Physician assistants celebrate 39th anniversary

October 10, 2006

Bruce Fichandler, treasurer of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, chats with Alan Abrams, a physician assistant at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Hampton.

NORFOLK—More than 50 students and physicians assistants attended Physician Assistant Day during the 39th anniversary of a program that has grown slowly since the mid-1960s that now accounts for thousands of practitioners nationwide.

The Physician Assistant master's degree program at EVMS, whose first students graduated in 2001, has grown to 50 students a year in a field ranked as one of the nation’s fastest growing.

Bruce Fichandler, a decorated military medic who graduated from the Yale University Physician Assistant Program in 1973, said PAs have lately become not only more common, but more accepted by nurses, doctors and patients.

“Most people just want to be taken care of,” said Fichlander, who spoke at the event in Hofheimer Hall. Fichandler is treasurer of the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

Physician assistants take an intensive 27-month course and can perform examinations, prescribe drugs and even perform surgeries, under the supervision of a doctor.

Top

Home / Site Map / Search / About EVMS / Patient Services
Education / Research / Departments / Library