What is a Physician Assistant?
OAD Orthopaedics employs certified physician assistants
(PAs) who work under the direct supervision of the practice’s
physicians. These PAs are highly trained licensed health care professionals
with bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees
in physician assistant studies. PAs typically have experienced
thousands of hours of direct patient care experience, must pass a
national certification exam developed by the National
Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA)
in conjunction with the National Board of Medical Examiners, and similar
to OAD Orthopaedics’ physicians and nurses, are
licensed by the State of Illinois.
As a result of PAs’ intense
clinical medicine, research, and surgical training, PAs
can be found working in all the medical fields and specialties,
such as orthopaedics. OAD Orthopaedics’ PAs participate
in patient care in both the clinical office and hospital
settings with duties including the following:
- Physical examinations, orthopaedic
evaluations
- Preoperative exams, consultations
and histories
- Injections
- Casting
- Development of patients’ treatment
plans with physicians
- Assistance with wound closures,
dressings and hardware insertions
- In-patient hospital visits/“hospital
rounds”
- Postoperative care
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Physician Assistants Play Vital Role in Orthopaedics
PAs’ surgical
responsibilities are the most critical aspect of their
collaboration with OAD Orthopaedics’
surgeons. The practice’s skilled assistants are
familiar
with the surgeons’ techniques, instrumentation,
and preferences, resulting in a highly coordinated
physician-directed, consultative level of care.
The OAD Orthopaedics’ PAs, however, do not make
surgical incisions, finalize hardware, determine prosthesis
placement, or close deep layers of incisions.
The cohesive physician-PA team approach to
orthopaedics enhances the quality and delivery of
specialized care, treatment, and services available to
patients. This systematic collaboration provides the
efficiency and consistency in health care that patients
deserve and value.
“Fast
Facts” from
the American Academy
of Physician Assistants
- PA programs typically
require a bachelor’s
degree and 4 years of health care experience
prior to admission.
- Accredited PA programs average 111 weeks of
instruction including, but not limited to, pharmacology,
clinical medicine, laboratory science, anatomy
and physiology, pathology, medical ethics and
more than 2000 hours of clinical rotations.
- Practicing PAs must pass a national certification
exam open only to accredited PA program graduates,
obtain individual state licenses, complete at
least 100 hours of continuing medical education
every 2 years, and pass a recertification exam
every 6 years.
- Forty-nine states, the District of Columbia,
and Guam have enacted laws that authorize PA
prescription privileges.
- While all programs recognize
the completion of the professional component
of PA education with a certificate of completion,
more than half of the 135 nationally accredited
programs award an applicable master’s
degree.
- The American Academy of Physician Assistants
estimates there were 58,665 people in clinical
practice as PAs at the beginning of 2006.
- Dr. Eugene Stead of the Duke University Medical
Center in North Carolina put together the first
class of PAs in 1965.
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OF PAGE 
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OAD Orthopaedics'
team of Certified Physician Assistants
Christopher Kwong,
M.S., PA-C
Shannon
McCormick,
M.M.S., PA-C
Laurie Morgan,
M.S., PA-C
Daniel O'Donnell,
M.P.A.S., PA-C
Susan Reed,
M.M.S., PA-C
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