Committed to excellence in their medical practice and patient care
for the love of medicine and patients
winning the heart of medicine and patients-one patient at a time©
|
|
Committed to excellence in their medical practice and patient care for the love of medicine and patients winning the heart of medicine and patients-one patient at a time© |
|
ISSUES |
Hiring A PA? | Post
a
PA JOB |
Find
PA Jobs |
CV/Resume |
Questionnaire |
Does |
Chapters |
The News |
Media |
| About
Physician Assistants
What does a PA do? What is a PA? Medical Training for PAs PA Health Team Why I Chose being a PA Surgical Physician Assistant PAs-In The News DEA consensus Physician
Assistant Employment
Physician
Assistant
Physician
Assistant Organizations & Resources
Physician
Assistant
Physician
Assistant
Physician
Assistant
Physician
Assistant
Physician
Assistant
|
Physician Assistants in the United StatesbyClinicians Group, 2 Brighton Road, Suite 300, Clifton, NJ 07012, USA James F Cawley, professor, Physician assistant, School of Public Health and Health Services, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA William H Fenn, professor, physician assistant, College of Health and Human Services, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI, USA Permission Granted to PAworld.net Correspondence to: D E Mittman Dave@Mittman.us The United States has since the 1960s developed a cadre of physician assistants to work in primary care. They mainly worksemi-autonomously in association with individual doctors, but an increasing number work in hospitals. They seem to be well accepted by both doctors and patients and can reasonably expect to take on any unfilled roles for which their training qualifies them During the mid-1960s a new cadre of providers of medical care, physician assistants, was developed in the United States in an effort to relieve a nationwide shortage of doctors in primary care and to increase access to health care for people in under served areas. The first trainees were highly skilled military paramedics. Today, there are more than 44 000 physician assistants in America. Internationally, the physician assistant model has been in place since 1992 in the Canadian forces, and a somewhat comparable profession exists in India. In different countries, however---Germany, for example---a similar name may be used for a substantially different cadre. The concept of a paramedical health care provider
did not originate in the United States. In the 17th century, medical care
was provided in Europe by "feldshers," and the Russian army adopted the
model a century later. In the 1960s, China trained more than 1.3 million
"barefoot doctors" to improve the delivery of health care.
12
Recently several countries have become interested in adapting the concept
of physician assistants to their needs. In the United Kingdom interest
in the concept is increasing, as shown by the call by the NHS and the Royal
College of Physicians for an early start of pilot projects.
34
We describe how physician assistants are trained and the role
they play in American medicine.
Physician assistants are clinicians who are licensed throughout the United States to practice medicine in association with physicians. They perform many of the tasks previously done solely by their physician partners, including examination, diagnosis, and carrying out investigations, as well as treatment and prescribing. All physician assistants must be associated with a physician and must practice in an interdependent role, described as "negotiated performance autonomy."5 They are not to be confused with "medical assistants," who in the United States are support workers. Physician assistants are not independent practitioners but practice-focused autonomous professionals delivering care in partnership with physicians, in a role described as "negotiated performance autonomy."5 This relationship allows them to staff satellite clinic offices, provide on-call services in the practice, and deliver care in rural areas, as in most states the physician partner need not be physically present for the physician assistant to practice. They may work as house staff in large academic teaching centers, replacing physicians whose posts are no longer funded, and they also serve as commissioned officers in all branches of the American armed forces. They have demonstrated social responsiveness by focusing on primary care practice, thus fulfilling the original intent of the profession's founders to improve access to health care for populations in rural, inner city, and other medically underserved areas. Numerous studies have shown that the quality
of care given by physician assistants is at the level of that given by
physicians in comparable situations, with high levels of patient
satisfaction.6-11 Actuarial data do not show
any increased liability as a result of using physician assistants.12
A growing body of research and extensive clinical experience
shows that they are accepted by both patients and doctors and
that their performance in terms of quality of care, expanded
access, and cost effectiveness is satisfactory.13-20
Physician assistants spend an average of 25
months studying an intensive core curriculum. This resembles a shortened
form of traditional medical education, and emphasises a primary
care, generalist approach. Most students have had four years
of medical experience before they start their training.21
The United States has 130 training programmes in universities,
medical schools, teaching hospitals, colleges, and the armed
forces. In 2001, about 4500 physician assistants graduated.21
Competition for training is intense---in 2001 there were five
applications for every place.
21 22
On
graduation from accredited training physician assistants mustpass the national
certifying examination of the National Commissionon Certification of Physician
Assistants, an independent accrediting agency, after which they must complete
100 hours of continuing medical education every two years and pass a recertification
examination every six years.
The licensing boards in 50 states and the District of Columbia recognize physician assistants as health care practitioners authorised to perform diagnostic and therapeutic tasks delegated to them by physicians. From a legal perspective, enabling legislation empowers physician assistants to perform any clinical task within the scope of practice of, and sanctioned by, their supervising physicians. This wide latitude acknowledges the broad basis of physician assistants' abilities and recognizes their physician partners as the best judges of individual physician assistants' knowledge and skills. This conceptual framework has led to physician assistants providing virtually every clinical service, excluding primary responsibility for major surgery. 14,16,18 This does not mean that every physician assistant is qualified to provide every service, even though they may be able to do so "legally." Physician assistants treat most primary care illnesses on their own without direct supervision by their physician partner. There are no "physician patients" as opposed to "physician assistant patients." Physician assistants routinely deal with uncomplicated sprains, strains, hypertension, bronchitis, depression, allergies, asthma, gynaecological problems, family planning, and trauma.
Physician assistants in community practice typically have a regular schedule of patients according to the needs of the particular practice---interviewing, examining, evaluating, diagnosing, and treating the vast majority of presenting patients---without the physician's presence in the room.16 This allows the physician to focus on the most difficult and complex cases, while still being available for consultation. In hospitals, physician assistants provide
continuity of care for patients. This may take the form of attending private
patients, or filling the role of house officer. The demand for
physician assistant house officers continues to expand with
the shrinking supply of physicians for such posts. They are
authorized to prescribe in 47 states, in the District of Columbia,
in Guam, and in all branches of the federal government (for
example, the armed forces, the Department of Veterans Affairs).
Most physician assistants (55% of graduates
in the past 15 years
15 22
) continue to practice in primary care, and studies have conservatively
estimated that in such roles physician assistants can provide
80% or more of the services previously provided only by physicians---at
the same level of quality.
21 23
They can be found in almost every medical and surgical specialty---both
in broad specialties such as family medicine and general surgery
and in subspecialties like cardiothoracic surgery, interventional
neuroradiology, forensic medicine, occupational health, and
dermatology. Specialised procedures performed by physician assistants
tend to be specific to a particular clinical field or setting,
not unlike those undertaken by physicians and commensurate with
adequate formal or informal postgraduate training. Examples
include insertion of central access lines and chest tubes, invasive
diagnostic procedures, ambulatory surgery, harvesting of saphenous
veins for bypass procedures, and many others.
Physicians who work with physician assistants claim that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The physicians can work fewer hours, both in the office and on call, and as they are able to delegate many tasks they can provide better services. Physician assistants commonly share on-call time, and routinely run satellite clinics in underserved areas. Physician assistants allow the physician to
have a colleague close at hand. The relationship creates a bond between
the physician assistant and physician that is positive for both
the practitioners and their patients. Sometimes physician assistants
may be a slight encumbrance, requiring an inconvenient amount
of the physicians' time, especially in the early stages of the
partnership. Physicians are ultimately responsible for their
assistants' work and must provide an adequate educational experience,
conduct chart reviews, and ensure regular oversight of their
clinical activities.
On a daily basis, in the United States physician assistants and nurse practitioners function in similar roles. Both can diagnose, treat, and prescribe, but the training of physician assistants is generalist in nature and modeled on medical school curriculums. All physician assistants learn primary care and rotate through the major specialties while in training. Nurse practitioners, on the other hand, have traditionally been trained in one specialty (paediatrics, women's health, etc.). Recently, family practice as a specialty has gained in popularity. Physician assistants are employed more often as house officers within the hospital setting than are nurse practitioners; surgery and its subspecialties are the most popular in-house specialties. Physician assistants are also more involved in emergency care than are nurse practitioners. Politically, physician assistants consider
themselves to be a part of medicine as a member of the physician-led team,
and some physician assistants sit on physicians' state medical
boards. In contrast, nurse practitioners come from a nursing
background and feel closest to nursing. Most state legislation
for nurse practitioners sets up the state board of nursing as
their regulatory body. Although both groups seek to be part
of the medical care team, most nurse practitioners do not feel
a political need to be tied to a physician. This has led some
nurse practitioners to seek independent practice, which physician
assistants have not done. It is the setting and the specialty
that determines how these two professions practice, rather than
legislative or professional regulations.
Although it is difficult to predict how physician
assistants will further evolve and progress, they can reasonably expect
to take on any unfilled roles for which their training qualifies them.
Undoubtedly, demand for health care will continue to escalate as the population
ages and new treatments and techniques are developed and the inexorable
development of new forms of treatment and new techniques. Thus, the position
of physician assistants in the United States seems secure and growing---the
numbers of practising physician assistants are projected to reach 53,200
by 2005 and 79,000 by 2015.
14 15
The evolution of the profession, as it matures and barriers
to practice continue to be removed, is likely to involve a degree
of innovation not yet conceptualized. With their continuing
commitment to competency based primary care, improved access
to care, and dynamic lifelong learning, physician assistants
are well positioned to remain integral to the 21st century US
health care network.
Contributors: DM conceived the idea for the
paper and coordinated the writing and editing. All authors discussed the
core ideas and contributed to the writing and editing. JC researched references
and provided citations. WF researched references and provided guidance.
DM is guarantor.
|
