Physician Assistants Team
Physician Assistants (PAs) are licensed health professionals who practice medicine with physician supervision. As part of the physician-PA team, PAs exercise autonomy in diagnosing and treating illnesses. In most states,Virginia included, PAs can treat patients and write most prescriptions when their supervising physician is away. This helps to maintain continuity of care when doctors are unavailable. They are trained to recognize when patients need the attention of a supervising physician or another specialist. Their training is modeled after medical student training, to include anatomy, pharmacology, pathophysiology, clinical medicine, and physical diagnosis and treatment. This is followed by clinical rotations.
How do physicians and PA’s work together?
The relationship between a PA and his/her supervising physician is that of mutual trust and respect; they function as a team. The PA is a representative of the physician and treats patients in the style and manner developed and directed by the supervising physician. You may see the physician and his/her PA at the same visit. However, if you do not see the physician, please know that the physician assistant discusses and reviews your case with his/her supervising physician.
To learn more about each physician assistant, click on their names below.
Relay Health and OCCV
The Orthopaedic Center of Central Virginia has teamed up with Relay Health to offer you the benefit of communicating with us online in addition to the telephone and in person.
