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Physician Assistants
Physician assistants are health professionals licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision. Physician assistants are qualified by graduation from an accredited physician assistant educational program and/or certification by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. Within the physician/PA relationship, physician assistants exercise autonomy in medical decisionmaking and provide a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services. The clinical role of physician assistants includes primary and specialty care in medical and surgical practice settings in rural and urban areas. Physician assistant practice is centered on patient care and may include educational, research and administrative activities.
Services performed by physician assistants include, but are not limited to:
- Evaluation - Eliciting a detailed medical history, performing
an appropriate physical examination, delineating problems, and recording information
in the medical record.
- Monitoring - Assisting the physician in developing and implementing
patient management plans, recording progress notes in office-based and inpatient
health care settings.
- Diagnostics - Performing and interpreting (at least to the
point of recognizing deviations from the norm) common laboratory, radiologic,
cardiographic, and other routine diagnostic procedures used to identify pathophysiologic
processes.
- Therapeutics - Performing routine procedures such as
injections, immunizations, suturing and wound care, managing simple conditions produced by infection or trauma, participating in the management of more complex illness and injury, and taking initiative in performing evaluation and therapeutic procedures in response to life-threatening situations.
- Counseling - Instructing and counseling patients regarding compliance with prescribed therapeutic regimens, normal growth and development, family planning, situational adjustment reactions and health maintenance.
- Referral - Facilitating the referral of patients to the community's health
and social service agencies when appropriate.
The extent of the involvement by physician assistants in the assessment and treatment
of patients depends largely on the complexity and acuity of the patient's condition as well as
their training, experience, and preparation as adjudged by the supervising physician.
More...
- Frequently asked questions about PA's.
- Professional Organizations:
- American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA)
950 North Washington Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-1552
Phone: (703) 836-2272
Fax: (703) 684-1924
An excellent source of information about the history of the profession, public education materials, legal issues, job opportunites, PA practice issues, and State constituant chapters. Also contains a link to the Student Academy of the AAPA which has general information about financial aid.
- American Association of Surgical Physician Assistants
Information about PA's working in surgical specialties.
- The Florida Academy of Physician Assistants (FAPA)
Check out what Florida PA's are talking about. Information about legislative issues, professional activities, jobs, and much more.
- The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA)
2845 Henderson Mill Road, N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30341
Phone: (404) 493-9100
Responsible for preparing and administering the entry-level professional certifying examination required for licensure in almost all States.
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