What's the state of play with the plan to introduce Physician Assistants? Haven't heard anything for a few years.
The PA is very common in the US and was looked at here as a means of paramedic progression. Rather than follow this route, the Health Professions Council and the British Paramedic Association have chosen to go with a graded system linked to road time and education as follows;
Paramedic grade 1 - Entry level paramedic (Amb Tech)
Paramedic grade 2 - State Registered Paramedic
Paramedic grade 3 - Paramedic Practitioner (Hons Degree educated)
Paramedic grade 4 - Advanced Paramedic Practitioner (masters degree educated)
Paramedic grade 5 - Consultant Paramedic
The RAMC really needs to be looking at aligning itself with this system rather than flogging the PA horse any longer, but I guess they are taking one step at a time and trying to sort out the issues highlighted by Karabiner first. Feel free to check out the BPA website for more...
www.britishparamedic.org or page 6 of this document...
http://www.britishparamedic.org/downloads/Published_version_1_02_2006.pdf