Because the article is behind the pay wall, I will reproduce key part:
(A) Text (the first six paragraphs):
"A stay-at-home mom for 10 years, Martha Tuff wanted a career in medicine. But at 38 and raising four boys, she decided the decade-long preparation to become a doctor 'would be to much for me.' So she enrolled in a two-year master's degree program to become a physician assistant. She will be ready to care for patients by next fall.
"Under the state's new health care cost-control law, legislators are counting on physician assistants like Tuff as critical partners n the effort to curb medical spending, improve the coordination of treatment, and give patients easier access to basic care amid a shortage of primary care doctors.
"A little-known provision of the law, which Governor Devil Patrick signed in August, expands the role of physician assistants by requiring health plans to lists them as primary care providers in directories and allow patients to choose a physician assistant as their provide. They still will work on teams with doctors, but they will have their own group of patients for whom thy are primarily responsible. Nurse practitioners were given similar status in a 2008 state law.
"Even before Patrick approved the cost-control law, demand for physician assistants had been intensifying, in par because of the 2006 Massachusetts law [signed by then governor Mitt Romney] requiring all state residents to have health insurance [and thus increasing demands for health care providers]. * * * The federal Affordable Care Act [signed by president Obama], which extends the requirement for insurance coverage to most mericns, is expected to have a similar impact nationally.
"Tuft University school of Medicine has started a new master's degree program for physician assistants, and plans to admit its first class of 30 students in January. Boston University school of Medicine is launching a physician assistant training program next spring. And the number of yearly applications to Northeastern University, where Tuff is earning her degree, has doubled to 600 for 40 spots over the past five yeas.
"The US Labor Department has tagged the profession as one of the fastest growing, in part because training programs are far less expensive Han medical school--about $100,000-and graduates earn $90,000 or more right away.
(B) Graphic:
"Comparing the Professionals
"Most doctors' offices are letting patients choose who to see for primary care, a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. While these professionals all are qualified to perform physical exams and prescribe medications, they complete training programs that vary in length and can emphasize different skills.
[1] PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT 2010
83,600......................$86,410..............30%
Number in Mass[achusetts]...Median annual pay....Job growth
Source: US Department of Labor
[a] Training Four-year bachelor's degree in any major, but must take prerequisite science courses to enroll in a physician assistant training program. The average length of a program I 26 months and graduates earn a master's degree.
[b] Curriculum Mirrors that of medical school, and is heavy on science including anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and genetics. Students complete clinical rotations in most arrears of medicine including surgery, oncology, emergency medicine, and primary care.
[c] What they do State laws governing physician assistants vary; some states allow them to admit patients to the hospitals. Massachusetts now allows them to manage their own group of patients, and a physician's supervision. They are generalists who diagnose and treat illness and injury, order and interpret diagnostic tests and assist with surgery.
[2] NURSE PRACTITIONER 2011
155,000...........$98,760.................29%
Number in Mass....Median annual pay.......Job growth
Source: American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the journal Medical Care
[a] Training Four-year nursing school to become a registered nurse before applying to an advanced degree. Many nurse practitioners hold master's degree, but there is a movement in the profession toward obtaining a doctorate degree.
[b] Curriculum Contains less science than that for physician assistants, and greater emphasis on treating patients holistically, including addressing the social impact of disease, and educating patients an families on healthy behavior.
[c] What tey do Nurse practitioners often specialize in areas like obstetrics or oncology. They also diagnose and treat illness and injury, and order and interpret diagnostic tests.
[3] DOCTORS 2010
691,000...........$166,400................24%
Number in Mass....Median annual pay.......Job growth
Source: US kept of Labor
[I do not type Training, Curriculum or What they do for doctors, who are familiar to us all] |
发表于 9-19-2012 10:57:56
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