The physician associates becoming doctors

After completing her physician associate (PA) course, Caitlin Callan secured a job on a busy medical ward in a district general hospital—and loved it. “The hospital was good, and I felt part of and well supported by the ward staff,” she says. “I worked in a team with the junior doctors, following the consultant, doing some of the jobs alongside them. I did enjoy it initially. But I wanted more. I wanted to progress.”

After a year she realised that being a PA probably wasn’t the right role for her because of the lack of opportunities to advance. She looked into medicine and has just completed her first year at medical school. Callan is one of a small group who have made the switch from being a PA into medicine, giving them a unique insight into a role that’s become bitterly divisive among doctors.

PAs are healthcare professionals who work as part of a multidisciplinary team with supervision from a named senior doctor, according to the Foundation of Physician Associates.1 They complete a two year postgraduate course to work in what’s described as a “medical model.”

Some doctors have major concerns about the role, including the ongoing lack of regulation, the absence of a scope of practice for PAs, and the worry that PA training may take time away from training doctors.2 But other doctors remain supportive of a role that’s helped them manage crushing workloads.3

However, only a small number of professionals have experienced life both as a PA and as a doctor or medical student.