jdtpac Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 The physician assistant profession has witnessed tremendous growth and has achieved major accomplishments since its inception in 1965 at Duke University in North Carolina. However, despite all that has been gained there is still a significant percentage of practicing Physician Assistants (PA’s) who are dissatisfied with their professional title. They find the title demeaning, confusing to the public and not reflective of their professional status or the service they provide. Many favor a call for the leadership of the profession to address this issue by changing the title of the profession to Physician Associate. Much has been debated over the pros and cons of a title change. But in the end the fact remains, if the title is changed to Physician Associate, those individuals campaigning for a change in professional title will still be referred to as PA’s by their physician colleagues, other healthcare professionals and the public. I do not believe changing the title to Physician Associate is the answer and I would like to offer an alternative title which possibly addresses those dissatisfied with the current title and reflects the evolution of the PA profession – “Associate Physician”. Physician is a word that has two meanings, one would be from a literal perspective and the other would be legal. It goes without saying that if you refer to any state or federal laws a legal definition of “physician” means an individual that has graduated from a recognized and accredited allopathic or osteopathic Medical School and is licensed in a particular jurisdiction to practice medicine or surgery. These individuals are graced with the title “Doctor” and accentuate that title with the suffix “MD” or “DO”. The literal definition of physician is a person skilled in the art of healing. A physician is one who practices physic which is an archaic English word for healing. Physic is derived from the Middle English word, phisik, meaning health or natural science. This was derived from the Greek word phusikē meaning nature. A physician is a health care provider that promotes, maintains or restores human health through the diagnosisand treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments. Medical practice requires both a detailed knowledge of the academic disciplines(such as anatomy and physiology) underlying diseases and their treatment – the science of medicine – and also a decent competence in its applied practice – the art or craft of medicine. Both the role of the physician and the meaning of the word itself vary around the world, including a wide variety of qualifications and degrees, but there are some common elements. The ethics of medicine require that physicians show consideration, compassion and benevolence for their patients. Is not all the afore mentioned consistent with the current role and responsibilities of physician assistants? It would be difficult to argue against the fact that PA’s embody all the essential characteristics which are encompassed in the literal definition of physician. Over the past 46 years the profession has incrementally demonstrated the ability to provide high quality and competent healthcare services to a level where it could be justifiable to say the PA’s have earned, in part, the title “physician”. This justification is rooted in the fact that the gap in the quality of education, base of knowledge and competency of service comparable to MD’s or DO’s has narrowed immensely between PA’s and their supervising physicians since the creation of the physician assistant profession. And it can also be justified based on the similarities in the certification, recertification, licensing and credentialing processes of both physicians and PA’s. PA’s, unlike Advanced Practice Registered Nurses(APRN’s), whose education and training mirrors that of their physician counterparts places them in a unique position to consider changing their title to Associate Physician. I realize the title I have proposed is very controversial and maybe more offensive to physicians than Physician Associate might be. However, I for one think it is time that we start thinking “outside the box” when we begin contemplating what might be the next phase in the evolution of the physician assistant profession. Changing the professional title to Physician Associate will only be a short-term fix for those individuals who are dissatisfied with their current nomenclature. Precedence has already been established giving a title to individuals or professions that share similar qualifications to another individual or profession but whose role and responsibilities in a hierarchical scheme are not as authoritative, i.e.; Associate Professor, Associate Dean, Associate Judge, etc. I respectfully submit the hypotheses and rationale which I believe lends credence to supporting this proposed new title for physician assistants. I base my theories on the facts that I believe to be true based on my experiences as a member of this profession since 1972. Hopefully, after careful thought and critical analysis of the pros and cons of the professional title Associate Physician there can be broader debate and consideration by the rank-and-file of the profession and organized medicine as to the potential benefits of this proposal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquafresh11 Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I think you have a well thought out argument. I think this title would be even more dead in the water than physician associate though. The professions title is awful, everyone agrees with that, but in reality we are stuck with it. It has been around for so long that even if you magically changed the title to Grand Poobah of Medicine, it would take a few generations for the "PA" title to go away. It is the same way everything is a Q-Tip and Kleenex, regardless of what the package says. I think in the grand scheme of things energies are best placed in advancing the profession where we can instead of getting in a huffy about a crappy title. This title change debate is valid, and kudos to those trying to make things better, I just think you are pushing multiple boulders up a super tall hill. The amount of energy expended gets you little in return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physasst Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I'm not a lawyer, but I don't think that legally we could use the term "Associate Physician". It implies that you are in fact a physician. It's already used in many practices and institutions. For example, here we use the term Consultant to denote attendings. However, a new physician on staff is denoted as an Associate Consultant. It's a nice thought, but I don't think that we could ever use that terminology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crieman Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 I completely agree with the above post. That would never fly, nor would I want it to. I think it is way too misleading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAdamsPAC Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 The physician assistant profession has witnessed tremendous growth and has achieved major accomplishments since its inception in 1965 at Duke University in North Carolina. However, despite all that has been gained there is still a significant percentage of practicing Physician Assistants (PA’s) who are dissatisfied with their professional title. They find the title demeaning, confusing to the public and not reflective of their professional status or the service they provide. Many favor a call for the leadership of the profession to address this issue by changing the title of the profession to Physician Associate. Much has been debated over the pros and cons of a title change. But in the end the fact remains, if the title is changed to Physician Associate, those individuals campaigning for a change in professional title will still be referred to as PA’s by their physician colleagues, other healthcare professionals and the public. I do not believe changing the title to Physician Associate is the answer and I would like to offer an alternative title which possibly addresses those dissatisfied with the current title and reflects the evolution of the PA profession – “Associate Physician”. Physician is a word that has two meanings, one would be from a literal perspective and the other would be legal. It goes without saying that if you refer to any state or federal laws a legal definition of “physician” means an individual that has graduated from a recognized and accredited allopathic or osteopathic Medical School and is licensed in a particular jurisdiction to practice medicine or surgery. These individuals are graced with the title “Doctor” and accentuate that title with the suffix “MD” or “DO”. The literal definition of physician is a person skilled in the art of healing. A physician is one who practices physic which is an archaic English word for healing. Physic is derived from the Middle English word, phisik, meaning health or natural science. This was derived from the Greek word phusikē meaning nature. A physician is a health care provider that promotes, maintains or restores human health through the diagnosisand treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments. Medical practice requires both a detailed knowledge of the academic disciplines(such as anatomy and physiology) underlying diseases and their treatment – the science of medicine – and also a decent competence in its applied practice – the art or craft of medicine. Both the role of the physician and the meaning of the word itself vary around the world, including a wide variety of qualifications and degrees, but there are some common elements. The ethics of medicine require that physicians show consideration, compassion and benevolence for their patients. Is not all the afore mentioned consistent with the current role and responsibilities of physician assistants? It would be difficult to argue against the fact that PA’s embody all the essential characteristics which are encompassed in the literal definition of physician. Over the past 46 years the profession has incrementally demonstrated the ability to provide high quality and competent healthcare services to a level where it could be justifiable to say the PA’s have earned, in part, the title “physician”. This justification is rooted in the fact that the gap in the quality of education, base of knowledge and competency of service comparable to MD’s or DO’s has narrowed immensely between PA’s and their supervising physicians since the creation of the physician assistant profession. And it can also be justified based on the similarities in the certification, recertification, licensing and credentialing processes of both physicians and PA’s. PA’s, unlike Advanced Practice Registered Nurses(APRN’s), whose education and training mirrors that of their physician counterparts places them in a unique position to consider changing their title to Associate Physician. I realize the title I have proposed is very controversial and maybe more offensive to physicians than Physician Associate might be. However, I for one think it is time that we start thinking “outside the box” when we begin contemplating what might be the next phase in the evolution of the physician assistant profession. Changing the professional title to Physician Associate will only be a short-term fix for those individuals who are dissatisfied with their current nomenclature. Precedence has already been established giving a title to individuals or professions that share similar qualifications to another individual or profession but whose role and responsibilities in a hierarchical scheme are not as authoritative, i.e.; Associate Professor, Associate Dean, Associate Judge, etc. I respectfully submit the hypotheses and rationale which I believe lends credence to supporting this proposed new title for physician assistants. I base my theories on the facts that I believe to be true based on my experiences as a member of this profession since 1972. Hopefully, after careful thought and critical analysis of the pros and cons of the professional title Associate Physician there can be broader debate and consideration by the rank-and-file of the profession and organized medicine as to the potential benefits of this proposal.[/quote Give it a rest......we ARE NOT physicians! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beorp Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 [...] This justification is rooted in the fact that the gap in the quality of education, base of knowledge and competency of service comparable to MD’s or DO’s has narrowed immensely between PA’s and their supervising physicians since the creation of the physician assistant profession. And it can also be justified based on the similarities in the certification, recertification, licensing and credentialing processes of both physicians and PA’s. The degrees have changed and programs have advanced, but the education is still not medical school. I think we have at least one member who can personally attest to that. [...] Precedence has already been established giving a title to individuals or professions that share similar qualifications to another individual or profession but whose role and responsibilities in a hierarchical scheme are not as authoritative, i.e.; Associate Professor, Associate Dean, An Associate Professor has the same qualifications as a full Professor and will hopefully progress to that. An Associate Dean has the same qualifications as a full Dean and may try to progress to that. A Physician Assistant does not have the same qualifications as a physician and most PAs do not intend on becoming physicians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator ventana Posted January 8, 2012 Moderator Share Posted January 8, 2012 100% support Physician Associate. 100% disagree on Associate Physician just too misleading Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 100% support Physician Associate. 100% disagree on Associate Physician just too misleading Agree... I have to field the "so when will YOU be a real doctor?" question already 2-4 times per week. If the title changes we have to agree on something to which we can transition easily. Physician Associate has the benefit of getting rid of the word "assistant" (which I like), of being less offensive to certain egos (Like the OP above), AND maintains the initials "PA" (which will make our transition to the new title quicker/easier)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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