physician assistant

noun

: a person certified to provide basic medical services usually under the supervision of a licensed physician

called also PA, physician's assistant

Examples of physician assistant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Parker said better ways to increase the number of rural doctors include raising pay, expanding loan repayment programs for those who practice in rural areas, and creating accelerated training for nurse practitioners and physician assistants who want to become doctors. —Arielle Zionts, NPR, 3 Mar. 2025

Brown earned a bachelor of science in physiological sciences from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a master of science in physician assistant studies from Northern Arizona University in Phoenix. —Emma Jones, arkansasonline.com, 9 Feb. 2025

Williams was working as a physician assistant for VIP Community Services, a nonprofit that offers supportive housing, job training and addiction treatment in Crotona Park East, the Bronx. —Ellen Moynihan, New York Daily News, 19 Feb. 2025

In 2020, the hospital hired her as a physician assistant, and the next year, an administrator called her. —Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for physician assistant

• coexistent
• equidistant
• inconsistent
• nonexistent
• preexistent
• consistent
• existent
• insistent
• persistent
• resistant
• subsistent
• distant

Medical Definition

physician assistant

noun

physician as·​sis·​tant

-ə-ˈsis-tənt

variants also physician's assistant

: a specially trained person who is certified to provide basic medical services (as the diagnosis and treatment of common ailments) usually under the supervision of a licensed physician

called also PA