Physician assistants in the OR

[maceo]

There should be a road for Physician Assistants to spend one year in the operating room with us to allow them to become anesthetists. If they are allowed to work with every other specialist why not us? what are your thoughts? anyone? im sure i have mentioned this before. They have rigorous standards and entance requirements and all of them I have met are very competent. what would be the road the effect this? maybe toughlife knows? I understand there are anesthesiology assistants, but im talking about PAs who can have a road to becoming anesthetists in every state.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[mille125]

There should be a road for Physician Assistants to spend one year in the operating room with us to allow them to become anesthetists. If they are allowed to work with every other specialist why not us? what are your thoughts? anyone? im sure i have mentioned this before. They have rigorous standards and entance requirements and all of them I have met are very competent. what would be the road the effect this? maybe toughlife knows? I understand there are anesthesiology assistants, but im talking about PAs who can have a road to becoming anesthetists in every state.

Yes, a PA in the OR is an anesthesiology assistant....what is wrong with this pathway...


I dont understand why you are asking for more practioners to be placed in the OR. Haven't you learn from the current situation with CRNA's?



I am not trying to be a smart ass but I just dont understand the point of your suggestion.

 

[RAMPA]

Yes, a PA in the OR is an anesthesiology assistant....what is wrong with this pathway...


I dont understand why you are asking for more practioners to be placed in the OR. Haven't you learn from the current situation with CRNA's?



I am not trying to be a smart ass but I just dont understand the point of your suggestion.

a practitioner that falls under the BOM and provides competition in the marketplace for CRNAs and another option for anesthesiologists

 

[jwk]

There should be a road for Physician Assistants to spend one year in the operating room with us to allow them to become anesthetists. If they are allowed to work with every other specialist why not us? what are your thoughts? anyone? im sure i have mentioned this before. They have rigorous standards and entance requirements and all of them I have met are very competent. what would be the road the effect this? maybe toughlife knows? I understand there are anesthesiology assistants, but im talking about PAs who can have a road to becoming anesthetists in every state.

The AA is already here. Too many obstacles for PA's, including the fact that a PA cannot be reimbursed for providing anesthesia services. The ASA fully supports the AA concept and has expended considerable time and money in working to expand AA practice. It's highly unlikely that they would support an additional type of provider.

 

[maceo]

a practitioner that falls under the BOM and provides competition in the marketplace for CRNAs and another option for anesthesiologists

exactly. The PAs are truly our assistants and they are trained in the medical model. None of this algorhythmic protocol driven thinking. I think this would be a good effort and i think it woul dbe good for the quality of anesthesia practice in general. spend one year or 14 months at an academic center doing cases. They already have all of their courses like pharmacology and what knot. I am not saying get rid of the AA but just allow PAs to practice anestheisa. Give the crnas some competition to keep them in check and at the same time improve the anesthesia care team model. JWK i understand you are an AA and you dont wanna see this happen but think outside the box for a second.

 

[jwk]

exactly. The PAs are truly our assistants and they are trained in the medical model. None of this algorhythmic protocol driven thinking. I think this would be a good effort and i think it woul dbe good for the quality of anesthesia practice in general. spend one year or 14 months at an academic center doing cases. They already have all of their courses like pharmacology and what knot. I am not saying get rid of the AA but just allow PAs to practice anestheisa. Give the crnas some competition to keep them in check and at the same time improve the anesthesia care team model. JWK i understand you are an AA and you dont wanna see this happen but think outside the box for a second.

Trust me, this is far from the first time this has been proposed. The ASA doesn't support it nor does the AAPA. There is already a pathway for PA to AA. Anesthesiology is not an on-the-job training specialty, and as you know, it goes well beyond just technical skills.

Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, with countless obstacles in the way, why not support the expansion of AA practice nationwide? We are on a rapid upswing in the number of practitioners compared to just five years ago, and have moved into more states each of the last several years. Do you live in a state in which AAs practice now?

 

[ZH1970]

Just how many types of providers do thier need to be before the rest of the world says, "hey anyone can do this" A multplicity of provder types does none of us ANY good.

 

[core0]

Trust me, this is far from the first time this has been proposed. The ASA doesn't support it nor does the AAPA. There is already a pathway for PA to AA. Anesthesiology is not an on-the-job training specialty, and as you know, it goes well beyond just technical skills.

Rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, with countless obstacles in the way, why not support the expansion of AA practice nationwide? We are on a rapid upswing in the number of practitioners compared to just five years ago, and have moved into more states each of the last several years. Do you live in a state in which AAs practice now?

The AAPA has never taken a position on PAs doing anesthesia. On the other hand there is a recognized specialty group Association of Physician Assistants in Anesthesia. Take that for what you may.

To the OP there are at best estimate approximately 25-50 PAs practicing anesthesia in the US. Because of reimbursement most of these PAs practice in either the VA or HMOs. There are an additional several hundred PAs working in pain medicine and pre-op or post-op units.

Given the reimbursement environment this is unlikely to change. There are some interesting things happening with anesthesia groups and PAs using conscious sedation given the relatively recent changes in reimbursement.

David Carpenter, PA-C

 

[jwk]

The AAPA has never taken a position on PAs doing anesthesia. On the other hand there is a recognized specialty group Association of Physician Assistants in Anesthesia. Take that for what you may.

To the OP there are at best estimate approximately 25-50 PAs practicing anesthesia in the US. Because of reimbursement most of these PAs practice in either the VA or HMOs. There are an additional several hundred PAs working in pain medicine and pre-op or post-op units.

Given the reimbursement environment this is unlikely to change. There are some interesting things happening with anesthesia groups and PAs using conscious sedation given the relatively recent changes in reimbursement.

David Carpenter, PA-C

The few PA's that are "practicing anesthesia" are frequently in pre-op clinics. I'd be surprised if there are 25-50 in the OR actually administering anesthesia.

 

[maceo]

http://www.aaspa.com/anesthesia.asp

write them a letter showing support

 

[core0]

The few PA's that are "practicing anesthesia" are frequently in pre-op clinics. I'd be surprised if there are 25-50 in the OR actually administering anesthesia.

The last census lists 8 of the 65 PAs that identified anesthesia as their specialty working in the OR. I know of another 4-5 that are not AAPA members. So I would guess more toward 25 than 50 but these PAs tend to stay way under the radar. Interestingly the AAPA members that work in the OR are almost all in University hospitals (in two particular hospitals I would guess).

There are probably another 6-700 doing preop work either part time or full time and another 600 or so working in pain medicine.

David Carpenter, PA-C