PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT OR PHYSICIAN ASSOCIATE (PA)

US Army physician assistant, checks the face of an elderly Serbian womanA physician assistant or physician associate(PA) is a health care practitioner who practices medicine in collaboration with or under the (indirect) supervision of a physician, depending on state laws (equivalent to a nurse practitioner). Physicians do not need to be on-site with PAs and collaboration or supervision often occurs via electronic means when consults are necessary. Their scope of practice varies by jurisdiction and healthcare setting.In the United States, PAs are nationally certified and state licensed to practice medicine at their level. PAs in the U.S. are trained with the “medical model” and complete the qualifications for their certification in considerably less time than a traditional medical degree by following an educational model based on the fast-tracked training of physicians during World War II. In the United Kingdom there has been an expansion of the PA workforce, and regulation under the General Medical Council was announced in 2019.We are clinical officers but different names.