History Of Physicians Assistant :: essays research papers fc

The year is 1959, and Mr. Scott has had a migraine headache for the past few weeks and so he drives to the local Potsdam Hospital. The poignant antiseptic smell fills his nostrils as he steps unto the polished hospital floor but what catches his eye is the large number of people waiting in the lounge. Mr. Scott patiently stands behind the long line of people to sign the needed forms to be seen by the physician. An hour and a half passes, and it is finally his turn to see the receptionist. He looks at the woman behind the counter in the bright white uniform and asks, â€Å"Is it always like this?† The woman replies in a weary but irritated tone â€Å"It was not this hectic until Dr. Johnson and Dr. Smith left to specialize in Syracuse.† As Mr. Jones fills out the questionnaire about his insurance, he mutters to him self, â€Å"Boy, they need to do something about this. They should hire more doctors or something." The medical community did do something to off set th e projected decline of physicians. About thirty years ago, a new health care profession was integrated into the medical field to assist physicians to prescreen and handle the routine patient loads. At first, Physician Assistants (PA’s) met some opposition, but later they were accepted as a need and an asset to society. The following history of the physician assistant will show how a crisis caused the development of this profession, and the conditions which created the profession and how the struggles of the PA profession during the 1960’s through the 1970’s ended with the maturity phase of the 1980’s and 1990’s. A crisis caused the development of the PA profession. This problem was the widely held belief that there was a shortage of medically trained personnel , which originated from the 1959 Report of the Surgeon General’s Consultant Group of Medical Education. This report gave three main reasons why an expansion of health care was needed in the United States: 1. There was fear of rapid population growth projections with disproportionate increases of the young and elderly. These two populations statistically and historically utilize more health care than the average populace. 2. There was an increased per capita use of health care facilities. This was spurred by numerous factors. The first was improved living standards that brought higher life expectancy and lower infant mortality.