physician assistant

assistant /as·sis·tant/ (ah-sis´tant) one who aids or helps another; an auxiliary.

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physician assistant  see under physician.

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physician /phy·si·cian/ (fĭ-zish´in)

1. an authorized practitioner of medicine, as one graduated from a college of medicine or osteopathy and licensed by the appropriate board; see also doctor.

2. one who practices medicine as distinct from surgery.

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physician assistant  one who has been trained in an accredited program and certified by an appropriate board to perform certain of a physician's duties, including history taking, physical examination, diagnostic tests, treatment, and certain minor surgical procedures, all under the responsible supervision of a licensed physician. Abbreviated P.A.

attending physician 

1. a physician who has admitting privileges at a hospital.

2. the physician with primary responsibility for the care of a patient in a particular case.

emergency physician  a specialist in emergency medicine.

family physician  a medical specialist who plans and provides the comprehensive primary health care of all members of a family, regardless of age or sex, on a continuous basis.

resident physician  a graduate and licensed physician receiving training in a specialty, usually in a hospital.

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physician assistant (PA),

a person academically and clinically prepared to practice medicine under the supervision of a licensed doctor of medicine or osteopathy. Within the physician/PA relationship, PAs exercise autonomy in medical decisions and provide a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic services. Training programs average 25 to 27 months. National certification is available to graduates of approved training programs, a master's degree level in most states.

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physician assistant

PA Medtalk A person qualified to perform various physician-supervised medical tasks–eg, taking Pt Hx, performing physical exams and autopsies Education 2 yrs beyond college or university. See Pathologists' assistant, Physician extender.

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Patient discussion about physician assistant.

Q. What is a physician assistant? What are the differences betwwen it and MD? My son want to be a doctor (MD). I think it might be to hard for him. I know that there is something called physician assistant can someone elaborate more about this profession?

A. physician assistant are just like full doctors except they need a MD to sign some of the forms they have.
You can see more about the academic program here
http://paprogram.mc.duke.edu/