Physician Assistants

There are many aspects to health care and hence, many personnel are required in many facets of the health care environment. One such personnel group is the physician assistants who assist the doctor or physician in undertaking some tasks which a physician would have performed. Some of these tasks are very simple and mundane but necessary which take up a physician's time; hence, physician assistants step in to take over these tasks to free the physician for more in-depth diagnosis and treatment.

Physician Assistants' tasks

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An assistant is very useful as they take on about 80% of the physician's health care services before more serious probes and analyses are performed on a patient. Some of the assistant's tasks are administering injections, examining patients and taking their vital signs or blood pressure reading, counseling, treating patients in physical therapies and relating laboratory test results to patients.

These general tasks are dependent on the type of training received and the experience of an assistant besides the state laws and work locations. Different supervising physician will demand slightly different work scope for his assistants.

Work scope under supervising physician

They are required to be knowledgeable in surgical procedures and techniques to be of value to his supervising physician. The work scope of the assistant is to be familiar with the surgical equipments, treatments and medications, even if he may not be administering or performing the procedures all the time.

Work scope under the state law

In an attempt to reduce the workload of physicians, as many as 39 states in US now permit the medication prescription by assistants who are experienced without the signature of the supervising physician. This move has increased the assistant's autonomy in certain areas.

Work scope under different environments

You will find physician assistants as the main health care providers in rural areas or at smaller townships where physicians visit once a week or fortnight due to their busy schedule at the hospitals. On the other hand, physician assistants working in hospitals may have a more hectic work schedule with 24/7 on call status for emergencies and special cases depending on their supervising physician's schedule. Physician assistants may be found at outpatient offices, surgery rooms, inpatient environments, trauma or critical care units. They may also be found in the military or national army units.

Extending to psychiatric care

There are some physician assistants who work at the Psychiatric units for diagnosis and counseling with regards to therapies for personality disorder patients. The presence of physician assistants in this area exhibits the wide scope of health care from the medical field.

Physician Assistants

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