My kids were playing doctor last weekend, and eventually turned the white plastic medical kit over to me. After pleading that I check for any boo-boo’s, I grabbed the miniature stethoscope and proceeded to evaluate heartbeats and breathing. It was all fun until I realized I had forgotten about the muffins I was baking downstairs. The terrible smell of burned banana-bran eventually wafted upstairs to our play area, as I dashed to the kitchen adorned in a play nurse cap. (The kids were amused, but the muffins were inoperable.)
I know the desire to be in two places at once isn’t restricted to busy, and often distracted, mothers like myself. Think of how much you could get done if you had a clone! Twice the work, twice the fun, and never burning another muffin again! Not wanting to wade into the murky waters of DNA ethics, however, I’ll take second best: a helping hand. In my case, it’s asking my husband to be where I can’t. It’s a common sense concept that has permeated hospital structure as well in the form of an increasingly popular role, called Physician Assistants (PA’s). They work under the supervision of physicians, and serve as an extension to the services doctors provide.
Zlata Janicijevic was the first PA Sunnybrook hired a year and a half ago. Working in the emergency department, which also happens to be Canada’s largest trauma centre, she says the beauty of her job is that more patients are seen. “I’ve had a lot of people who are surprised when I call to see them saying, ‘Wow! I didn’t have to wait for long at all today!’ And that’s the whole purpose, to see patients, especially the lower acuity patients, and get them in and out of the emergency department as quickly as possible.”
What PA’s do largely depends on what department they are working in. For Zlata, a typical shift can bring anything from minor cuts to major traumas, and she’s trained to deal with it all. PA’s have a long history in the military and the U.S, where tens of thousands are working. They are a more recent addition to the clinical world here in Canada, but evidence shows they do increase access to care and cut down on wait times.
Sunnybrook now employs 4 PA’s, all in the emergency department. That’s more than any other hospital in Ontario. Dr. Joshua Tepper, Sunnybrook’s VP of Education, tells me it’s all part and parcel to a team approach that puts patients first.
This weekend, I’ll happily play doctor with my kids again and delegate my husband to kitchen duty (or vice versa). As I learned from my muffin fiasco, four hands are better than two. And for a health care system stretched in its own ways, the proverbial helping hand that PA’s provide is a welcome and necessary one.
