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About four decades ago in the United States, physicians and educators recognized there was a shortage and uneven distribution of primary care physicians. To expand the delivery of quality medical care, Dr.Eugene Stead of the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina started the first Physician Assistant (PA) programme in the year 1960.He selected Navy corpsmen who received considerable medical training during their military service and during the war in Vietnam. He based the curriculum of the PA programme on his knowledge of the fast-track training of doctors during World War II. The US claims that PAs have demonstrated their clinical effectiveness both in terms of quality of care and patient acceptance. According to present information, forty-eight states in the US allow PAs to write and sign prescriptions without a physician's signature.
In today’s world, particularly in India, the incidence of diseases is on the rise due to the impact of urbanization and westernization in society. This is evident from India’s growing prevalence of coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, HIV, and other communicable diseases. As awareness increases, more people are seeking medical help—not only for treatment but also for disease prevention. With the expansion of knowledge, advancements in technology, and the growth of medical expertise, specialized medical fields are gaining an increasingly important role in modern healthcare. More medical graduates are aspiring to pursue higher education, both in India and abroad, to become specialists. As a result, there exists a significant gap in the duties traditionally performed by junior medical officers at the primary care level.
Recognizing this gap, Dr. K.M. Cherian, a renowned cardiac surgeon, critically assessed the Indian healthcare system and identified the need for a new healthcare provider—the ‘Physician Assistant’—to fill this void. Inspired by the PA model in the United States, he initiated the Physician Assistant training program in 1992 at Madras Medical Mission. Since then, the PA program has gained widespread acceptance among both the medical fraternity and patients. Today, Physician Associates primarily work in tertiary care centers. With growing awareness of the potential impact this role can have, many supporters of the profession argue that Physician Associates in India could significantly improve healthcare access, especially in underserved and overburdened areas.
As of February 2025, more than 10,000 Physician Assistants have graduated in India. There are currently over 25 universities offering approximately 130 PA programs across the country.
Physician Associates are healthcare professionals trained in a medical model who practice
medicine as part of a healthcare team. They are qualified and competent to provide
preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic services under the supervision of a physician. |
