PA Profession

History of the Profession

Dr. Eugene Stead and his colleagues used ex-military corpsmen in the early 1960s to help run specialty units at Duke. Because the nation was facing a severe shortage of primary health care providers, Dr. Stead developed a two-year curriculum to expand the prior education and experience of these corpsmen to become competent physician assistants. With the support of the Duke faculty and administration, he launched the first formal educational program for physician assistants at Duke University in 1965. For the next seven years, Duke University and later the University of Washington (Dr. Richard Smith's MEDEX program) became focal points for the development of the physician assistant profession.
Excerpted from “Biographies: Eugene A. Stead, Jr., MD,” Physician Assistant History Center at http://www.pahx.org/steadBio.html

Nature of the Physician Assistant’s Profession

A physician assistant (PA) is a highly trained health care professional who cares for patients under the supervision of a physician. PAs work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, physician offices, correctional institutions, military installations, health care educational and administrative offices, industrial medicine clinics, and surgical suites. PAs document their care through the medical record, provide patient counseling and education, and may be involved in administrative or managerial roles. As an integral part of the health care team, the PA provides patients with comprehensive and personalized health care.

The duties of physician assistants are determined by the supervising physician and by State law. In New York State, registered physician assistants are qualified to take medical histories, conduct physical examinations, order and interpret diagnostic tests, diagnose illnesses, develop treatment plans for their patients, prescribe medications, and perform invasive medical interventions such as surgical assisting, setting fractures, and suturing lacerations. It is estimated that physician assistants are qualified to perform 80% of the procedures performed by physicians. The supervising physician may delegate to the PA any medical procedures and tasks that are routinely performed within the normal scope of the physician’s practice.

The U.S. Department of Labor describes the nature of the physician assistant’s work in general: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos081.htm

Job Outlook

The job outlook for physician assistants is strong through 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Due to the growth of the health care services industry, employment opportunities for PA s will grow more rapidly than the average compared to all occupations. In fact, physician assistant is listed as the third fastest growing occupation through 2012. http://www.bls.gov/emp/emptab3.htm

Learn More

For further information about physician assistants and their professional organizations, visit these web sites: