N.S. Health expands efforts to get physician assistants into primary care – CBC
2 practices have PAs, 3 more will get them soon and there are 16 current openings
Apr 03, 2024
An effort to place physician assistants with primary care practices around the province takes more work than assigning them to emergency departments, but Nova Scotia health officials believe the move could have far-reaching benefits.
Since a call for interest last year, Nova Scotia Health has placed physician assistants with two primary care practices, hired three more who will start later this year, and has openings with 16 other practices.
“Primary care is the foundation [of the health-care system] and if this can allow access or attachment and get more people timely access to a primary care home, then it will be worth it,” Dr. Todd Howlett, an emergency medicine doctor and the health authority’s medical director of innovation, said in a recent interview.
A physician assistant, or PA, trains in the medical school model and practises medicine under the supervision of a licensed doctor. They can take on straightforward cases, order and review tests, prescribe some medications and assist in surgery.
