Physical Assistants Add Value to Health Care

Walk into many doctors' offices and hospitals and it's likely you will receive care from a physician assistant. These days, 74,000 PAs provide care in virtually every medical and surgical specialty in the United States.

  "Working with physicians as part of the health care team, PAs can perform many physician's tasks, providing cost-effective health care," said J. Glenn Forister, an associate professor and associate chair of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio's Department of Physician Assistant Studies. 

  PAs work in almost all medical settings and specialties providing a wide range of medical care. "The role of PAs is vital to the success of health care, especially now that approximately 32 million Americans will have access to health care due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act that was passed in March. Well before health reform, there were more than 250 million visits to PAs by patients in 2008," according to information from the American Association of Physician Assistants.

National PA Week, held every year from Oct. 6 to 12, is an opportunity for the community to better understand the value PAs bring to the health care team.

  According to the AAPA, "Without PAs, providers in hospitals, private practice, nursing homes, correctional institutions and many other health care settings would simply be overrun." Studies show that PAs deliver high-quality care and that patients are highly satisfied with PA-provided care.

  To raise awareness about physician assistants and their role in health care, the UT Health Science Center's physician assistant class of 2012 is conducting an information campaign that asks local physician assistants to wear a sticker inviting the public to ask PAs about their profession.

  More than 340 PAs in Bexar and Webb counties will receive stickers that state: "Tell me about the PA profession." The sticker design was provided by Patrick Dunn, M.D., and will be worn Oct. 6-12 by PAs while they work.

 "We hope to raise awareness of PAs," said Christina Deluhery, vice president of the PA class of 2012. "Ideally, we hope that people will walk away with a better understanding of how PAs contribute to health care, and will have a stronger relationship with their PA and with PAs in general."

  The PA profession began in the mid-1960s, and now there are more than 74,000 PAs providing health care across the United States. PAs examine patients, order medical tests, diagnose illnesses, participate in surgeries, prescribe medications and provide many other medical services. About 6,000 new PAs graduate each year in the United States, and they play a large role in providing necessary health care to millions of Americans.

  "PAs have chosen a profession where the foundation is service to others," said Megan Sewell, a member of the physician assistant class of 2012. "I think it is important to recognize those who help provide such a wonderful service to our citizens."

PAs work in a variety of specialties, including family medicine, pediatrics, dermatology, internal medicine and orthopedics. Physician assistants work as part of a health care team where a physician provides leadership and direction in patient care. Other members of the team include nurses, medical assistants and laboratory specialists, to name a few.

  As health care continues to change, medical professionals and the nation as a whole face new challenges and opportunities.

  "Our faculty and staff strongly believe that physician assistants are part of the solution to our health-care challenges, especially for those people who need care the most," said Dennis Blessing, Ph.D., chair of the Health Science Center's PA program. "In particular, students are asked to consider working in areas of South Texas because there is a shortage of health care providers there."

 The UT Health Science Centers' PA program prepares physician assistants to work in the primary-care setting with an emphasis on providing culturally competent health care in South Texas. Students can earn their master's in physician assistant studies degree at the Health Science Center's San Antonio campus and at the Regional Campus in Laredo, with rotations available throughout South Texas.

  "With the increased demand on our already overburdened health care system, we have to come up with workforce solutions that are effective in a variety of settings," said Forister. "PAs help fill in gaps where solutions are needed. The profession has proven to be very adaptable — that what's nice about it."