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

Bonnell was reported missing on Jan. 28 following separate requests for wellness checks from his girlfriend and a faculty member at Methodist University, where he was enrolled in the school’s physician assistant program. —David Matthews, New York Daily News, 3 Apr. 2025

Duke University launched the inaugural physician assistant program that same year. —Spencer Dorn, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025

Jurors heard from police officers, firefighters and other first responders, as well as from a physician assistant who treated Shaheen at a hospital. —Selina Guevara, NBC News, 28 Feb. 2025

The 56-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office. —Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 8 Apr. 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