Medical Assistant Research Paper

1044 Words5 Pages
A physician assistant (PA) is a highly trained and qualified individual that works interdependently as a team with a supervising physician to provide the best possible care to a patient. This is an important role in medicine that has been present for almost 50 years now with a rich and vital history. However, the profession has only recently become more recognizable by patients and even myself. If anyone had asked me 10 years ago what a PA was, I probably would have told him that a PA did something similar to what a medical assistant does and helps the physician. This is why it is important, especially to me as a future PA going forward, to understand the history of the profession, how it has shaped the role of a PA, how the role has changed…show more content…
Many physicians were shifting from the primary care field to specialty fields, and the increasing shortage in physicians outpaced the time it required to put a physician through school. This created a massive shortage of primary care providers especially with Medicare and Medicaid coming into full effect. In order to relieve some of the pressures this situation put on the physicians, many physicians were training office staff members to “take vital signs, gather information, and even perform minor procedures.”1(p2) With this in mind, leaders in the American Medical Association (AMA) suggested that returning military veterans, who already had many skills in treating injured patients, be trained further in order to “serve as assistants to practicing physicians.”1(p3) In 1965, 4 former Navy Corpsmen entered a 2 year program at Duke University that provided didactic and clinical training.1(p3) Similar programs popped up around the country including MEDEX, Child Health Associate and Surgeon’s Assistant.1(p3) Graduates were placed in rural areas under the guidance of a supervising physician. The roles were envisioned initially to “extend the arms and legs of the…show more content…
The ACA essentially “doubles the projected need for PAs.”1(p77) The American Association of Medical Colleges also “predicts that by the year 2025, the U.S. will face a physician shortage of between 46,000-90,000 physicians.”2 We can learn from our history because, once again we are faced with a need that PAs are more than qualified to fill. What better time to use what we know from history and apply it again to the current situation with the shortage of primary care providers. This is why it is important that we document and preserve our history. We can use what we did in the past and apply it to situations that are similar. With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan coming to an end soon, many returning vets will have great hands on experience and medical training. The veterans not only could help fill the need for primary care providers, but it would also help the veterans ease back into normal society. It is also important to remember the reason the PA profession came about and to keep the roots intact. It is to not only fill the need of healthcare providers, but to also strengthen and improve access to quality
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