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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
Most of the expansion has occurred at local satellite campuses, including one in Kearny Mesa that’s home to the new College of Health Sciences which, among other things, is training physician assistants.
—Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Apr. 2024
Reimbursement rates also increased as of Jan. 1 for non-specialty mental health practitioners; for primary care providers, including nurse practitioners and physician assistants; and for maternity care providers such as obstetricians, gynecologists and doulas, Bjork said.
—Cathie Anderson, Sacramento Bee, 11 Apr. 2024
The physician assistant student — who is the first Asian-American lead of the ABC dating series — recently revealed that night one of the upcoming season will not be filmed at the Bachelor Mansion as usual.
—Stephanie Wenger, Peoplemag, 29 Mar. 2024
The next Bachelorette is Jenn Tran, a 26-year-old physician assistant student from New Jersey.
—Dina Kaur, The Arizona Republic, 27 Mar. 2024
This innovative treatment is designed to transform the management of acute AUB by providing a fast-acting, minimally invasive option that preserves fertility and can be administered by physicians, nurse practitioners, midwives, and physician assistants in an outpatient setting.
—Brittany Barreto, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024
While inadequate bed space is a factor, the lack of staff at every level is even more significant: nurses, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, pharmacists, skilled technicians (lab, imaging, respiratory), housekeepers, transporters, security, unit clerks, dietary and many others.
—Dan Morhaim, Baltimore Sun, 12 Feb. 2024
Natural language processing and machine learning have gained traction across health care, with use cases ranging from virtual physician assistants to clinical trial patient recruitment.
—Byjohn Kell, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2024
In Florida, this needs to be done by a licensed anesthesiologist assistant, physician assistant or registered nurse with post-anesthesia care experience.
—David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 5 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'physician assistant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1958, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of physician assistant was
in 1958
Dictionary Entries Near physician assistant
Cite this Entry
“Physician assistant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/physician%20assistant. Accessed 4 May. 2024.
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
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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