The Source for Navy News
Physician Assistants: Expanding Quality of Care from the Hospital to the Battlefield
Story Number: NNS031010-05
Release Date: 10/10/2003 9:43:00 AM
By Loren Barnes, Naval Hospital Jacksonville Public Affairs
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- Physician Assistants (PAs) celebrated Physician Assistant Day Oct. 6, in recognition of the first class of PAs who graduated from Duke University in North Carolina in 1967.
The original class included five Vietnam-era Navy hospital corpsmen. Today, there are 246 PAs on active duty in Naval Medicine.
The PA concept, according to Lt. Timothy Burnham, a Branch Medical Clinic Jacksonville PA, was originally devised by the Navy to supplement primary care in the military because of a general medical officer shortage at the time.
Military PA training includes a year at a joint service school at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and one year of clinical rotations at Naval Medical Center San Diego. PAs are state licensed and accredited through the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.
"We do almost anything and everything, including physical readiness training surveys, fractures, sprains, strains, colds, stomach ailments, pap smears, GYN problems and more," said Burnham.
PAs take medical histories, perform physical exams, order and interpret lab tests, diagnose and treat illnesses, suture lacerations, assist in surgery and write prescriptions.
“Navy PAs work under a supervising physician but in most cases have complete autonomy," Burnham explained. Charts for each patient are reviewed and followed up by the PA's supervising physician.
The role of PAs in Naval Medicine is expanding into specialized areas as diverse as orthopedics, urology, sports medicine and emergency room medicine. Specialized PAs are also being considered for aviation medicine, undersea medicine and psychiatry.
Many Naval Medicine PAs are former hospital corpsmen like Burnham, whose combined experience enhanced their role during recent deployments. "The value of PAs on the battlefield was demonstrated both in Afghanistan and Iraq," said Burnham, who served with a shock trauma platoon in Iraq.
Whether at home or deployed, Navy physician assistants are vital members of the Naval Medicine team, delivering the very best in ‘Force Health Protection.’
For related news, visit the Navy Medicine Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/mednews.
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