What Do PAs Do ... in Canada?
A new twist on the time-tested "What Is a PA" feature, which you can count on being published in a U.S. newspaper somewhere at least once a month, 40-odd years after the profession debuted. The difference this time: It's about PAs in Canada.
From yesterday's Fredericton, New Brunswick, Daily Gleaner, the brief article, headlined "What do physician assistants do?" was part of a package about PAs north of the border. It does a decent job of describing the PA basics:
The physician assistant who could soon be treating you in an emergency room must be supervised by a physician.
But what exactly does supervision mean?
Sarah Clarke, a physician assistant and program director of the physician assistant education program at the University of Manitoba, said physician supervision doesn't mean that the physician has to be looking over the shoulder of a physician assistant.
More interesting, though, was the accompanying article about the Canadian PA pool.
If New Brunswick wants to start hiring physician assistants, it will probably to have to recruit them in the United States, says the Atlantic chapter president of the Canadian Association of Physician Assistants.
"There are a limited number of physician assistants that are available in the civilian sector," said David Steiger, a military physician assistant based in Halifax.
Link to "What do physician assistants do?" article
Link to "N.B. facing competition to fill health-care jobs" article