Colbourne Moro is not just a physician assistant, he's a collaborator.
As a Physician Assistant (PA) in the Soham & Shaila Ajmera Family Transplant Centre, Colbourne follows his own patients, and works closely with a supervising physician to determine the patient's course of treatment in an effort to provide the best possible care.
"We work collaboratively with a multidisciplinary team," says Colbourne. "In transplant, I work with the whole team to manage complex patents prior to and after transplant."
Wednesday is National Physician Assistant Day in Canada, a time to recognize this group of medically-trained clinicians who are changing the way we provide healthcare.
PAs are committed to providing high-quality medical care by working under the scope of practice of their supervising physician. This results in increasing access to quality medical care for more patients.
Today, there are 400 PAs in Ontario, and about 700 in Canada. PAs perform patient histories and physicals, order medications, assist in surgery, attend consults, perform procedures, order and interpret diagnostic tests, and see patients in clinics.
Dr. Zita Galvin, Staff Hepatologist and Director of Education at the Soham & Shaila Ajmera Family Transplant Centre, organizes and leads the four – soon to be five – full-time PAs that work with the multi-organ transplant team.
"In my experience, PAs work very well in a team setting," says Dr. Galvin. "Under the supervision of a physician, they improve patient care based on clinical needs and patient volumes.
"The use of PAs makes it possible for physicians to manage more patients and with greater efficiency."
They also help ease emergency wait times, and the shortage of caregivers. Looking forward, Dr. Galvin views PAs as an essential solution to the growing patient demand.
"As patient volumes increase we need innovative ideas like the use of PAs to ensure we can maintain our excellent standard of care."
For more information see the
website of the Canadian Association of Physician Assistants.
