Primary Care Physician Assistant: A Case Study

One of them is the Physician Assistant profession. PAs are filling in the roles once filled by physicians. This is mostly seen in the rural parts of the United States and in rural parts of other countries. According to Hooker, Cawley, and Everett (2011), a component of health-care reform in 2010 identified physician assistants (PAs) were needed to help reduce the expected doctor shortage. The way PAs are slowing down the physician shortage is by the role they play in healthcare.

In the Medical field there is always going to be needs for people to fill certain jobs. One job that is interesting is a Physician assistant. A Physician assistant is a person who is qualified to carry out the same routine and procedures as physician under an actual physician's supervision. This job is interesting because it has to take care of everything a physician does except they are in a supervised environment. People would be interested in being a physician assistant because it deals with many different medical situations.

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

The role of a physician assistant was created specifically to help adjust for the shortages of physicians. Unfortunately, these shortages are occurring in underserved communities that need readily available healthcare facilities and employees. Physician assistants, are trained to be able to handle a wide variety of health disease, and with a background in public health physician assistants are able to extend the “one provider, one patient” mentality and focus on the community as a whole. PAs not only treat disease, but they also promote health, decreasing healthcare demand through preventive care. For example, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has four foundational health principles that align with the type of care that PAs

In December 1970, the American Medical Association adopted the following definition for Physician Assistants: “The Physician Assistant [(PA)] is a skilled person qualified by academic and practical training to provide patient services under the supervision and direction of a licensed physician who is responsible for the performance of that physician assistant.” (NY Department of Health). Laws and regulations for the PA profession have been developing over time based on the needs of the society; however, the need for a supervising physician found its way in the definition of the PA early on. Since PAs have been playing an important role in patient’s life, it is not surprising that they needed the supervision of a physician. After all it was a new profession, therefore it needed time to show if it is fulfilling the initial goals of the profession or not.

Physician assistant job description is stated to be able to practice medicine under the supervision of physicians and surgeons. PA 's are properly educated to offer diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive health care services, as authorized by a physician. They record medical histories, examine and treat patients, order and interpret laboratory tests and x-rays, and make diagnoses (“Physician assistant job description,” n.d.). However, PAs may be the primary care providers in rural or inner city clinics where a physician is present for only one or two days each week. PAs may also make house calls, round in hospitals, and go to nursing care facilities to check on patients. In such cases, the PA consults with the supervising physician as needed and as required by law.

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

As most kids grow up, their dream job changes all the time. One week they want to fly to the moon as an astronaut while the next week they want to rule the world as president. However, I’ve always wanted to help people by being a doctor. I would sit in front of the television mesmerized for hours by various trauma shows. I preformed surgery on my stuffed animals and diagnosed my friends and family with different fake illnesses. As I continued to grow up, I realized there is many types of jobs in the medical field that preform a variety of different services. After researching the different options, I fell in love with the idea of being a physician assistant (PA). A PA, supervised by a doctor, has the freedom to interpret tests, record progress, and diagnose patients. In order to become a PA, it takes a lot of schooling, but it is a rewarding job that I would be very good at. Ten years from now, I will be a great physician assistant due to the characteristics I already posses and the education that I will be receiving in the future.

Day by day, the demand of a medical profession is increasing. In every era or any situation, we need someone to help us for our health. As stated in bls.gov, employment of physician assistants is projected to grow 30 percent from 2014 to 2024; it is much faster than the average for all occupations. As demand for healthcare services grows, physician assistants will be needed to provide care to patient.

While the demand of healthcare need increasers the United States facing a physician shortage. In recent years the number of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) has significantly increased and they are taking the part in providing healthcare cervices to the majority of patients. I believe nurse practitioners and physician assistants can practice independently from doctors and be free of oversight. Expanding the scope of NPs and PAs is essential to overcome the healthcare crisis we are facing; it will increase patient satisfaction and stabilizing the healthcare economy.

It is a profession that demands not just expertise but judgment, a desire to assume responsibility and above all, a sense of deep compassion for humanity. Graduates from our medical assistant schools have been known to possess all of this and much more. Therefore, their demand in the market is rising with a huge percentage of these students directly finding jobs in premier healthcare institutions, medical research centers and other medical

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

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Master of Science Degree in Physician Assistant Studies

This has allowed me to experience what each person’s role in a hospital setting truly is. Both physician assistants and nurse practitioners share a lot of the same responsibilities as a physician, although nurse practitioners are given the flexibility of choosing which specialty they are interested in pursuing. This autonomy is what drew me into this position, which includes a lot of independence within the practice. Over the years that I have worked in healthcare, I have realized that patients need a health care provider who will be an advocate for them, and they also need someone who will truly listen to them in order to help improve their quality of health. The roles and job responsibilities of a nurse practitioner have caught my attention and therefore have made me want to pursue this career