What are the Responsibilities of a Physician Assistant?

A physician assistant is going to work in many, if not all, areas of surgery and medicine. They are going to do this while they are under the supervision of a physician or surgeon, and they are going to be working many different medical settings. There are areas here in the United States where there is a serious shortage of doctors and in these areas its highly likely that a physician assistant is going to be called in to work as the primary health care provider.

Its even more likely that when the PA is the primary health care provider patients are only going to see the doctor maybe one or two days out of the entire week. PAs are also going to find themselves performing tasks like working in nursing homes, making home visits for patients who have been discharged and then they'll have to come back to their supervising doctor to report to them on the patients condition. To be specific, the jobs that a PA is going to be doing will really be based on the kind of practice their supervising physician has and the state laws.

Even though this true, PAs usually do similar tasks no matter where they are employed in the country. The most common responsibility and duty that every physician assistant has is examining patients and collecting and recording the medical histories of patients. PAs are going to be helping with performing x-rays and doing laboratory tests, they are going to be charting the progress of a patient, and they are able to make diagnoses and treatment plans for patients with the collaboration of their supervision physician. They are able to instruct and educate patients about remaining healthy after being discharged.

Physician assistants will be treating patients based on the specific problem that they have. In some states, PAs are able to write prescriptions for patients with chronic and acute illnesses. If a patient has a broken bone, they can cast it, and if the patient needs some type of rehabilitation therapy then the PA is able to help them with that therapy. PAs also help surgeons  during surgeries because they are able to perform tasks on the operating table. They will be assistant patients in pre-op and post-op care. That includes before and after surgery, and it includes before and after be discharged. When the PA has a lot of years of experience under their belt they are then able to decide to begin embarking on a role that is more on the administrative side.

They are going to be doing administrative tasks like hiring more physician assistants, and creating a new policy or procedure. The most common places to find a working PA is going to be in clinics, hospitals, HMOs, and some will have their own private practices. PAs are going to be dealing with different diseases, and they are going to be working at odd hours, especially if they are employed in a hospital. They'll be working weekends, nights, and sometimes you won't even get the holidays off. You are expected to be ready to work at any time. This is a very rewarding career that has a lot to experience.

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