A physician associate is a healthcare professional who is an extension of the medical team. ⁣⁣We are supervised clinicians, which means that we work under the supervision of a doctor and we are patient facing.⁣⁣
⁣⁣We are post graduates who have learnt the most common and important medical conditions within the United Kingdom. ⁣⁣We work alongside other clinicians with the aims to alleviate the pressure from the doctors and allow them to focus on the more complex cases and further training/teaching.⁣⁣ We help to diagnose, treat and manage patients within the field that we are working in if it is within our competency.⁣⁣
⁣⁣We are generalist clinicians who do not specialise, which also means that we can work in any speciality throughout our career without further training. ⁣⁣We can further develop our skill set by taking any opportunities presented to us within the fields we are working in, for example; minor surgeries in GP, colonoscopies in GI/general surgery and so on....⁣⁣There is scope for PAs to prescribe and order imaging with ionising radiation in the future, however, at present we are not yet regulated to do so. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣The career path is ever changing and improving, with more and more PAs graduating and entering the field every year! ⁣⁣