University of Calgary physician assistant program aims to reduce strain on Alberta health system [Video]

A new program at the University of Calgary is aiming to reduce the strain on Alberta’s medical system.

The Master of Physician Assistant Studies program is the first of its kind in Alberta and will train new physician assistants to bolster the number of health-care workers across the province.

Physician assistants, or PAs, are medical professionals who have been part of Canada’s military medic system since the 1960s, but they are relatively new and unknown to provincial and territorial health systems.

They perform physical exams, takes medical histories, develop treatment plans and discharge patients.

Their training enables them to work in a wide array of health care settings, and they can perform many duties normally performed by a full-fledged doctor for routine or straightforward cases.

This frees up time and availability of physicians and surgeons to treat more complicated cases and creates opportunities for both PAs and physicians to spend more time with their patients.

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