PAs vital to health care system
We all know that receiving medical care can be stressful. Whether you’re nervous about a procedure, frustrated at the wait time for an appointment, or visiting a new medical practice for the first time, navigating the health care world can be understandably unnerving.
But PAs, or physician assistants, are here to help.
When you need health care, our goal is to be there for you. PAs are medical professionals who diagnose illness, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and can serve as your obstetrics and gynecology health care provider. PAs improve health care access and quality, making it easier for you to get the care you need.
From Oct. 6 to 12, we’re marking PA Week, which recognizes our profession and its contributions to the nation’s health. During PA Week, we hope you’ll have the chance to talk to a PA about what it is we do, and why we’re proud to do it.
Even if you haven’t been treated by a PA before, there’s a good chance you will. There are approximately 150,000 PAs working across the country, and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the profession is expected to grow 37 percent between 2016 and 2036.
Here in Connecticut, there are more than 2,600 PAs providing high-quality care. There’s a good chance there are PAs working in some of the medical offices you visit, and you may even know some students planning to pursue careers in the profession.
There are 277 PA programs, which educate students at the master’s degree level. These programs are an average of 27 months long and require students to complete rigorous classroom coursework. Additionally, PA students complete 2,000 hours of clinical rotations in a broad spectrum of specialties, including family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, general surgery, emergency medicine, and psychiatry. Trained as medical generalists, PAs perform many of the same tasks as physicians, and know how to treat the “whole patient.”
The PA profession is committed to improving access to quality care for all patients, including you and your loved ones. The health care system can be complicated and at times, frustrating. But through it all, you can be confident that whatever you need, your PA can handle it.
Nora Frempong is a third-year PA student attending Sacred Heart University’s master of physician assistant studies program and is also student representative on the board of directors of the Association for PAs in Obstetrics and Gynecology.