Posted
on October 3, 2014
The
first Physician Assistant (PA) graduated from Duke University of this
date in 1967. To commemorate this important anniversary, Physician
Assistants all over the U.S. celebrate and urge all the rest of us to
learn more about their profession.
So...
physician is another word for “doctor,” so a Physician
Assistant is a doctor's helper. In other words, a nurse. Right?
Wrong!
A
PA is a healthcare professional who is licensed to practice medicine
as part of a team that includes physicians (doctors).
PAs
conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat injuries and illnesses,
order tests, perform procedures, and prescribe medicines....just like
doctors! What's the difference?
 |
| A character on the show "Royal Pains," Divya, is a Physician Assistant. |
The
difference is partly in the training. To be a doctor, you must have a
Bachelor's Degree (which generally takes 4 to 5 years), plus 4 years
of medical school, plus 3 or more years of residency after graduation
from med school. That's a total of at least 11 years after high
school before you can be a full-fledged doctor!
To
be a PA, you generally have to have a Bachelor's Degree, again, but
only 2 to 3 years of study and a 1-year clinical rotation. That's
just 7 years out of high school.
The
other difference, of course, is in the responsibility. PAs operate
under a doctor's supervision and share the responsibility for the
patients' health with that doctor. A doctor can go it alone, without
a PA, but a PA cannot go it alone, without a doctor.
Also
on this date:
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