In the United States, Physician Assistants (PAs) are non-physician clinicians licensed to practice medicine with a physician's supervision. This supervision, in most cases, need not be direct or on site and many PAs practice in remote or underserved areas in satellite clinics. PAs can treat patients and, in most states, prescribe medicine, and in some states in the US they carry a DEA number that gives them authority to prescribe controlled medications like narcotics. PAs in surgical practices also serve as first assists in surgery. PAs provide medical services that are reimbursed under Medicare and third party insurances.
Employment
Physician Assistants held about 65,000 jobs in 2005. The number of jobs is greater than the number of practicing PAs because some hold two or more jobs. For example, some PAs work with a supervising physician, but also work in another practice, clinic, or hospital. According to the American Academy of Physician Assistants, there were about 58,665 certified PAs in clinical practice as of January 2006.
More on [ Physician assistant ]
PA Forum - Offers a quarterly newsletter, bookstore, polls, message forum, and free classifieds..
Physician Assistant History Office - Offers information about the profession's origins, philosophy, structure. Includes mission statement, goals, timeline, biographies, new exhibits, trivia questions, and references. [Some links require Adobe Acrobat.]
The PA Page - Features job descriptions, original articles, and editorials about continuing medical education, patient information, and military positions.
Meta Description: [ The web site for physician assistants, with the goal of collecting the largest indexable collection of information for, about, and by PAs. Launched in 2002, this site seeks submissions of all types from members of the profession. Topic catagories include job descriptions, salary surveys, positi... ]
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