In today's modern age of medicine, we have many roles that are integral to exceptional patient care.
Two of those have been in the spotlight this week:
- Physician Assistant (PA)
- Nurse-Midwife
The
role of PA came into being in the mid 1960s and has since rapidly grown to more than 83,000 in the U.S.
Midwifery has been around for centuries. In the mid 1950s the
American College of Nurse-Midwives was formed. There are an estimated 11,000 certified nurse midwives and midwives in the U.S.
PHMG is very fortunate to count among its ranks 13 midwives and 59 physician assistants throughout our networks. I've heard throughout the system high praise for these professionals. It's apparent from patient satisfaction survey results that patients are grateful for their energy and expertise as well.
National weeks of recognition* give us a good opportunity to pay tribute to both groups of clinicians for the crucial role they play in PeaceHealth's mission.
If you haven't already, please let the PAs and midwives in your area know how much you appreciate the difference they make.
*Did you know this week is also National Primary Care Week? Rather than crowd the spotlight today, we'll talk about the importance of and changes in primary care in a future issue.
