Physician Associate University of East London

Overview

You will study the anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology, microbiology, and pharmacology of the human body in health and disease. The course combines academic learning with practical clinical experience to prepare you for patient-centred care across a range of healthcare settings.

Throughout the Physician Associate programme offered by University of East London, you will develop the knowledge and practical skills needed to assess, diagnose, and manage patients safely and effectively. This includes learning how to:

• Take a clinical history from a patient

• Request appropriate investigations

• Apply clinical reasoning to support diagnosis

• Develop safe management plans and referrals

You will also explore public health, mental health, patient safety, multidisciplinary teamworking, and diagnostic decision-making. In addition, you will study research methodologies and learn how to plan and complete a service improvement audit project.

Careers

Physician Associates are a new type of healthcare professional under General Medical Council (GMC) regulation who receive a broad, generalist medical education. To work as a Physician Associate you will need to pass your university course and then you will need to pass a Physician Associate Registration Assessment (PARA) professional national exam. This consists of a theory and a practical section. Once passing the PARA exam, you will need to join the General Medical Council (GMC) to register and work.

You will work alongside doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants and more to provide clinical care as part of an integrated multidisciplinary team either in a hospital or in the community. Physician Associates are dependent practitioners, who as they gain experience and skills can learn to work autonomously but will always work under the supervision of a fully trained and experienced doctor. 

They bring a range of new professional talent to add to the existing skill mix within clinical teams. Physician Associates provide a stable, generalist section of the clinical workforce and will increasingly help to ease the current clinical workforce pressures in the NHS.

Physician Associates (PAs) have been regulated by the General Medical Council (GMC) since December 2024. The new regulation will help assure patients, colleagues and employers that Physician Associates have the knowledge and skills to work safely and that they can be held to account if serious concerns are raised. For further details, please refer to the GMC website.