Physician assistants, or PAs, provide health care services under the direct supervision of a physician, and their exact duties depend on the supervising physician and state laws. PAs are not the same as medical assistants, who perform routine clinical and administrative duties. Grey’s Anatomy Scrubs Physician Assistants are formally trained to provide patients with preventive, diagnostic and primary therapeutic health care services as directed by the physician. They work as part of the health care team, taking medical histories, examining and treating patients, ordering and interpreting laboratory tests and X-rays, making diagnoses, and prescribing medications. They also treat minor injuries with stitches, splints, or casts. They record progress notes, instruct and counsel patients, and order and conduct therapies. they can make home visits or go to hospitals or nursing care centers to monitor patients, informing the supervising physician. In all but three states, physician assistants can prescribe medications. They may also have managerial duties. Some order medical and laboratory equipment and supplies. Others supervise assistants and technicians.
Although they typically work under the supervision of a physician, in urban or rural clinics, where the supervising physician is only present one or two days a week, physician assistants are often the primary healthcare providers. Most work in primary health care specialties, such as a general internal medicine, family practice, or pediatric clinic in animal-print uniforms. Others specialize in areas such as emergency medicine, general and thoracic surgery, geriatrics, and orthopedics. Medical assistants who specialize in surgery provide patients with pre-operative and post-operative care, and may work as first or second assistants during major surgeries. They work in comfortable and well-lit environments. Those who work in surgery often must stand for long periods; others must walk a lot. Work hours vary depending on the practice environment and the supervising physician’s hours. Hospital physician assistants may have to be on call and work nights, weekends, and holidays to visit patients.
The training program to become a PA requires at least two years of college and some health care experience for admission, and most applicants for PA programs have a bachelor’s or master’s degree. The training program takes about two years to complete. All states require new medical assistants to complete an accredited formal educational program (in 2002 there were 113 accredited medical assistant educational programs, of which 68 offered a master’s degree and the test offered bachelor’s or associate’s degrees). Most have at least a bachelor’s degree. Most accredited programs require two years of college and at least some work experience in Dickies scrubs in the healthcare field. Students must take courses in math, chemistry, biology, English, psychology, and social studies. Many have backgrounds as registered nurses, while others have worked in the military as doctors or nurses or have worked in health-related occupations. Income for medical assistants is high and job opportunities for the future are good, especially in depressed urban and rural clinics. In 2002 there were 63,000 PAs in the country. About half of them worked in doctor’s offices; a quarter worked in hospitals and the other quarter worked in outpatient centers, for the government, for educational services or for employment services.