Candidates' diagnostic skills will also be lessened without the functional use of the senses of equilibrium, smell and taste. A candidate for the physician assistant profession must have abilities and skills of five varieties including observation, communication, motor, conceptual, integrative and quantitative, and behavioral and social. Technological compensation can be made for some handicaps in certain of these areas, but such a candidate should be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner. A candidate must be able to observe demonstrations and experiments in the basic sciences, including but not limited to physiologic and pharmacologic demonstrations in animals, microbiologic cultures, and microscopic studies of microorganisms and tissues in normal and pathologic states. A candidate must be able to observe a patient accurately at a distance and close at hand.
Observation necessitates the functional use of the sense of vision and somatic sensation.
It is enhanced by the functional use of the sense of smell. A candidate should be able to speak, to hear, and to observe patients in order to elicit information, describe changes in mood, activity and posture, and perceive nonverbal communications. A candidate must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients. Communication includes not only speech, but reading and writing. The candidate must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in oral and written form with all members of the health care team.