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I know in today's medicine that this is very widespread...also i have seen some doctors have "PA" after MD after their names...is it power of attorney?
Can Someone Explain to me Power of Attorney?
- Thread starter ASDIC
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I'm sure there are JD's on this forum who can give you a more legal interpretation, but there are many types of powers of attorney. In the medical sense, there is a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare, which I have for my husband and mother, and my husband has for me. When this is activated, I, or the person for which it is written, can no longer make healthcare determinations. The person I have designated is the one I have trusted to make the decisions when I cannot. There are other powers of attorney - a general power of attorney - usually when a person is just this side of being conserved (unable to make any decisions for themselves & the court has approved a specific conservator) or it can be very specific - ie when one spouse must finalize the sale of the house & the other spouse has already moved. If the house (or other property, car, etc..) is in both names, both names must sign off the title - however, you can get a power of attorney for one unique circumstance - to authorize the sale of 12345 XYS St. Anywhere, USA. I have no idea what PA after an MD would signify, but I doubt it is power of attorney since that is for one individual only.
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You mean when someone writes their name as Bob Jones, MD, PA? It means Professional Association. Similar to the way many attorneys are Jane Smith, PC, where PC means Professional Corporation. It's an indication that the practice is incorporated into a legal business form.
Power of attorney is the legal ability to act on someone's behalf. It can be broad or narrow depending on the document that gave the right of representation.
There are MDs who first trained as Physician Assistants before medical school, if they passed the national exam they'd use MD, PA-C. I suppose if they later incorporate their business they could then be Bob Jones, MD, PA, PA-C. 😉
Power of attorney is the legal ability to act on someone's behalf. It can be broad or narrow depending on the document that gave the right of representation.
There are MDs who first trained as Physician Assistants before medical school, if they passed the national exam they'd use MD, PA-C. I suppose if they later incorporate their business they could then be Bob Jones, MD, PA, PA-C. 😉
