 The
Physician Assistant (PA) profession originated at Duke in the mid
1960s. Dr. Eugene A. Stead Jr., then Chairman of the Department
of Medicine, believed that mid-level practitioners could increase
consumer access to health services by extending the time and skills
of the physician. Today, physician assistants are well-recognized
and highly sought-after members of the health care team. Working
interdependently with physicians, PAs provide diagnostic and therapeutic
patient care in virtually all medical specialties and settings.
They take patient histories, perform physical examinations, order
laboratory and diagnostic studies and develop patient treatment
plans. In most states, including North Carolina, PAs have the authority
to write prescriptions. Their job descriptions are as diverse as
those of their supervising physicians, and may include patient education,
medical education, health administration and research. Although about one-third of graduate PAs
work in hospital settings, over 40% provide primary health care
services, especially in family and general internal medicine. About
one-fourth of all clinically active PAs work in surgery and its
subspecialities. While PAs remain dependent in that they provide
medical services under the supervision of physicians, other, non-physician
tasks have been integrated into the role, particularly in the institutional
and larger clinic setting. While not always clinical in nature,
these tasks are essential to the practice of the PA’s supervising
physician. For example, PAs in the tertiary care setting are often
involved in the acquisition, recording and analysis of research
data, the development of patient and public education programs,
and the administration of their departments’ clinical and educational
services. Involvement in these other services has provided job advancement
for PAs in these settings. Additional nonclinical positions are developing
for PAs. While these positions do not involve patient care, they
depend on a strong clinical knowledge base. The MHS curriculum provides PAs with depth
of knowledge in the basic medical sciences and clinical medicine,
as well as skills in administration and research. With these expanded
skills, graduates can take advantage of the wide diversity of positions
available to PAs. |
