Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, BETHESDA, Md  –   Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD – Oct. 6-12 marked National Physician Assistant Week honoring the invaluable contributions that physician assistants (PAs) have made to the medical field and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Physician assistants are highly trained medical professionals who work alongside doctors, surgeons, and other health-care providers to ensure patients receive comprehensive, timely, and personalized care. PAs undergo rigorous education and training prior to receiving their certifications, allowing them to provide care across various areas of medicine. PAs play a critical role in the health care system, from primary care and emergency medicine to specialized fields.

U.S. Army Maj. Joseph Gomez, the deputy phase II coordinator for the interservice PA program at Walter Reed, explained that he went from being a lab tech to a PA following 9/11.

“I just wanted to be more involved in taking care of people,” Gomez shared. Being a PA gave me the opportunity to advance that and go even further into taking care of people. That was the drive. I wanted to help.”

As a PA, he deployed to Afghanistan, “helping with the fight,” but was injured and came to Walter Reed for care. Here, PA Denise Crawford was part of his treatment team. “She took care of me and was a big part of my team and recovery,” said Gomez. “At the time, I didn’t realize I could be a PA in neurosurgery. It was like I could do anything and go anywhere.”

“Being a PA has given me the opportunity to change, to grow and develop. I have been a teacher, a mentor, a primary care manager, and I’ve done the administrative part of running a clinic,” Gomez added. “It is absolutely worth it; it is an amazing profession… I wouldn’t have changed anything.”

The PA profession has a long history of supporting military efforts, with the profession originating from the increased need for medical professionals in the field. “They have been around in the military for so long,” said PA Marie McCarthy. “We have relied on their adaptability in the fields as well as hospital clinics,” added McCarthy, who serves as the Traumatic Brain Injury coordinator at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) at Walter Reed.

In the aftermath of World War II, the increasing demand for primary care health professionals highlighted the necessity for additional health-care providers equipped with the autonomy to deliver care. In 1957, Duke University acknowledged this need and initiated a program with four former U.S. Navy corpsmen. This program later expanded to other universities, and by the end of the 1960s, physician assistants received official endorsement from the American Medical Association.

By the 1990s, PAs were serving in every branch of the military. “We are in every battalion and sometimes, we are the only provider in the midst,” said Gomez.

By the early 2000s, PAs were authorized to practice in all 50 states, improving the access and affordability of health care for the public. “There’s a lot of misconceptions of what a physician assistant does, especially because of the name,” said McCarthy. “But if you truly shadow somebody on a day-to-day basis, you’ll realize how much autonomy we have in terms of what we do, and how much the patients rely on us as well as the staff, and you how much of an impact [it] makes.”

Currently, there are nearly 200,000 PAs in the United States, accounting for more than 500 million patient interactions annually. The profession has experienced a remarkable growth of 76.1 percent over the past decade and continues to expand in response to the industry's overall development.

“PAs are everywhere. We are filling whatever void is necessary and we are flexible and agile enough to do so. These days, we are hospital commanders, regional health command directors, and [we] are in charge of a lot. From admin to every type of specialty care that you can identify, you will find a PA right there in the midst,” said Gomez.

National Physician Assistant Week serves as a reminder of the essential role PAs play in the health-care system. From increasing access to care and enhancing patient outcomes to their adaptability in various medical settings, PAs are crucial to building a more accessible, patient-centered, and effective health-care system. Walter Reed recognizes the contribution that PAs make to the medical field the overall readiness and health of our military and general communities, not just during National PA Week, but every day.