 | ||
| Meet
our Physician Assistant. | ||
|
| Physician Assistant Julia Green joined Augusta Heart Associates in Spt of 2008. | |
| Julia
Green, PA-C Physician Assistant | Education: | |
| Phyisician
Assistants | ||
| Physician
Assistants (PAs) are licensed health professionals who practice medicine with
physician supervision. As part of the physician-PA team, PAs excercise autonomy
in diagnosing and treating illnesses. PA's deliver a broad range of medical and surgical services to diverse populations in both rural and urban settings throughout the United States. Their focus is patient care and their practice may include education, research and administrative activities. | ||
| The
Role of the Phyisician Assistant | ||
| PAs
are highly skilled professionals
educated to use the same medical procedures as their physician counterparts. For
example, PAs take medical histories, perform physical examinations, diagnose and
treat illnesses, order and interpret laboratory tests, perform minor surgery,
and in most states can prescribe medications. PAs practice in virtually every
medical specialty -- from family medicine to surgery. A hallmark of physician assistant is that PAs function as part of a team. They are educated to recognize when patients need the attention of a supervising physician or specialist. PAs enjoy a collegial relationship with other providers because they have demonstrated their commitment to patients and their competence in delivering quality care. To allow the physician-PA team to be more effcient in extending care to their patients, most states do not require the PA and physician to be at the same location. For example, the PA may be seeing patients in a rural clinic while the supervising physician is at the hospital or in a central office. All state laws require the supervising physician to be immediately available for consultation, usually be telephone, while a PA is seeing patients. | ||
|
Education | ||
| Physician
Assistant education is modeled on that of physicians, although it is shorter.
All programs must meet the same stringent requirements for national accreditation. The first PA program began in 1965 at Duke University in North Carolina, and the first PAs were former military corpsmen. Today, the typical PA student already has approximately four years of health care experience prior to entering a PA program. Students undergo a rigourous education to become a PA. The typical program is more than 24 months long. The first year includes classroom and laboratory instruction in the medical sciences -- from anatomy to pharmacology -- and medical ethics. The second year involves structured clinical rotations, providing the PA student with direct patient contact in medical disciplines, including family practice, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, surgery, and emergency medicine. PA programs are offered by medical schools, colleges and universities, teaching hospitals, and the military. | ||
|
Certification | ||
| Before they can practice, graduates of accredited PA programs must pass a national certification exam jointly developed by the National Board of Medical Examiners and the National Commission on Certification or Physician Assistant-Certified. Graduates are then given the title "PA-C". To maintain certification, PAs must earn 100 hours of continuing medical education every two years and sit for a recertificaton exam every six years. These requirements keep them abreast of medical advances. | ||
|
PA's
Add Up to Better Health Care | ||
Today,
the physician assistant profession is one of health care's fastest growing fields.
PAs help | ||