Physician Assistant
A physician assistant is someone who works helps doctors to manage and treat their patients. The main difference between a doctor and a physician assistant is that a doctor supervises the latter. The job description of a physician is similar to that of a physician in the same specialized area. Among the various kinds of assistants are those who specialize in urgent care, which is a branch of primary care for needs such as sprains and other acute conditions that come across as emergencies but require a quick remedy (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). This specialized area has among the highest salaries and has many practitioners because of the high number of people who have urgent medical issues that are not life threatening. As such, patients going in to urgent care may have cuts, infections, minor fraction, and asthma, among others. Other duties of a physician assistant working in urgent care include performing a medical exam, taking the medical history of the patients, and ordering diagnostic tests (mostly done at clinics) (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). After establishment of the problem, the assistant prescribes treatment and educates patients on self-Care.
Personal characteristics required include having excellent interpersonal skills to interact well with patients, organization skills to avoid confusion; gentleness and strong leadership are also required when dealing with patients and other members of staff. One also needs to be assertive to spot the injuries that require the patient to be taken to the emergency room. As of 2015, the physician assistants were paid roughly $98, 180 per year (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). The employment of physician assistants is expected to grow an estimated 30% between 2014 and 2024 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015).
References
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. (2015, December 17) Occupational outlook handbook: Health-Physician assistants. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physician-assistants.htm
