Modern employment experts indicate that nearly any career in the medical industry is bound to be lucrative and secure over the long term. The reasons for this are obvious – population counts are higher than ever and life spans are getting longer and longer thanks to advanced medicine, improved diets, and access to healthcare. The terms “lucrative and secure,” however, are almost too weak to apply to the job of the PA, or physician assistant. Those who are trained for this work will be almost as vital to the operation of any medical practice as the physicians themselves.These are the people who will be able to take care of the “essentials” of any office treatments, and often more of the examination than the physician or specialist, in order to give a patient the care and results they need.What is so interesting about the work of the PA is that it hasn’t been around all that long. It was only in the 1960s that the formal “groundwork” was done to create the educational guidelines and formal definitions that established such an important career.Today, there are more than 80,000 licensed PAs in the United States alone, and that number increases each year. It is a fascinating field, and has an even more interesting history. This book is going to look at that history, check in with the field in the current era, and look at predictions for it in the years to come.So, settle in and get ready to enjoy a unique look at a remarkable career.