The PA profession was born out of war-time necessity. Over the last 50 years, however, PAs have evolved into an integral part of modern medicine. PAs are the primary care providers for millions of Americans while similarly trained clinicians treat millions more across the world. Captain Larry Aguirre of the …
One of the greatest issues facing physician assistants (PAs) is that of a name change. But this isn’t a new dilemma. A vigorous debate has taken place for at least the last 10 years, but in reality, it has been a constant in the profession since PAs really started to …
Over the last several years, states around the country have been updating practice laws and passing various elements of Optimal Team Practice or OTP. The most recent of those are Iowa and Maine, where in Maine for example, PAs working in a clinic or hospital where a physician is employed …
Optimal Team Practice, or OTP, is the term given to a 2017 policy supported by the American Academy of PAs that calls for, among other things, the removal of the state-level requirement for a physician to go on record as the supervisor of a PA.
“We PAs duly, and rightfully, acknowledge that we are not physicians, we are not trained to the same overall standards and requirements physicians are. We are not claiming to be able to replace physicians — who we need as much as the patients do.”
I never even considered going to medical school until I was a senior in college, already interviewing for PA school. The idea occurred to me as I was walking across campus one day and thought, “Why not? Why not go to medical school instead of PA school?” By that time, …
