Physician Assistants
What is a PA?
Exactly what is a physician assistant and what do they do? Physician assistants, or PAs, are medical providers who are licensed to diagnose and treat illness and disease and prescribe medication for patients. PAs work in physician offices, hospitals and clinics in collaboration with a licensed physician. Because of their advanced education in general medicine, modeled after physician education, PAs can treat patients with significant autonomy within the physician/PA relationship. In the primary care setting, PAs can provide almost all of the clinical services that physicians provide, including performing physical exams, diagnosing and treating illnesses and prescribing medications. PAs in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Guam have prescriptive practice privileges. Some physician assistants may not receive direct insurance reimbursement for their services, but their services are billed for through their supervising doctor or employer.
The first class
In the mid ’60s, physicians and educators recognized that there was a shortage of primary care physicians. To help remedy this, Dr. Eugene A. Stead Jr., of the Duke University Medical Center, put together the first class of physician assistants in 1965. He selected four Navy Hospital Corpsmen who had received considerable medical training during their military service. Stead based the curriculum of the PA program on his knowledge of the fast-track training of doctors during World War II. The first PA class graduated from the Duke University program on Oct. 6, 1967. The PA concept was lauded early on and gained federal acceptance and backing as early as the ’70s as a creative solution to physician shortages. The medical community helped support the profession and spurred the setting of accreditation standards, establishment of a national certification process and development of continuing medical education requirements.
2 years of study
There are over 86,000 physician assistants currently practicing in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Physician assistants typically need a master’s degree from an accredited educational program. Earning that degree usually takes at least two years of full-time postgraduate study. Most applicants to PA programs like the one at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences already have a bachelor’s degree and some healthcare-related work experience. Many applicants already have experience as a nurse or EMT before they apply to a PA program. Physician assistant education includes classroom and laboratory instruction in subjects such as human anatomy, clinical medicine, pharmacology and medical ethics. The programs also include hundreds of hours of supervised clinical training in several areas, including family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, and pediatrics.
All areas of medicine
Physician assistants work in all areas of medicine, including internal medicine, family medicine, emergency medicine and psychiatry. The work of PAs depends in large part on their specialty and what their supervising physician needs them to do. For example, a PA working in surgery may close incisions and provide care before and after the operation. A PA working in pediatrics may examine a child and give routine vaccinations. In rural and medically underserved areas, PAs may be the primary care providers at clinics where a physician is present only one or two days a week. In these locations, PAs confer with the physician and other health-care workers as needed and as required by law. Some PAs make house calls or visit nursing homes to treat patients, reporting back to the physician afterward. Physician assistants are different from medical assistants. Medical assistants do routine clinical and clerical tasks but do not practice medicine.
Job growth
Based on projections by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, an estimated 120,000 physician assistants will be taking care of patients throughout the country by the year 2022. Much of this growth is attributed to our growing and aging population. More people means more need for health-care specialists, and as the large baby-boomer generation ages, it will require more health care. This, coupled with an increase in several chronic diseases such as diabetes, will drive the need for physician assistants. PAs, who can perform many of the same services as doctors, are expected to have a larger role in giving routine care because they are more cost effective than physicians. As more physicians retire or enter specialty areas of medicine, more physician assistants are expected to take on the role of primary care provider. Furthermore, the number of individuals who have access to primary care services will increase as a result of federal health insurance reform.These programs were first broadcast the week of October 12, 2015.
T. Glenn Pait, M.D., of UAMS is the host of the program.