The Role of the Physician Assistant in Critical Care

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Since inception in the mid-1960s, the Physician Assistant (PA) profession has grown to become an integral part of healthcare delivery.

As the name implies, PAs were historically seen as assistants to the physician, helping with task completion and the eventual offloading of responsibilities.

With the passage of time and concurrent advancement of medicine, there has been a shift towards patient-centered care models with PAs assuming the role of primary caregiver within a multidisciplinary team.

The physician remains at the epicenter of this team, coordinating the overall care and overseeing the trajectory of the patient whilst in the ICU.

Current and future projections see the introduction and assimilation of PAs into the world of telemedicine, mirroring the augmentation of care delivery much like that seen within the traditional brick and mortar ICU.

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