physician assistant

noun

: a person certified to provide basic medical services usually under the supervision of a licensed physician

called also PA, physician's assistant

Examples of physician assistant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

None of the doctors, nurse practitioners or physician assistants were taking new patients. —Martha Bebinger, NPR, 9 Jan. 2026

Since 2016, the university has added eight advanced clinical degree programs, including a physician assistant program, a doctor of occupational therapy and doctor of physical therapy program. —Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 3 Jan. 2026

This year, The Menopause Society received a major donation for its NexGen Now Initiative, a program to fund training for the next three years for women’s health physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and students to receive training for how to to help women experiencing menopause. —Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 25 Dec. 2025

Staci Hodge is a physician assistant who runs the Center for Virtual Health at LifeBridge Health. —CBS News, 19 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for physician assistant

• coexistent
• equidistant
• inconsistent
• nonexistent
• preexistent
• consistent
• existent
• insistent
• persistent
• resistant
• subsistent
• distant

Medical Definition

physician assistant

noun

physician as·​sis·​tant

-ə-ˈsis-tənt

variants also physician's assistant

: a specially trained person who is certified to provide basic medical services (as the diagnosis and treatment of common ailments) usually under the supervision of a licensed physician

called also PA