Physician Assistants Overview

Physician Assistants (PAs) are nationally certified and state-licensed medical professionals, and practice medicine on healthcare teams with physicians and other providers. They are formally trained to examine patients, diagnose injuries and illnesses and provide treatment.

The professional association for physician assistants is the American Academy of Physician Assistants. According to the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, in 2014, there were approximately 95,000 certified physician assistants practicing in the United States, working in all areas of medicine. The scope of practice for physician assistants is determined by each individual state through state licensing requirements. In rural and underserved areas, physician assistants may be the primary care providers at clinics where a physician is present only a few days a week. PAs collaborate with the physician as needed and as required by law, often relying on a collaborative agreement with a physician which outlines the specific activities for an individual working in a specific medical practice setting.

The information on this site focuses on three areas of scope of practice for Physician Assistants: Supervision Requirements, Prescriptive Authority and Scope of Practice Determined On Site.

Supervision requirements in states focus on a written collaborative agreement with a physician which can outline the procedures a PA is allowed to do, if the state medical board must approve the supervisory relationship between the PA and the physician and/or the collaborative agreement, and the amount of physician presence that is required where the PA is practicing.

Prescriptive authority for PAs include whether a physician outlines the authority in a written agreement or if the PA can prescribe when delegated by the physician.

In certain states, a PAs scope of practice is determined at the practice site by the supervising physician. In other states, the state medical board determines a PAs scope of practice.

The map on the right shows a comparison of all states and territories for these three areas. Choose a tab at the top of the map for different options. For more detailed information, please click on a state.

For information on nurse practitioners and midlevel oral health providers, please use the practitioner links below the map.

Interactive Map: Select a state to get more information.

Legend

  • Physician presence required
    Amount of time a physician is required to be on site when a PA is practicing.
  • Supervision approval by the medical board
    The State Medical Board must approve the supervisory relationship between a PA and a physician.
  • Written collaboration agreement required
    PAs are required to have a collaborative practice agreement with a physician which outlines procedures the PA is allowed to do and procedures for consulting with the physician.