Central PA Medicine Summer 2021 - 5

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I believe our intention throughout the
medical community is to create ambiguity
and confusion among our patients. There
is a movement nationally as noted above
for physician assistants to formally change
their designation to physician associate.
Since many states have the name " physician
assistant " in statute, it's not a done deal as
yet because many laws would have to be
amended to achieve that goal. The reason I
assume for the name change is to remove any
thoughts of a level of subservience. However,
the physician is, if working in a team model,
the leader of the team. Therefore, whether a
nurse, nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist,
nurse midwife or physician assistant; they
interact with the physician as an extension
of the physician's knowledge and skill. When
needed for the sake of patient safety and care,
that physician's abilities are tapped into by
the mid-level provider.
Changing the name from assistant to
associate will without a doubt create ambiguity.
Many physician groups use the words
associate or associates in their group name to
describe a team of equally qualified doctors.
And the word " associate " is thought by many
to describe equality when the roles of the
physician assistant and the physician were
meant to be and are quite different.
As the trend toward mid-level providers to
receive doctorates whether Doctor of Nursing
practice or doctor of nurse anesthesia and so
on, states such as Pennsylvania were forced
to require the roles of the medical providers
to be well stated on their badge (registered
nurse, licensed practical nurse, and so on)
to allow for transparency. A name change
such as this makes that goal for transparency
even less achievable.
And why would anyone want to create
ambiguity in medicine? The last thing I
would want is to be mistaken for a nurse!
They do things that I cannot nor would want
to do. They have skills that are not even
vaguely in my skill set. It's time we create
more clarity and transparency in medicine.
Name changes to appease organizations and
societies do nothing to improve our jobs at
a grassroots level where our patients exist.
Central PA Medicine Summer 2021 5
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Central PA Medicine Summer 2021

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