After receiving my BS degree in Biology, I was accepted to medical school and maintained a 4.0 GPA, despite that, I withdrew from the program and began exploring the possibilities of becoming a PA. This research led me to the conclusion that the PA-doctor team approach to medicine is best for communities, both because it provides a higher quality of care and because it allows a larger population to be treated during our current physician
Physician Assistant is a career choice that entails various specialties and flexibilities that attracts many. Those who desires a path to practice medicine as soon as possible, PA 's lateral mobility allows that to happen. Compared to medical school, PA school requires less time and amount less debt. As the population grows and chronic diseases spreads, The future projection of PA is growing faster than the average careers.
American medicine in the late 20th century seems considerably less romantic. Protocols and seven-minute patient visits are supposed to leave physicians tracking blood pressure readings and calibrating Prozac prescriptions. There's no time for wisdom in an HMO, or so the wiser and more ancient of current physicians lament. So it was with certain trepidation that I spent a day last December in an internist's office.
The economy grew between 1920 and 1929 and the national wealth nearly doubled during that time. Some important innovations and discoveries that came during the time were the first commercial radio station, the electric refrigerator, the automobile, and penicillin (“The Roaring Twenties”, 2010). The Roaring 20s also had an effect on the hospital industry. Before this time hospitals had a negative connotation. Hospitals were a place that people went to die, not a place to receive treatment. Once hospitals started marketing their facilities as a “happy” place to go to receive treatment the hospital system began to change. With this change and the growing economy it is no surprise that the prices of items and services also grew. The total cost of hospital care for families rose from 7.8% to 13.9% between the years of 1918 and 1929 (Gorman, 2006). Hospitals were now clean, they employed educated professionals, and the treatments given were effective. To address the rising cost of healthcare the American Medical Association (AMA) attempted to address this issue during the 1926 convention. At the time, even though the economy was increasing as were people’s incomes, the rising cost of medical care made it difficult for people to receive the treatment that they needed. By 1927 the AMA estimated that the national healthcare spending was at 4% of the national income (Gorman, 2006). Their solution to this problem was to increase the amount of resources going into the medical community. During the 1920s there was also an increase in the physician’s incomes and prestige was established for the physicians (“Healthcare Crisis”, n.d.). With all the innovations, discoveries, and the growing economy, the 1920s was a perfect time for the Cleveland Clinic to join the medical
While PAs often work independently, consulting their supervising physician only when needed, it is important that they are able to work well under another health care professional. I enjoy this aspect of my current position as restorative nursing assistant, as it allows me to alleviate the burden on our physical and occupational therapists and allow them to do their jobs more effectively. I am also excited by the opportunities available to PAs that are not readily accessible to medical doctors. I was able to talk with a retired PA who now teaches in a PA program and spoke of his time working in the emergency department, from which he transitioned into family care. This change would be difficult for an MD but is common for PAs. I am greatly drawn to practicing in pediatrics, as I believe that choices made early in life will have a direct impact on future health, especially for those who may have limited access to medical resources. However, the fast-paced setting of the ER and the technical precision working as a first surgical assistant also intrigue me. I relish every occasion to learn and challenge myself and, as a PA, I would have the freedom to utilize my skills in various disciplines and thus push myself to find the field where I feel I can do the most
Physician assistants (PAs) do many tasks and work in various medically influenced settings. PAs can prescribe medications but may need a physician’s opinion beforehand. They may give treatment in the care of broken bones and administer immunizations. A PA also has to educate patients and family members on how to care for a condition that affects them or the members of their families, such as an asthmatic child (“Physician Assistants.” U.S.). Giving lab tests and taking blood samples are also a part of a PAs job duties. They must record the medical history of the patient. A PA may assist a physician/surgeon in a surgery (“Physician Assistant.” Encyclopedia 14).
Standing at the starting line of the full marathon I felt anxious and nervous. Not only was I excited to accomplish this goal, but also I was nervous about the difficulty of this task. However, when I crossed the finish line and accomplished this goal, I realized that a new and possibly more difficult goal was about to start. This goal was not only to complete Physician Assistant School but it was to strive to excel in a career as a Physician Assistant in a rural primary care setting. Driven by my intrinsic personal traits of leadership, compassion, and commitment, I am motivated to achieve this goal of excelling in my career as a Physician Assistant.
The concept of PAs arose in the 1960s however throughout the early twentieth century doctors commonly had assistants. For centuries, people without medical school training and who were not fully trained doctors, were essential to the provision of healthcare. During the 1930s a surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic, by the name of George Crile, had one of the earliest examples of a Physician Assistant. This associate, an informally trained surgical and urology specialist, came to be nicknamed the “world’s first PA”(hooker 18). Furthermore, this assistant became the prototype for today’s urology PA. Another model for the Physician Assistant today went by the name of Vivian Thomas. For years Vivian worked at the right hand of Hopkins surgeon, Alfred
I believe that people everywhere should always have access to adequate medical care. Where you live should not determine whether you live, and the PA profession was created to improve the availability of healthcare in rural and other underserved areas. As a PA, I would be eager to help people have not had access to the care they needed. I want to serve those that need medical attention but don’t have the means to obtain it—whether in rural Michigan, the inner-city of Atlanta, or the backwoods of Arkansas. Making great medical care accessible to all is crucial to improving public health, and it is a necessity across this country and the world. As a physician assistant,
I chose a career as a medical assistant because of the rewards I knew I would experience on a daily basis. Seeing a patient smile because I have helped them understand, or just making them feel comfortable with their visit, is just one of the many perks of my job. Upon graduating from an accredited college such as The College of Health Care Professions (CHCP), I now work for one of the most reputable hospitals in my area. Within two short years of committed studies, I obtained my associate of applied science degree, and then went on to obtain my certification as a medical assistant. There is nothing I have found more fulfilling, strong, secure, or rewarding then choosing to become a medical assistant,
The Flexner Report began the development of medical training by exposing the intellectual disparities in the schooling. Organized medicine led the education effort, and when improving the medical school curriculum, many of the physicians that were involved with medical education were often affiliates of the American Medical Association, an assertion that still stands today. The importance of the organization’s involvement in medical education is that only those of the profession can adequately judge training in their own profession. As the American Medical Association is considered to be the voice of the physician, their involvement can be justified to be crucial. Influence in medical training also allows for the dissemination of the organization’s values, such as physician autonomy, and to control the quality of physicians through licensing. Stricter admissions policies and difficult curriculums lessen the amount of physicians to lessen competition between them and cultivate a more qualified practicing population. The involvement of medical associations in education also reduces the threat of government intervention, which goes against the organization’s penchant for physician independence, and allows for the possibility for the deterioration of educational
From my own experience and from seeing how bad skincare can affect people’s lives, the surgical and medicinal specialties of a physician assistant have become a career interest. PAs are very useful because of their general studies, which are similar to primary care physicians. A PA’s flexibility in adapting to specialties causes them to be in high demand. I find this sort of flexibility relaxing, and I can choose to have multiple specialties while remaining in the same field. Becoming a physician assistant will require less time and money spent in college, but I will have the same benefits, independence and responsibility as a physician.
Mundinger, M., (1994). Advanced-Practice nursing—good medicine for physicians? New England Journal of Medicine, 33(3), 211-214. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM199401203300314
...dred years ago is now equivalent to a small outpatient hospital visit. These huge advancements in medicine which save millions of lives every year are attributed to the medical industry.
With the explosive growth in the 1990s of managed care that were sold by health insurance companies, physicians were suddenly renamed “providers.” That began the deprofessionalization of medicine, and within a short time patient became “consumers” (The New York Times). The shifts in American medicine are clearly leading to physicians' losing power, which results in deprofessionalization. The subsequent deprofessionalization of physicians should not surprise Americans. Although many people spend time and effort evaluating the present state of medicine, they fail to integrate an important piece of information: physicians and sociologists predicted all of today's events more than ten years ago (Hensel, 1988).