October 6-12 is National PA Week! It’s a great time for us to reflect on all our incredible colleagues. If this year has shown us anything, it’s this:
PAs are essential for all of us.
So many PAs have stepped up in significant ways over this COVID-19 pandemic. But the cost can be high, and many of our friends are suffering: a survey from May of this past year found that more than one in five PAs (22.1%) have been furloughed due to COVID-19, while 3.7% of PAs said they had been terminated. Nearly three in five PAs (58.7%) cited a reduction in hours worked, and 30.6% cited a reduction in base pay. (Source: AAPA)
PAs are highly trained and qualified medical professionals, who diagnose illness, develop, and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications and often serve as a patient’s principal healthcare provider. They are educated at the master’s degree level in the medical model over a 27-month-long period. There are more than 140,000 PAs in the U.S. who work in all medical settings and specialties. Taking any of them out of practice right now is a huge problem for all of us.
If you’re a PA looking for a new opportunity in healthcare, we are always excited to hear from you - reach out anytime to see what’s available in your area.
Are you a PA? Tell us what got you started and why you have continued on this journey. We would love to hear the passion behind your purpose!
Did you know?
In 1971, the American Medical Association (AMA) first recognized the PA as a profession and allowed 6 of the 50 states to practice.
Students completing their PA degree accumulate over 2,000 hours of clinical rotations in a broad spectrum of specialties. Some of those are family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, general surgery, emergency medicine, and psychiatry.
PAs can be classified as medical generalists because they perform many of the same tasks as physicians. They can diagnose illness, create treatment plans, and prescribe medication. They are giving quality healthcare to patients in every medical and financial setting.
PAs are especially critical in the world of skilled long-term care and wound healing, where they provide essential care and treatment for vulnerable populations in nursing homes, helping to heal wounds, educate caregivers, and promote better health outcomes.
To all the PAs we know and love - thank you!
Skilled Wound Care is a mobile surgical practice committed to transforming the chronic wound care model in nursing facilities. Wound care experts make weekly bedside visits to patients in long-term care facilities, avoiding transfers to hospitals or clinics. Our expert physicians give patients the most up-to-date and effective wound treatments and educate facility staff on how to help patients continue to heal quickly and effectively between visits. This model of collaborative care allows SWC’s physicians to improve patients’ lives and health outcomes, to empower nursing staff, and to raise public awareness. Skilled Wound Care, along with its nurse and nursing home partners, is working every day to positively transform traditional nursing home wound care.
PAs are highly trained and qualified medical professionals, who diagnose illness, develop, and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications and often serve as a patient’s principal healthcare provider. They are educated at the master’s degree level in the medical model over a 27-month-long period. There are more than 140,000 PAs in the U.S. who work in all medical settings and specialties. Taking any of them out of practice right now is a huge problem for all of us.