We have observed first hand the barriers to integration of physician associates into the general practice workforce described by Jackson and colleagues.1 Despite a strong emphasis on primary care within our physician associate course, a paucity of local primary care positions resulted in all but one of our first cohort of qualified physician associates being appointed to posts within two local secondary care trusts.
We have appointed a clinical leadership fellow to work with stakeholders in developing roles for physician associates and we are striving to create an environment in which physician associates become an established part of the primary care workforce.
Since the establishment of secondary care roles for physician associates within the two local trusts, we have observed unprecedented interest from secondary care, with almost all trusts in our area planning to create roles for physician associates. We hope that we will see this process replicated in primary care and that, by developing ‘pioneer programmes’ to introduce physician associates to the primary care workforce within our region, we can demonstrate to the rest of our general practice colleagues how the barriers to physician associate integration can be managed and that physician associates themselves can become the facilitators of a dynamic, sustainable general practice workforce for the future.
- © British Journal of General Practice 2018
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