Recovering The SelfA Journal of Hope and Healing

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Roles and Responsibilities of Physician Assistants

by John Gary

A physician is a profession who deals with medical cases. A physician is concerned with the health of each individual and therefore when a patient is taken to them, they study the patient, determine the cause of the sickness and administer treatment. Physicians specialize in different fields and this ensures that they acquire adequate knowledge in their areas of jurisdiction. You still want to learn about PA specialties? Find out more below.

Roles and Responsibilities of Physician Assistant

A full medical team going over a patient's chart on a digital tablet

A full medical team going over a patient’s chart on a digital tablet

Physician assistants are given many roles that deal with the patients because they represent the physicians. They assess the patient and later interview the patients so that they can know where the patient is suffering from. After they get insights on where the patient may be suffering from, they therefore examine the patient, study their medical history and record the results found.

Physician assistants have the role of identifying whether the patients’ disease is short-term or long-term. After the extent of the sickness has been identified, then the physical assistant compiles information about the patient and takes this information to the physician who examines the patient further.

They also examine the patients in order to determine if there are abnormalities in the patient’s body. When they suspect any kind of abnormalities, they administer or may order diagnostic tests carried on the patient. Some of these diagnostic tests may include X-rays, laboratory tests or electrocardiogram and later interpret the results found to be the cause of the patients’ sickness.

In case of minor injuries, the physician assistant may manage the wounds by saturating the infected area first before injecting the patients with anti-bacterial injections. For the children, the physician assistant can administer immunization. This means that the physician assistant is authorized to carry out therapeutic procedures to the patients.

Some patients may need counseling from their daily living. This counseling may be about, domestic or emotional problems or may be the normal growth and development advises. They are also given the responsibilities of explaining different types of family planning methods and help the patient choose the best method they can use that is fit for their bodies.

The physician assistant is given the role of administering medication to some acute and chronic diseases while he or she awaits the physician’s examination. This can help a patient who is in pain by reducing the pain first before the actual examination.

Different physician Assistants

Physician assistants are a group of trained personnel that treat patients, write down medical reports or may even order laboratory tests to be administered on the patients. They act like doctors. There are different physician assistants found in a hospital. Some of the activities administered include:

  • Emergency medicine- The physician assigned to work in emergency rooms should be ready to act fast in case of an emergency.
  • Psychiatry- These are the physicians who handle mental illness.
  • Dermatology- These are physicians who deal with skin conditions.
  • Pediatric- These are physicians who treat children.
  • Gynecology- These are physicians who are found in maternity ward and can handle all female related cases.

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