NEW: What are they?
What can a physician associate do?
What should you look for from a PA?
What is their scope of practice?
How much training do they have?
NEW: Can I receive funding for a PA?
Can I see some case studies?
How should I go about recruiting a PA?
What academic qualifications should a primary care PA have?
Any example job descriptions?
Any sample interview questions?
What clinical supervision do I need to provide?
What ongoing support can I provide?
What should practice induction include?
NEW: What are they?
Physician associates (PAs) are clinical graduates, trained in the medical model and intended to seamlessly integrate with the modern healthcare workforce. They have received 5 years of training, having completed an intensive 2-year university course at diploma or Masters’ level and a 3-year biomedical or healthcare-related degree. With 37 Higher Education Institutes providing PA training programmes, there is an increasing number of qualified PAs in the UK.
PAs are intended not as a substitute for GPs, but as a complementary role, to work alongside the wider practice team in providing continuity of care for patients, especially those with long-term conditions. PAs can diagnose illnesses, develop management plans, and perform physical examinations (see What is their scope of practice? for more). With support, PAs can conduct themselves autonomously; they require a named consultant for supervision purposes, but as they gain experience, the necessary level of supervision will decrease.
What is a Physician Associate? [SWPAN]
Produced by SWPAN, this page outlines what PAs are and what their qualification process is like.
To visit this page, please click here.
Physician Associates in General Practice [Health Careers]
Available on the NHS Health Careers site, this page elaborates on the role of PAs in primary care specifically and serves as a landing page from which to learn more.
To visit this page, please click here.
Physician Associates in Primary Care [HEE]
Likewise, produced by HEE, this page also explores the role of PAs in primary care and offers links to further information.
To visit this page, please click here.
What can a physician associate do?
All PAs can:
- Access, manage, and treat patients with a variety of acute conditions
- Conduct telephone consultations
- Develop and deliver appropriate treatment and management plans
- Formulate differential diagnoses and management plans
- Perform diagnostic and therapeutic procedures
- Perform peak flow examinations
- Perform physical examinations
- Perform urine dip sticks
- Provide health promotion and disease prevention advice
- Request and interpret diagnostics studies
- Review laboratory test results
- See patients with undifferentiated diagnoses
- Send out referrals
- Take medical histories from patients
- Triage patients
Some PAs can:
- Carry out home visits (including to care homes)
- Offer specialised clinics, including family planning
- Run checks for COPD, asthma, diabetes, and anticoagulation
With more experience, PAs can:
- Provide service development and design, serve as clinical placement leads for students, and undertake minor operations
What should you look for from a PA?
When identifying PAs to join their PCN, GPs should look for candidates whom:
- Are recognised and qualified by the Faculty of Physician Associates (FPA) register
- Are on the Managed Voluntary Register (click here to learn more)
- Have completed their postgraduate medical training in PA studies
- Have trained in the UK
What is their scope of practice?
A PA’s scope of practice covers:
- Taking medical histories from patients
- Carrying out physical examinations
- Seeing patients with long-term chronic conditions
- Formulating differential diagnoses and management plans
- Performing diagnostic and therapeutic procedures
- Developing and deliver appropriate treatment and management plans
- Requesting and interpreting diagnostic studies
- Providing health promotion and disease prevention advice for patients
Can I see some case studies?
Click here to read Physician Associates and how they could help your practice.
This document, produced by NHS Castle Point and Rochford, pertinently features a piece on the day-in-the-life of a physician associate, as well as some discussion of how they are educated and trained, and how to supervise a graduate PA in practice.
Click here to read about several examples of PA graduates working in general practice.
This document was produced by the University of the West of England.
Click here to find five more case studies from and about five PAs, ranging from students to senior PAs, at the RCP’s Faculty of Physician Associates site.
How should I go about recruiting a PA?
Recommended guidelines:
- Ensure that your GP practice is clear on what role they need to fill, and the duties involved in primary care
- Write a clear job description* detailing the duties of the role / what is expected of the PA. Bear in mind that the PCN will need to grant the PA some variation in working hours when offering the job position
- Produce a clearly-defined and thorough job plan for the PA, taking into account CPD / career progression and a means by which to monitor their progress in primary care
- Remember that newly-qualified PAs will require regular supervision
- Allow for one dedicated GP / supervisor whom can get to know the PA, and vice versa
* Example job descriptions can be found in the ‘Any example job descriptions?’ section.
Click here to read HEE’s guide on recruiting PAs in general practice.
Click here to read An employers guide to physician associates.
This document was produced by the Royal College of Physicians’ Faculty of Physician Associates.
What academic qualifications should a primary care PA have?
A PA should have:
- A post-graduate qualification consisting of 2 years of study, with 1,600 clinical hours and 1,600 hours of theory
- An undergraduate degree in biomedical science / life sciences
Any example job descriptions?
To download a generic job description for a PA position, please click here.
For another example of a generic job description for a PA position, please click here.
To download a generic PA person specification, please click here.
Any sample interview questions?
- What made you want to be a PA, not a doctor?
- Why do you want to be a PA in primary care?
- How do you see the role?
- How do you deal with stress / teamwork / decision making?
- What would you want to specialise or work towards in primary care?
- Questions based around safeguardingScenarios might include:
- You have a patient with a high NEWS score whom you think needs admitting, and your supervisor says they are able to go home. What do you do?
- You have concerns regarding domestic violence and the person has a child with them. What do you do?
- You are asked to stay late and hold a clinic beyond your level of competencies. What do you do?
What clinical supervision do I need to provide?
Each PA employed will require regular and ongoing supervision to develop in their role and within the PCN, with newly-qualified PAs requiring more than more experienced PAs.
Click here to download GP Supervisor and Physician Associate Guide: A step by step handbook for the first year in general practice as a PDF.
And click here to download it as a Word document.
What ongoing support can I provide?
- You should provide one dedicated supervisor (a GP or otherwise) per PCN, whom the PA can get to know and form a bond with, and vice versa
- There should be a six-month probation period with a review
- The PA should be appraised on an annual basis
What ongoing support can I provide?
- Employers should meet with PAs in their first week of work
- Assess their skills and knowledge in and around general practice
- Create a structured programme of specific educational goals
- Establish a review process, with yearly appraisals and reviews every 3 – 6 months
NEW: Can I receive funding for a PA?
From April 2020, the PA role will be reimbursed at 100% of its actual salary plus defined on-costs, up to the maximum reimbursable amount of £53,724 over 12 months, via primary care networks.
As of 1 March, 2021, physician associates are on the list of healthcare professionals eligible to apply to the New to Partnership Payment Scheme (N2PP). This scheme offers participants up to £20,000, plus a contribution towards on-costs of up to £4,000 (for a full-time participant) and up to £3,000 as a training fund, all for PAs transferring into a partnership role.
PAs on N2PP
For more information on and a breakdown of N2PP, please click here.
How much training do PAs have?
PAÂ students already have an undergraduate degree in life science, and / or a significant background in health care. To become a PA, students must complete a two-year, full-time, intensive postgraduate course at diploma or masters’ level in Physician Associate studies, which includes over 1,400 hours of clinical placement experience in both acute and community settings.
A new route to becoming a PA, via a four-year undergraduate Masters’ programme, is being considered.
Once qualified, PAs must maintain 50 hours of CPD per year and sit a re-certification exam every 6 years.
Additional literature
UWE's quick-reference placement guide
To download UWE’s easy-read guide on hosting PA students, click here.
HEE's easy-read
To download HEE’s easy-read guide on physician associates, click here.
South West Physician Associate Network
The South West Physician Associate Network (SWPAN) was formed as a central hub for PAs across the South West, enabling them to network, stay up-to-date, and contribute to the betterment of the profession as a whole.
To visit their site, please click here.
Additional A/V resources
A day in the life of a PA
To watch HEE’s video on the day in the life of a physician associate, click here.
Karen's storey #1
To watch part 1 of HEE’s video on physician associates working in general practice, click here.
Karen's storey #2
To watch part 2 of HEE’s video on physician associates working in general practice, click here.
South West ARRS Workforce Summit case study
To download HEE’s easy-read guide on physician associates, click here.
FAQ
To download the FAQ guide on physician associates, click here.