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

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

The physician assistant — who won the viral Glen Powell lookalike contest in November — made a splash on the red carpet for the Jan. 5 award show. —Zoey Lyttle, People.com, 7 Jan. 2025

This vaccine is not required if the child has had chickenpox and has documentation of it from a physician, physician assistant or advanced practice nurse prescriber. Kindergarten to Grade 6 4 doses of polio vaccine. —Sarah Volpenhein, Journal Sentinel, 2 Aug. 2024

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