Can a Physician Assistant may the decision for surgery?
The Physician Assistant Licensing Act makes the supervising physician, or in this case, the surgeon responsible for the care of the patients that are seen by the physician assistant. Regardless of training or experience of the physician assistant, the surgeon is ultimately responsible for the surgery decision. There is no question that a physician assistant can make a recommendation for surgery. How closely that recommendation will be followed will depend on the physician assistant’s training, experience, and their relationship with their supervising surgeon/physician. These factors will also determine the latitude that the physician assistant has in actually setting up thesurgery prior to the patient being seen by his/her supervising surgeon. The American Association of Surgical Physician Assistants at www.aaspa.com would be a good place to learn about the training of Surgical Physician Assistants and their utilization.
