate schools but with considerable overlap in curricula and training requirements. They are, however, expected to integrate their training and work together after graduation. Identify the advantages and disadvantages of this approach to professional education in terms of costs, educational efficiency, and patient care quality. List one advantage and one disadvantage for each.
Handpicked by the Medical Group Commander to be the Assistant Director of Group Education and Development from 1998-1999 to reenergize Group Education. Executed professional development programs for 850 personnel that included newcomers and clinical care competency orientation requirements. Directed and managed programs to meet professional and career development. Organized continuing education programs based on the annual needs assessment. Researched future continuing education in and out of state for all professional corps. I was the consultant to medical group executive members and committees on all educational matters. Monitored licensure status of professional nurses and pharmacists. Key member of the local Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare center.