Physician associates in the United States

Salisbury cites the avoidable death of a woman reportedly misdiagnosed by a physician associate (PA).1 The patient presented with “obvious symptoms of deep vein thrombosis and a pulmonary embolus.” The inference is that the patient died because the clinician who evaluated her was ill trained, inexperienced, poorly supervised, and misrepresented her profession to the patient. The role of PA is not regulated in the United Kingdom, and there is no statutory registry of accredited PAs. Salisbury’s overriding concern is that of safety for the patient and for the general population at large.Although I cannot comment on the specific training and regulation of PAs in the UK, as a PA now retired after 41 years of clinical practice, I can offer some facts and observations about PA training and practice in the United States.Currently, all PAs in the US undergo two years of intense clinical training after completing four years of…
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