What Do Physician Assistants Do? – Mikhail Lezhak, PA

Ask Mikhail Lezhak what physician assistants do and you may be surprised by the answer. In the past, all professional medical care was performed by doctors and nurses. But doctors and nurses often spent a lot of time doing repetitive work that limited the time they had to focus on their specialty.

Mikhail Lezhak, Physician AssistantPhysician assistants, especially those in urology, may be called upon to do any of these things to assist the doctor:

  • Patient history checks, both directly with the patient and with recorded medical records. They will review records and update records. Based on what they learn, they will brief their supervising physicians about anything noteworthy
  • Perform physical exams. They can do the basic exams, but they also are trained to spot symptoms that require more advanced medical care
  • Order and interpret basic laboratory tests
  • For many relatively minor types of injuries, they may be qualified to handle the direct treatment
  • Assist surgeons doing surgical procedures
  • Perform minor surgical procedures, including suturing (making stitches); immunizations and injections; setting up, monitoring and removing intravenous feeds
  • Perform preoperative and postoperative care, including managing infection prevention
  • Prescribe medications as permitted
  • Provide patient counseling on medical issues, including self-care and follow-up
  • Set up health management plans and diets
  • Assist in maintaining a healthy, safe and sanitary healthcare environment, in accordance with health laws, regulations and accepted medical practices
  • Help maintain the proper stocks of medical supplies
  • Work with administrators and administrative staff to assure a more smoothly operating medical care environment

Essentially, PAs perform tasks that free up their supervising doctors for more difficult and complicated health issues. If this job sounds a lot like what nurses do, you are right. There is considerable overlap of responsibilities within medical communities.

In Florida, physician assistants do have a limited ability to prescribe and dispense medications. The ability for PAs to prescribe drugs is based on a written agreement between the PAs and their supervising board-certified doctors. That written agreement must have the following:

  • Effective for only five years, whereupon a new license is required
  • Requires the PA to take 10 continuing medical education credits before each license renewal period, including three hours about safe and effective prescribing of controlled substances
  • Only effective with that one PA-doctor agreement; it must be remade if the supervising doctor changes
  • Filed with the Florida Board of Medicine

There are some drugs that a PA cannot prescribe. For example, a PA working in urology cannot prescribe many of the same drugs that a PA working in psychiatry would prescribe, and vice-versa. Thus, there is local accountability for physician assistants within Florida about how they handle drugs.

Supervising doctors may have their PAs handle such duties as researching new medical device company products and keep the doctors advised on new drug formularies. PAs may be asked to scan medical journals for interesting issues as well as follow interesting and related legal cases involving their profession. They may help in medical research.

Just like nurses and nurse practitioners, PAs help the system run more smoothly by letting those who specialize spend more time on their side of the practice. The doctors can function more professionally as medical experts, and administrators can spend more time working with business management.

When you see Mikhail Lezhak, PA, at Advanced Urology Institute, you are seeing someone who has a wealth of training and experience in many of the same functions performed by a licensed medical doctor. Rest assured that your doctor still has you in good hands when your visit is with a medical professional who is a PA. For more information about physician assistants, visit the Advanced Urology Institute website.

What does a physician assistant do According to Janelle Bunce?

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • Physician assistants work in all areas of medical practice and are trained to perform diagnostic tests, interpret results, and develop treatment plans under the supervision of a physician.
  • In addition to their clinical roles, physician assistants also educate patients on preventative health, collect patient histories, and assist in surgical procedures.
  • The main purpose of a physician assistant’s job is to lighten a physician’s workload, enabling medical facilities to operate more efficiently and effectively.

Physician assistants, as the name suggests, are professionals whose main job is to assist physicians in their work. They work under the supervision of a qualified and registered physician and even when the physician is not physically present, they are expected to report on their activities to their supervising doctor.

To qualify as a physician assistant, you must obtain a bachelor’s degree with an emphasis on science courses such as anatomy. You need to apply to a Physician Assistant Training Program to obtain a masters degree. The training programs are quite intense, combining theoretical and practical classes in a hospital environment. After completing the training program, the student must pass the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination.

The Role of Physician Assistants.

Janelle Bunce: Physician AssistantPhysician assistants work in all areas of medical practice, from basic primary care to geriatric care, pediatrics, and even emergency medicine. Their roles can be summarized:

1. Studying diagnostic tests and developing basic treatment plans

Physician assistants can perform, order and interpret diagnostic tests. They also are authorized to perform physical tests on patients. Based on the results of the tests, physician assistants can develop a treatment plan but only after consulting with the physician. They are allowed to prescribe medication as part of a treatment plan.

2. Educating patients on preventative health

Physician assistants devote their efforts to educating patients and their families on the steps that can improve disease management and prevent its worsening. They also help by warning and educating people about harmful habits and health hazards.

3. Collecting Patient Histories

When patients go to a facility for the first time, physician assistants interview them to obtain any family history that might have a bearing on the patient’s state of health. Such records are maintained at the hospital and they inform the treatment plan of a patient.

4. Assisting in Surgical Procedures

Some physician assistants focus on being surgical assistants. They perform pre and post surgical roles such as preparing and counseling the patient and monitoring the healing process after surgery.

The essence of a physician assistant’s job is to lighten a physician’s work load. They make sure that the small number of doctors available see as many patients as possible. Physician assistants play a key role that makes them vital to any medical facility’s operation. At the Advanced Urology Institute for instance, every physician is teamed up with one physician assistant to ensure maximum productivity. For more information, visit the Advanced Urology Institute website.

TRANSCRIPTION: 

My name is Janelle Bunce. I’m a physician assistant with Advanced Urology Institute.

There’s a lot of responsibility in the position. We are here to work as a team. I keep telling patients that. I keep reiterating that today. We truly are a team. So if it helps make the physician’s life easier, that’s what we’re here to do. So whether that’s reviewing labs or taking phone calls or rounding at the hospitals in conjunction with them. It’s really to help them be able to have more free time so that they can continue to provide better patient care.

Primarily we work with one physician. So we’re a team of one physician and one advanced practice provider. So we have nurse practitioners and physician assistants. So I work with Dr. Wilkinson. Dr. Wilkinson is a great guy. He is a wonderful physician and we’re able to have a little fun while we work. We spend so much of our time with our work family and he is definitely a fun guy to work with.

REFERENCES: