PA & NP Team
Physician Assistants (PAs) are licensed health professionals who practice medicine with physician supervision. As part of the physician-PA team, PAs exercise autonomy in diagnosing and treating illnesses. In most states,Virginia included, PAs can treat patients and write most prescriptions when their supervising physician is away. This helps to maintain continuity of care when doctors are unavailable. They are trained to recognize when patients need the attention of a supervising physician or another specialist. Their training is modeled after medical student training, to include anatomy, pharmacology, pathophysiology, clinical medicine, and physical diagnosis and treatment. This is followed by clinical rotations.
Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are registered nurses with additional skills and training that enable them common primary health care services. NPs take health histories and provide complete physical examinations, diagnose and treat many common acute and chronic problems, interpret laboratory results and X-rays, prescribe and manage medications and other therapies, provide health teaching and counseling to support healthy lifestyle behaviors and prevent illness, and refer patients to other health professionals as needed.
How do physicians and PA’s work together?
The relationship between a PA and his/her supervising physician is that of mutual trust and respect; they function as a team. The PA is a representative of the physician and treats patients in the style and manner developed and directed by the supervising physician. You may see the physician and his/her PA at the same visit. However, if you do not see the physician, please know that the physician assistant discusses and reviews your case with his/her supervising physician.
To learn more about each physician assistant or nurse practitioner, click on their names below.
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