The Physician Assistant

Both Nurse Practitioners (NP) and Physician Assistants (PA) are two very important professionals in the field of medicine. They both work under the supervision of a licensed physician, and their functions are also quite similar with very minor differences between the two. Due to such similarities it has become very difficult for the general population to differentiate between these two professionals (Nurse Practitioner School, 2015). The nurse practitioners are registered nurses who have gone on to earn a master's or doctorate degree in a specialty area of nursing, such as family practice, adult practice, pediatrics or women's health. Their duties include diagnosing and treating acute and chronic conditions, prescribing medication,

I am drawn to the PAs ability to not only treat and diagnose independently but to work in a team environment. I relish the idea of working alongside nurses and physicians in choosing the best path of treatment for my patients. I am also attracted to the flexibility of the PA program, which will allow me to change specialties if I desire. Being a team player and having a passion for medicine, I have concluded that a career in the health care field, and more specifically as a physician assistant, is the right path for

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

One good Career job in the medical field is to be a Physician Assistant. If a person wants to work under the Physician this is the job. They examine, diagnose, and treat patients under the supervision of the doctor. They also prepare casts, splints, suture small wounds and interpret medical tests. Another job duty is they can also prescribe medications. Some specialize in a specific area of medicine such as emergency care or other medical positions. Some may assist in advance medical techniques. PAs are often the first choice of medicine rural or underserved places. In some cases the PA will refer the patient to a medical doctor or make arrangements for transferring a patient to a hospital or clinic. The Career Outlook for this job is the employment

The rate of enrollment to medical schools in the United States has decreased from previous years, therefore there will be less licensed physicians within the health care field, as the older physicians age out. The growing elderly population in the United States, in need of medical care, is another reason for the increase in need for medical assistants. One last factor is the greater accessibility to health insurance for all. This is driving more people into the health care system, therefore spawning a need for more non-medical professionals, such as medical assistants who can assist on the administrative end to get the patients information into the system for care and

You’d never think growing up a very sick dad and worried mom would have a made such a positive impact on my life. But in my case, it is the main reason why I have chosen to become a physician’s assistant (PA). In the beginning stages, I was too young to really understand the importance of the doctors and medical staff that worked countless hours to make this medical miracle happen, but as time went on, I began to comprehend the role of the people who were trying to save my dad’s life so he could watch his girls grow up. Seeing a multidisciplinary team of physicians, social workers, and dieticians work so well together to solve a problem made a lasting impression on me. I watched as they spent countless hours analyzing the numbers and evaluating my dad’s physical condition to solve the problem. Working so tirelessly showed how passionate and dedicated the team was. I can 't accredit a single person in that group of medical specialists that inspired me to be to become a physician assistant because each and every one of them played a tremendous role in my journey. I desire to become a PA so that

Medical Assistants help offices and clinics run smoothly. A Medical Assistant can work individually with a doctor. In a small office they tend to report directly to a physician, health practitioner or office manager. In a larger office they tend to specialized in a particular area and they report to department administrator or other operations management.

Physician Assistants are clinicians practicing in a physician extender role. They are found in almost every medical and surgical area in the U.S. and are appearing in both primary and specialist care settings in Canada. They perform similar tasks to their physician supervisors, including examination, diagnosis, diagnostic testing, treatment, referrals and prescribing. Research shows PAs to be capable of giving care, comparable to that of physicians for similar services.

The day to day duties of a physician assistant include many challenges. Bls.gov says “Working with patients can be both physically and emotionally demanding. Physician assistants who spend their time on their

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

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

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

A Physician's Assistant is one of the most overlooked careers in the health care professional, most people generally assume that one they are just another doctor or two not qualified enough to help them and flat out refuse to be treated. Both generalizations are false, a physician’s assistant works under the license of a physician and are certified nationally and licensed by the state, also they are qualified to examine and diagnose patients, as well as issue treatment and prescriptions. Though duties are specific to the working environment, experience and specialty a PA is skilled enough to offer patients quality care which is similar to a physician.

In 1965, due to a scarcity of primary care providers, the first educational program for Physician Assistants (PAs) was established in the United States (Bodenheimer & Cramback, 2009). 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 drastically. Currently, the demand for PAs continues to rise at a national and international level. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the differences and similarities of PAs education, barriers, recognition, and scope of practice and health care delivery in other countries.

Think of a moment when you sat down, and the sun beamed on your face as you felt tiny drops of liquid pour down from the sky. You must’ve already concluded that there must be a rainbow in sight. This is a perfect example of why I aim to become a surgical physician assistant. Not because there will be a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but because there is a perfect balance in the overall process. As a young girl, I grew fond of helping people. I knew that one day I would want to make a career out of my passion of wanting to help others. The idea of being able to take away someone’s pain impacted my life especially with my experience as an undergraduate student, majoring in biological sciences at the University of California, Davis.