UNMC’s Physician Assistant class of 2006 will set up an information booth about the profession today from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. outside the Nebraska Cafe and at Clarkson Tower. Today is the beginning of National PA week, which runs through Oct. 12. Oct. 6 commemorates the day the first physician assistants graduated from Duke (N.C.) University in 1967.
Although what a PA does varies with training, experience and state laws, they generally provide about 80 percent of the services typically provided by a family physician. As part of their comprehensive responsibilities, PAs conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventive health care, assist in surgery and prescribe medications.
Established in 1971, UNMC’s PA program now enrolls about 120 students. About 20 UNMC graduates work as PA’s across campus in such areas as family medicine, pediatrics, geriatrics, emergency medicine, surgery, psychiatry, internal medicine, oncology/hematology, and bone marrow transplant. For more information, visit UNMC’s PA Web site or the American Academy of Physician Assistants Web site.