PA (physician assistant)
PAs follow patients through their hospital course, their course of treatment in a clinic setting, etc.
PAs can practice in virtually all medical and surgical specialties, provided they are properly trained and supervised. Thus, PAs can assist in surgeries.
A PA must have at least a bachelor’s degree. Although there is not yet a requirement to hold a degree beyond the bachelor’s level, the current trend is for PAs to have a master’s degree.
PA training programs are accredited by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. Each state in the U.S. has its own specific licensing and practicing restrictions for PAs. Most states require PAs to pass the certification examination of the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.
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- PA X-ray
An X-ray picture in which the beams pass from back-to-front (posteroanterior). As opposed to an AP (anteroposterior) film in which the rays pass through the body from front-to-back.
- PA-C
Physician Assistant – Certified.
- Pacemaker
A system that sends electrical impulses to the heart in order to set the heart rhythm. The pacemaker can be the normal “natural” pacemaker of the heart or it can be an electronic device. The natural pacemaker of the heart is the sinus node, one of the major elements in the cardiac conduction system, the […]
- Pacemaker, artificial
The implantable pacemaker was invented by Wilson Greatbatch in 1958. While building an oscillator to record heart sounds, he installed a resistor with the wrong resistance in the unit. It began to give off a steady electrical pulse. Greatbatch realized that the device could be used to regulate the heart and hand-crafted the world’s first […]
- Pacemaker, implantable
A pacemaker in which the electrodes to the heart, the electronic circuitry, and the power supply are all implanted internally within the body.