Roles of Physicians and Surgeons and Physician Assistants in Healthcare

This presentation discusses the roles of physicians and surgeons and physician assistants in healthcare, their scope of practice, potential conflicts, and recommendations for a competent team-working environment. It also provides relevant references for further reading.

LEADERSHIP IN NURSING

THE ROLES OF TWO OTHER NON-NURSING
HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
 In the healthcare industry, numerous medical professionals are instrumental in
the advancement of the healthcare (Kemppainen, Tossavainen, & Turunen,
2013).
 Therefore, the two non-nursing professionals in healthcare for this paper are
the Physicians and Surgeons (MDs) and Physician Assistants (PAs) (Salmond
& Echevarria, 2017).
 The primary roles of the physicians and surgeons are to diagnose, and treat all
kinds of injuries and illnesses.
 They compile medical history; provide education and training for the families
and patients.

THE SCOPE OF PRACTICE OF THE TEAM MEMBER RELATED TO AUTONOMY AND
EDUCATION;
 For the part of the MDs, their educational scope is doctoral or specialized degree,
which takes a duration of four years for undergraduate completion and four years in the
medical school.
 They could also spend between three to eight years for in their internship to gain
working experience (Washington State Department of Health, 2012).
 On the other hand, the PAs education level entry is master’s degree, which takes up to
four years and 2-3 years of internship practice, which adds up to a total of 7 years.

CONTINUATION
 They are also certified to perform operations, and may work in private
clinics or public hospitals.
 On the other hand, the PAs perform their functions under the supervision of
the MDs (NGA Paper, 2014).

HOW THESE ROLES MIGHT CONFLICT
 The MDs and PAs have the roles that are quite similar, and sometimes it is
hard to define their roles separately (Wong & Farrally, 2014).
 While the PAs are naturally supposed to support the MDs, their duties are
quite parallel, and this sometimes raises role-conflict.
 For that reason, the possibility of the role-clash is a serious source of concern
in any medical working environment for both MDs and the PAs (Babenko,
2018).

RECOMMENDATIONS
 In conclusion, for a competent team-working between the MDs and the PAs,
there is the need to have defined roles within the working set up (Murata,
2014).
 Also, the having a collaborative team means that the team could take up roles
in association and cooperation, to give the best services to the patients
(Porter-O’Grady & Malloch, 2018).

REFERENCES
 Babenko, O. (2018). Professional Well-Being of Practicing Physicians: The Roles
of Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness. Healthcare, 1-8.
 Kemppainen, V., Tossavainen, K., & Turunen, H. (2013). Nurses' roles in health
promotion practice: an integrative review. Health Promotion International, 490–
501.
 Murata, A. (2014). Doctor, Nurse, Patient Relationships: Negotiating Roles and
Power: A Case Study of Decision-Making for C-sections. Senior Honors Thesis:
University of Michigan, 1-88.
 NGA Paper. (2014). The Role of Physician Assistants in Health Care Delivery.
National Governors Association, 1-15.
 Porter-O'Grady, T., & Malloch, K. (2018). Quantum Leadership: Creating
Sustainable Value in Health Care. Burlington, MA: ones & Bartlett Learning.
 Salmond, S., & Echevarria, M. (2017). Healthcare Transformation and Changing
Roles for Nursing. Orthopedic Nursing, 12-25.
 Washington State Department of Health. (2012). Physician and Surgeon (MD)
Continuing Education Requirements. Washington State Department of Health, 1-
3.
 Wong, S., & Farrally, V. (2014). The Utilization of Nurse Practitioners and
Physician Assistants: A Research Synthesis. Prepared for the Michael Smith
Foundation for Health Research, 1-102.