physician assistant

noun

variants or physician associate or less commonly physician's assistant or physician's associate

plural physician assistants or physician associates also physician's assistants or physician's associates

: a health care professional who is licensed and certified to provide patient care (such as in diagnosing and treating illness or injury, prescribing drugs, ordering lab tests, and assisting in surgeries) under the supervision of a licensed physician

The fields that physician assistants work in today range from primary care to surgery to oncology to geriatrics …

—Martha E. Mangelsdorf

… she was part of a workforce that included tens of thousands of physician associates … seeing her work for years alongside doctors in both family medicine and emergency care.

—The Post

A physician's assistant would admit the patients and do the workup. … He would prescribe medications …

—Joan G. O'Leary

Note: In 2021, the American Academy of Physician Associates officially changed the title physician assistant to physician associate to better reflect the clinical expertise and advanced medical training required.

called also PA

Examples of physician assistant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Doctors, nurses, physician assistants, EMTs, and medical students can apply to see the film for free via Watermelon’s registration form. — Zac Ntim, Deadline, 18 Aug. 2026

Physician assistant treated Lindsay Clancy's cuts The first prosecution witness called Wednesday was Eitan Negri, who was working as a physician assistant at Brigham & Women's Hospital in 2023. — Kristina Rex, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026

Today, the 34-year-old Washington physician assistant runs a thriving vintage resale business, The Leather Doc, all while continuing to work full-time in advanced heart failure and heart transplant medicine. — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 27 July 2026

Kaiser’s expert argued that the physician assistant did an appropriate exam and that his low suspicion of breast cancer was reasonable. — Melody Petersen, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 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 or physician associate also physician's assistant or physician's associate

: a health care professional who is licensed and certified to provide patient care (such as in diagnosing and treating illness or injury, prescribing drugs, ordering lab tests, and assisting in surgeries) under the supervision of a licensed physician

Note: In 2021, the American Academy of Physician Associates officially changed the title physician assistant to physician associate to better reflect the clinical expertise and advanced medical training required.

called also PA