The Physician Assistant: An Illustrated History

By Thomas E. Piemme, MD; Alfred M. Sadler, Jr., MD; Reginald D. Carter, PhD, PA; Ruth Ballweg, MPA, PA-C

(Acacia Publishing, 2013)

This is a concise history of the people, places, and events that propelled the physician assistant from a concept to a profession and major force in American medicine. It highlights international precedents dating back to the seventeenth century for using non-physicians to provide health care services. Co-author Alfred M. Sadler, a Founding Fellow of The Hastings Center, was an early champion of physician assistants.

The book ends with a look forward, anticipating the central role that physician assistants will play with the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act and its emphasis on health teams and quality of care. “Care for the newly enfranchised, as well as the previously underserved, will place the physician assistant on center stage,” the book predicts.

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