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

Healing Bridge operates with nine exam rooms, roughly 85 volunteers, and a medical staff that includes 29 doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. —Brian Unger, CBS News, 13 May 2026

Although it’s been 30 years since Gloria Reuben played an HIV-positive physician assistant on TV, the role still has a profound effect. —Cristina Velocci, Flow Space, 11 May 2026

According to her LinkedIn profile, Spatafore was a neurocritical care physician assistant at UPMC Presbyterian, a hospital in Pittsburgh. —Peter D'abrosca, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026

At the time of her death, Spatafore was a physician assistant with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, her LinkedIn page states. —Nicole Acosta, PEOPLE, 29 Apr. 2026

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