NEPA Vital Signs - Winter 2019 Spring 2020 - 17

WINTER 2019-2020

he popularity of Physician Assistant
careers has been increasing. New
programs have been established and
existing programs have increased their class
size. Why is there an increase in demand and
what is a Physician Assistant (PA)?
A Physician Assistant, as defined by
the Accreditation Review Commission
on Education for the Physician Assistant
(ARC-PA), is clinically prepared to practice
medicine with the direction and responsible supervision of a doctor of medicine or
osteopathy. PAs are educated and trained
to provide an extensive range of healthcare
services with a focus on providing high
quality care and treating the patient as
a whole. These services include diagnostic, therapeutic, preventative and health
maintenance. PAs can order and interpret
laboratory and imaging studies, prescribe
medication, and perform procedures. PAs
work in all realms of healthcare including
primary care and specialties including
surgery, orthopedics, dermatology, and
pediatrics. They can be found practicing in
all 50 states in urban and rural areas. PAs
provide greater access to care by extending services offered to patients and times
available to be seen in a physician's office,
emergency room, or hospital.
When did the Physician Assistant profession start? The need for more primary
care providers became alarmingly apparent
during World War II. Dr. Eugene Stead began
informally training corpsmen to extend
primary care services in his practice. In 1965
Duke University, under the direction of Dr.
Stead, graduated its first Physician Assistant
class of students. This framework of an
advanced two-year program exists today.
How are Physicians Assistants trained to
be able to accommodate these higher-level
healthcare services? The ARC-PA is responsible for setting accreditation standards for
Physician Assistant programs. They ensure
the quality of PA programs across the country. PA programs provide graduate-level
training in advanced topics. A Physician
Assistant will graduate from an accredited
program with a Master's degree. Courses included in a PA curriculum include:
Anatomy, Physiology, Clinical Medicine,

PAs PROVIDE GREATER ACCESS TO CARE
BY EXTENDING SERVICES OFFERED TO
PATIENTS AND TIMES AVAILABLE TO BE
SEEN IN A PHYSICIAN'S OFFICE, EMERGENCY
ROOM, OR HOSPITAL.
Clinical Assessment, Radiology, Orthopedics, Pharmacology, Pathophysiology,
Medical Procedures, Clinically Competent
Medicine, Psychiatry, and Emergency
Medicine. Other courses may be included
depending on the individual program.

An additional technologic advantage in
training PA students is the use of virtual
anatomy models. These models come in
many shapes and sizes from laptop programs
to life-size versions. Students use these
models to enhance their experiences in a
traditional cadaver lab. The virtual models
To become a Physician Assistant, a stu- can be programmed to show minute areas
dent must graduate from an accredited of the body including the vascular system
master's level PA program. They must also and nervous system.
successfully pass a national exam (known as
the PANCE - Physician Assistant National
As the increased need for access to healthCertification Exam). This exam is taken after care continues to plague the system, the
completing the didactic and clinical phases demand for Physician Assistants continues to
of the master's program. Licensed Physician grow. The high quality education, the rigorAssistants will take a re-certification exam ous technical standards, and the demanding
every ten years.
certification process ensure that Physician
Assistants are well prepared to handle the
Innovations in technology aid in the challenges of providing quality healthcare.
educational process. Simulated models are
used to enhance the clinician's knowledge of
LAUREN LAMOUREUX, PA-S,
complex health related issues. "Sim" models
is a student in the Marywood University
Physician Assistant Program.
can be programmed to portray situations
such as stroke, heart arrhythmias, and pneumonia, to name a few. Students are able to
practice on the "Sim" models to gain real
GRETCHEN WELBY, PHARMD,
world experience, to develop their diagnostic
MHA, is an Assistant Clinical
Professor and the Academic Director
skills, and hone their prescriptive abilities.
for the Physician Assistant Program at
Marywood University.

N E PA

VITAL SIGNS

NEPA Vital Signs - Winter 2019 Spring 2020

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