Health Care Team (HCT)

Physician Assistants (PAs) are health care professionals licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision. Today there are over 84,000 licensed Physician Assistants in clinical practice.

Within the physician-Physician Assistant relationship, Physician Assistants exercise autonomy in medical decision-making and provide a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services. A Physician Assistant’s practice may also include education, research, and administrative services.

Physician Assistants are trained in intensive education programs accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant. Because of the close working relationship Physician Assistants have with physicians, Physician Assistants are educated in the medical model designed to complement physician training. Physician Assistant education consists of classroom and laboratory instruction in the basic medical and behavioral sciences (such as anatomy, pharmacology, pathophysiology, clinical medicine, and physical diagnosis), followed by clinical rotations in internal medicine, family medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, emergency medicine, and geriatric medicine. Like medical students, Physician Assistant students are taught to diagnose and treat medical problems. Graduation from an accredited physician assistant program and passage of the national certifying exam are required for state licensure.

Physician Assistants are supervised by physicians. State laws allow Physician Assistants to act as representatives of the physician, treating the patient in the style and manner developed and directed by the supervising physician. The physician and Physician Assistant practice as members of a medical team, with the scope of the Physician Assistant’s responsibilities corresponding to the supervising physician’s practice. In general, a Physician Assistant will see many of the same types of patients as the physician, but the supervising physician may treat patients who have more complex or advanced conditions. Physician Assistants practice with physicians in nearly every medical and surgical specialty.

As part of their comprehensive responsibilities, Physician Assistants conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventive health care, assist in surgery, and write prescriptions. Physician Assistants coordinate patient care, conduct hospital rounds, handle follow-up care, and prescribe medications. They practice in both outpatient and inpatient settings.

Upon graduation from an accredited program, Physician Assistants take a national certification examination developed by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants in conjunction with the National Board of Medical Examiners. To maintain their national certification, Physician Assistants must complete a certain number of continuing medical education hours and apply for recertification as needed.Graduation from an accredited Physician Assistant program and passage of the national certifying exam are required for state licensure. All 50 states license and regulate Physician Assistants, typically through state Boards of Medicine.

Because Physician Assistants see and treat patients in almost all medical and surgical specialties, a wide variety of patients can benefit from a Physician Assistant’s care.

Physician Assistants can see patients on their first visit or provide follow-up care after the patient has had an initial visit with the supervising physician. Each physician-Physician Assistant team determines the way in which patients will be seen, and by whom.