Othersen H B, Gramling P M, Saad S A, Smith C D
J Pediatr Surg. 1979 Dec;14(6):789-93. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3468(79)80266-3.
Physician's Assistants (P.A.), recent additions to the health profession, have proved valuable as "extenders" for primary physicians in relatively remote rural areas. More specialized surgical assistants have been trained for the community-practicing surgeon. The introduction of physician's assistants into university centers has been proceeding at a slower pace. A need has existed for an accurate assessment of the role of the P.A. in a residency-training program. In subspecialties, such as pediatric surgery and thoracic surgery, an increasing patient load has usually required a corresponding increase in junior resident staff. This resident coverage is usually dependent upon the availability of general surgical house staff since pediatric surgical trainees are currently fixed in number. Foreign medical graduates are no longer available in large numbers and general surgical programs themselves are being reevaluated and the number of trainees decreased. In this setting physician's assistants can be used to augment patient coverage by acting as junior surgical residents.
医师助理（P.A.）是医疗行业的新成员，已被证明在相对偏远的农村地区作为初级医师的“扩展力量”很有价值。为社区执业外科医生培训了更专业的手术助手。医师助理进入大学中心的进程较为缓慢。一直需要准确评估医师助理在住院医师培训项目中的作用。在小儿外科和胸外科等亚专业领域，患者数量不断增加，通常需要相应增加初级住院医师人数。这种住院医师覆盖通常取决于普通外科住院医师的可用性，因为目前小儿外科实习生人数固定。不再有大量外国医学毕业生，普通外科项目本身也在重新评估，实习生数量减少。在这种情况下，医师助理可作为初级外科住院医师来增加患者覆盖范围。
