Editor’s note: The following was submitted for publication by the FHP clinic. It was written by the communications department of TakeCare Insurance with the assistance of FHP Health Center PAs.

OCT. 6 through 12 marks National Physician Assistant Week. FHP would like to encourage awareness about physician assistants and their importance to the medical community. Physician assistants are degreed medical professionals, healthcare providers; they play a critical role in diagnosing and delivering quality health care. According to the American Academy of Physician Assistants, a physician assistant (PA) is a medical professional who works as part of a team with a doctor. A PA is a graduate of an accredited PA education program who is nationally certified and state-licensed (or territory) to practice medicine under the direct and/or indirect supervision of a physician. All states and territories license PAs to practice and prescribe medications.

The PA educational program is modeled on the medical school curriculum, a combination of classroom and clinical instruction. PAs also complete more than 2,000 hours of clinical rotations, with an emphasis on primary care in ambulatory clinics, physician offices and acute or long-term care facilities. Rotations include family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, general surgery, emergency medicine and psychiatry. Specialty rotations may be performed as electives.

Over 84,000 PAs provide care to patients every day, nationwide. PAs perform physical examinations, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret lab tests, perform procedures, assist in surgery, prescribe and administer medicines, provide patient education and counseling and make rounds in hospitals and nursing homes. PAs are trained and educated similarly to physicians and deliver high-quality care.

With that said, FHP has many qualified and talented physician assistants that have contributed and practiced in the Guam medical community for nearly 30 years like Karyn Kaufman, PA-C, Wally Stratton, PA-C, and Ed Stanley, PA-C. FHP also has new PA talent on its roster including Chris Pivonka, PA-C, Bill Winter, PA-C, and Helene Duenas, PA-C, to provide healthcare services to the community.

We all know that due to Guam’s remote location and small population, our island has limited access to certain healthcare specialists and usually has a shortage of medical doctors in general. The great thing about having PAs in our medical community, just like the rest of the United States, is their ability to complement our physicians while giving quality health care our island residents need.

So if you get a chance, thank your local physician assistant in recognition for their medical expertise and for their ability to partner with Guam’s physicians with services to ensure a healthier community.