Physician assistants on the general ward
Who they are, what they do and which devices they use: a research-based profile for recruiting this target group for MedTech and pharma projects.
Overview
Physician assistants are academically qualified health professionals who take on delegated medical tasks within the physician-led treatment team. On the ward they take the preparatory history, examine using standardised techniques and support or conduct ward rounds. They implement treatment plans set by physicians, care for patients after surgery, place lines and perform punctures and ultrasound examinations. Ward work also includes preparing medical and discharge letters, documenting the course and physicians' orders, and organising examinations and consultations. Overall medical responsibility remains with the treating physician, and services that physicians must provide personally are excluded from delegation.
Profession by country
Fields of use and typical tasks
normal Station
Evidence from: DE, CH
- Take on ward rounds and letter writing in consultation with the physicians and take part in the multiprofessional ward round
- Take over patients from the intensive care unit or recovery room with a structured handover
- Prepare admissions with history, status and documentation and make an initial assessment of preoperative patients
- Interpret ECGs and provide a preliminary reading of chest X-rays, each with a treatment proposal to the physician
- Take blood, perform blood gas analyses, place peripheral venous cannulas and set up infusions
- Manage external pacemakers, pleural and mediastinal drains and negative pressure wound therapy systems, and remove drains
Specializations
Devices and systems they use
Who they work with
- Treating physicians of the ward team
Frequently asked questions
Which devices do physician assistants use themselves?
Ultrasound and echocardiography as well as placing lines and performing punctures are documented. The sources do not name further devices or software.
Who is responsible for the work of physician assistants?
They work under delegation and medical supervision, and overall medical responsibility remains with the treating physician.
Which documentation tasks do they take on?
They prepare medical letters, discharge letters and surgical reports and document the course and physicians' orders. The professional association additionally names rehabilitation applications.
Where are physician assistants deployed?
In inpatient and outpatient care, especially where processes can be well structured, for example in inpatient settings and larger organisational units.
Do physician assistants take part in clinical studies?
The professional association names participation in clinical studies and quality management tasks among their activities.
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Related target groups
Same work area
Same specialty
Sources
- Physician Assistants (Interview, Hessisches Ärzteblatt 6/2026, S. 323 bis 325), Landesärztekammer Hessen (DE)
- Berufsbild, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Physician Assistants e. V. (DGPA) (DE)
- Tätigkeitsrahmen von Physician Assistants an der Klinik für Herz-, Thorax- und Gefäßchirurgie, Version 1.0, Deutsches Herzzentrum der Charité (DHZC) (DE)
- Modell Inselgruppe: Klinische Fachspezialistinnen in der Orthopädischen Chirurgie und Traumatologie (Symposiumsvortrag), Universitätsklinik für Orthopädische Chirurgie und Traumatologie, Insel Gruppe, veröffentlicht von der ZHAW (CH)
- Klinische/r Fachspezialist/in am KSW (Poster), ZHAW Institut für Gesundheitswissenschaften mit Kantonsspital Winterthur, Departement Chirurgie (CH)
- Klinische Fachspezialist:innen / Physician Associates (Präsentation), physician-associates.ch, veröffentlicht vom vsao (CH)
- What is a PA?, American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) (US)
- Specialty Certificates of Added Qualifications, Hospital Medicine, National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) (US)
- Physician Assistants, Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (US)