What is a Physician Assistant?

Physician Assistance Medicine is the practice of medicine by a qualified physician assistant or PA who provides health care under the supervision of an orthopedic surgeon. The chief activities of a physician assistant include performing services related to diagnosis, therapy, prevention, and health maintenance.

Physician assistants are educated and trained health care professionals, who do the traditional tasks of a physician, but work under the assistance of a physician as part of a health care team. In the physician-physician assistant relationship, physician assistants’ exercise autonomy in decision making and provide a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic management services. A physician assistant’s practice may also include education, research, and administrative services.

Physician assistants work in all areas of medicine, including primary care and specialized areas such as orthopedics, gynecology, and psychiatry etc. A physician assistant may close incisions and provide care during, before and after a surgical procedure.

A physician assistant’s duties include the following:

• Working under the supervision of a physician or surgeon
• Reviewing patients’ medical histories
• Doing physical exams to check patients’ health
• Ordering and interpreting diagnostic tests, such as X-rays or blood tests
• Making preliminary diagnosis about a patient’s injury or illness
• Providing treatment, such as setting broken bones and giving immunizations
• Providing preventive health care to patients
• Counseling patients and their families about disease, medication and lifestyle changes
• Assisting the physician during surgery
• Recording and assessing patient progress
• Assisting with insurance paperwork