What you need to know about physician associates

How did physician associates come about?The role originated at Duke University, North Carolina, as a response to a shortage of primary care physicians in the 1960s.1 The first graduating class included Navy Hospital Corpsmen, who had received considerable medical training during their military service. Since then the role has expanded to mitigate physician shortages throughout the US and internationally. A paper published in The BMJ this September found that physician associates, together with nurse practitioners, accounted for a quarter of all Medicare billable visits in the US.2In the UK the role was first formally introduced to the NHS in 2003,3 and expanding the profession to a workforce of 10 000 physician associates by 2037 is a notable aspect of the government’s recent Long Term Workforce Plan for the NHS,4 published in June. Also this year, the North West Foundation School for doctors’ medical training rebranded itself the North West of…
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