Assistant physician

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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. The AP license is currently issued in Missouri, Kansas, Arizona, Utah, and Arkansas. [1] To be licensed, APs must have graduated from medical school and passed the USMLE Step 1 and USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge exams. [2] The expansion of the AP profession aims to provide primary care in underserved areas. [2] [3] The position also provides a career pathway for the increasing number of unmatched physician graduates. [4]

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In the United Kingdom, before the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, an AP was a junior physician attached to a hospital. [5] [6]

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References

  1. "AAFP Backgrounder - Scope of Practice: Assistant Physicians" (PDF). January 1, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Lieb, David A. (May 14, 2017). "Missouri targets doctor dearth, expands first-in-nation law". AP News. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  3. Singer, Jeffrey (May 18, 2023). "One simple fix for the primary care shortage: assistant physicians". STAT. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
  4. 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.
  5. Abel-Smith 1964, p. 7.
  6. Peterson 1978, pp. 137, 160, 162.

Works cited