Physician associates in general practice: a GP registrar’s perspective

The introduction of physician associates (PAs) into general practice is detrimental to patient care. Salisbury relays a poignant case in which misdiagnosis on two occasions led to the death of a woman by pulmonary embolism.1 Distinguishing benign from sinister causes of acute shortness of breath can be tricky. Proper supervision, clinical experience of five years, and awareness of risk stratification tools mitigate misdiagnosis.23 If this were to happen to a GP registrar, they would probably be prompted to reflect on it as a “significant event analysis,” and the General Medical Council would be made aware. Such standards in training have secured the public’s trust in doctors. This is where I disagree with the BMA’s standpoint that PAs should not be regulated by the GMC. Regulation by an established institution is far better than the current situation.I worked with PAs during my foundation training. In well differentiated hospital wards, they truly…
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