Physician Assistants Or Pas Generally Practice Medicine Under A Physician Or Surgeon 's Direction

1725 WordsDec 11, 20147 Pages
Physician assistants or PAs generally practice medicine under a physician or surgeon’s direction. PAs are trained to do physical examinations, provide some treatment, and diagnose illnesses and injuries. They can also order x-rays and other laboratory tests, prescribe medications to patients, and treat small injuries which could include casting, suturing, and splinting. Many physician assistants work in primary care areas like pediatrics, internal medicine, and family medicine. Some even specialize in general surgery, orthopedics, geriatrics, and emergency medicine. PAs are an important part of the health care system and they have come a long way over time. The first program for physician assistants was created in 1965 at Duke University (History of the Profession, 2014). This educational program was created due to a misdistribution of physicians and to address the issues of health care delivery at the time. Dr. Eugene Stead, who was the chairman of the Department of Medicine at Duke University, established the two-year program while working on a new curriculum for undergraduates that were studying medical education. The two-year program was designed to train physician assistants on how to provide proper medical care to the less fortunate, underserved populations under direct physician supervision. The first physician assistants were mainly composed of military corpsmen and medics. They had previous knowledge and experiences from working in the military so it was easier
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