Chicago, Ill. (Oct. 9, 2015) – This is National PA Week, which runs from Oct. 6 through 12. Most
Americans are familiar with Physician Assistants – known as PAs – from visits to their primary care physician; a PA could well have taken their medical history, conducted a physical exam and prescribed an antibiotic or other necessary medication.
What many people may not know is that PAs also work in surgery. PAs in the OR? Yes indeed.
Approximately 25,000 PAs work in a surgical environment. Though the main role of a surgical PA is to assist licensed physicians in patient surgery, that PA can be involved from initial patient assessment to post-surgery follow-up care.
Bruce A. Perler, M.D., president of the Society for Vascular Surgery, directly observed the growth and maturation of the nation’s first Physician Assistant program at Duke University, while a student there.
“I have always had tremendous admiration and respect for the contributions of PAs in the delivery of high-quality health care in this country,” he said. Today, with the rapid changes and evolutions of health care, delivering that care “has truly become a team sport. In my institution our PAs play a vital and indispensable role on our vascular health care team.”
In fact, he said, “Our patients often feel a closer bond to our PAs than to their surgeons. I can think of no more accurate and appropriate compliment for their dedicated contributions.”
Other facts about PAs in the operating room:
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PAs, including those in surgery, have been part of American medicine for nearly 50 years.
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More than 20 percent of the country’s 100,000-plus PAs work in virtually every surgical subspecialty including anesthesia, neurosurgery, trauma surgery, plastic surgery, and vascular surgery.
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They often are educated alongside physicians in an intense graduate program similar to medical school.

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Surgical PAs work under the supervision of a surgeon and are trained to diagnose, treat and prescribe.
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Surgical PAs can assist in surgery; order and interpret lab work, angiograms, CT scans and other special procedures; order medications; handle discharge planning; make rounds in hospitals and nursing homes; and perform preoperative exams and postkoperative checks
For more information on physician assistants, visit www.aapa.org
. To arrange to talk with a vascular surgeon about how PAs impact vascular surgery, contact Beth Bales, Content Manager, Society for
Vascular Surgery, 312-334-2316; bbales@vascularsociety.org
.
About the Society for Vascular Surgery
The Society for Vascular Surgery® (SVS) is a not-for-profit professional medical society, composed primarily of vascular surgeons, that seeks to advance excellence and innovation in vascular health through education, advocacy, research, and public awareness. SVS is the national advocate for more than 5,300 specialty-trained vascular surgeons and other medical professionals who are dedicated to the prevention and cure of vascular disease. The Society is at 633 N. St. Clair St., 22 nd Floor, Chicago, Ill.,
60611. Visit www.vascularweb.com
or email Content Manager Beth Bales at bbales@vascularsociety.org
.