You’ve just made an appointment at M&M Orthopaedics, and noticed that your appointment is with a Physician Assistant (P.A.). What is a P.A. and how will they provide your care?

Physician Assistants (P.A.’s) are mid-level health care providers. All P.A.’s have graduated from a two-year P.A. program based on the medical school model. This means that schooling includes a year of course work and a year of clinical rotations. Upon completion of their degree, all P.A.’s take a national certification exam. After passing this exam, P.A.’s are licensed to practice by the state.

Physician Assistants do many of the things that a physician does; they see new patients, follow up patients, and post-operative patients. P.A.s can also order tests and prescribe medication. A physician must supervise the P.A.’s work. This supervision does not have to be direct, but the physician must be available to the P.A. for consultation. At M&M Orthopaedics, this means that the P.A. always works in the office in conjunction with a physician.

Physician Assistants are proud to be a part of the health care team, focused on providing quality care to all our patients.