Assistant physician

Not to be confused with Physician assistant.

In the United States, an assistant physician (AP) is a medical doctor or doctor of osteopathic medicine who has graduated from a four-year medical school program and is licensed to practice, in a limited capacity, under the supervision of a physician who has completed their residency. In 2020 the AP licences were authorized and issued in Missouri, Kansas, Arizona, Utah, and Arkansas. ^[1] By 2024 the program has also passed into effect in Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee and Texas. ^[2] To be licensed, APs must have graduated from medical school and passed the USMLE Step 1 and USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge exams. ^[3] The expansion of the AP profession aims to provide primary care in underserved areas. ^{[3] [4]} The position also provides a career pathway for the increasing number of unmatched physician graduates. ^[5]

In the United Kingdom, before the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, an AP was a junior physician attached to a hospital. ^{[6] [7]}

References

1. "AAFP Backgrounder - Scope of Practice: Assistant Physicians" (PDF). January 1, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
2. https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/policy-report/removing-barriers-for-associate-physicians-to-expand-healthcare-access/ Goldwater Institute: Policy Report:Removing barriers for Associate Physicians to expand healthcare access.
3. Lieb, David A. (May 14, 2017). "Missouri targets doctor dearth, expands first-in-nation law". AP News. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
4. Singer, Jeffrey (May 18, 2023). "One simple fix for the primary care shortage: assistant physicians". STAT. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
5. Van Way, Charles W III (May–June 2021). "Are Assistant Physicians a Good Idea? Should We Create Jobs for Unmatched Physicians?". Missouri Medicine. 118 (3): 179–181. PMC   8210997 . PMID   34149069.
6. Abel-Smith 1964, p. 7.
7. Peterson 1978, pp. 137, 160, 162.

Works cited

• Abel-Smith, Brian (1964). The Hospitals, 1800-1948: A Study in Social Administration in England and Wales. Harvard University Press.
• Peterson, M. Jeanne (1978). The Medical Profession in Mid-Victorian London. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-03343-6 . Retrieved July 25, 2024– via Internet Archive.

External links

• Association of Medical Doctor Assistant Physicians