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Two physician assistants can work in a hospital in BC.

Two physician assistants have started working at Saanich Peninsula Hospital, the first time the profession has been approved in a hospital setting in British Columbia.

Fu Wu (Fred) Bai and Eric Demers joined the hospital as part of a one-year pilot program authorized by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia, although the physician assistant is not not yet a designated health profession in the province.

Physician assistants are healthcare professionals who work under the supervision of physicians. Although they do not have a medical degree, they have completed two years of extensive university training using the same medical model used to train doctors.

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The Saanich Peninsula Hospital is about twenty kilometers north of downtown Victoria.

Photo : - / Mike McArthur

Unlike nurse practitioners, physician assistants cannot work independently of a physician. The Order specifies that they can only practice in the emergency services of the provincial health system.

Dr. Brendon Irvine, manager of the emergency department at Saanich Peninsula Hospital, hopes physician assistants will help address staffing shortages by performing tasks such as patient interviews and physical exams under the direction of ‘a doctor.

When Saanich Peninsula’s capacity is exceeded, it has a real impact on patient flow in the emergency departmentsaid Irvine.

The hospital, which has faced overnight emergency room closures, aims to improve health care access and schedules over time.

Physician assistants are trained in three Canadian university programs. They are already working in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and in the Canadian Armed Forces.

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An open door

Physician assistant Eric Demers entered the profession in 2010 while he was enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces, according to the Island Health Authority.

His colleague, Fu Wu (Fred) Bai explained to CBC/- that he was a medical geneticist in China before becoming a nurse in Manitoba. He has been a physician assistant in this province since 2012.

According to him, this profession is common around the world, including China and the United States. He believes that the presence of a physician assistant in an emergency room improves the speed of care.

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Fred Bai was a medical geneticist in China before settling in Manitoba.

Photo: Photo provided by Island Health

I really want to help BC lead the way in this professionhe said

Dr Irvine says the Department of Health and other stakeholders were involved in setting up the one-year pilot programme. The Saanich Peninsula Hospital wishes to eventually hire a full complement of six physician assistants throughout the hospital.

With information from Kathryn Marlow and The Canadian Press

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