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Research Assessment #3

Date: ​September 5, 2019

Subject: ​The Physician Assistant Will See You

Source:

Moran, Barbara. “The Physician Assistant Will See You.” ​The New York Times​, The New York

Times, 1 Aug. 2014,

www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/education/edlife/the-physician-assistant-will-see-you.html

Assessment:

The article, “The Physician Assistant Will See You” describes the growing profession of

Physician Assistants (PA). The article not only highlights the positives of the PA occupation, but

also the negatives. For example, not every doctor loves the fact that medicine has become a team

sport; these doctors believe that working alongside a physician assistant can cause risks to the

patients. Physician Assistants, also, face discrimination from patients not thinking they have the

proper education to treat and diagnose. However, the PA profession is still one of the fastest

growing as the need for healthcare and decline in doctors increases.

This information will apply to me because in my Independent and Study Mentorship

(ISM) class, I plan to study the occupation of Physician Assistants. The article provides me with

a wider scope of knowledge on the PA profession. From this article, I was able to learn that

Physician Assistants are not as widely accepted as I first thought. This gives me a greater

appreciation for accredited Physician Asssistants who have to overcome discrimination in the
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medical field. I will be able to use this as a guide throughout my interview, making sure to ask

about the diversity they face in the workplace.

The information in this article is broken down into advantages and disadvantages to the

PA profession. This article expanded my previous knowledge about Physician Assistants and

made me more excited to mentor under one this year. None of the information in this article,

constricted any of my prior knowledge. However, the article did reveal to me some of the

struggles Physician Assistants face in the medical field. The article reiterated the fact that the PA

profession is booming and will continue to grow at a rapidly fast pace. The role of Physician

Assistants in the workplace will continue to be accepted by doctors and patients as the profession

continue to grow.

With the information provided to me throughout this article, I will create my interview

questions. I have questions regarding if Physician Assistants are still discriminated against in the

workplace today because the article was written five year ago. Since then, the PA profession has

grown even more and with that I wonder if their acceptance in the medical field has grown as

well. I believe that Physician Assistants have become more accepted in the years because I see a

PA when I go to the doctor’s office and I have never questioned it.

The new knowledge I received from analyzing this article will be beneficial to me as I

continue in my Independent and Study Mentorship program. The new information that I

discovered when reading this article was a little discouraging because it described some of the

negative opinions surrounding PAs. Overall, the article made me feel encouraged because it

talked about all the growth to come with this profession and made me excited for my future in
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this career pathway. I think Physician Assistants are becoming a key player in the healthcare

team that are vital to patient care.