This essay is going to highlight the reasons for perusing a Physician Assistant (PA) profession and how I envision the scope of practice as a PA in the future. Also, it will illustrate the ethical principles that are going to guide my practice and these principles would be autonomy and beneficence. 

At the age of 10, while playing tag with my friends, I felt a sudden pain in the spinal cord, which impacted my physical mobility and I felt numbness in my left limbs. My parents struggled daily to find the right treatment for my conditions as numerous doctors from all around Bangladesh failed to diagnose the problem. This stole three years from my childhood as I became stranded in a bed and trapped inside the four walls of the room. I gave up all my hopes and I was preparing for a life of misery, loneliness, and dependence. However, an opportunity cracked through the locked doors as my parents got visas to come to the USA. The American doctors detected a malfunction on a peripheral neuron, which was interacting with my motor functions. White coat means a doctor according to Bengali standards because Bangladesh does not have any physician Assistance (PA). However, the “American doctor” at the emergency room was a PA, and I realized helping someone requires specific knowledge and not just a title. After that interaction, I was determined to utilize my second chance at life and use it to give back to people who are on the verge of giving up. I want to help other patients like that emergency room PA, who provided the chance for me to live again to the fullest. 

While my parents were struggling to take me from one doctor to another, I realized one of the main problems was lack of communication between the provider and me. As a practicing PA, I do not want my patient to have the same experience, where they feel neglected or subject of study. I plan to communicate with my patient about their health. Communication is a fundamental aspect of medicine because it helps to gather information regarding the patient and the patient gets to gather information about their current condition.  Patient has the fundamental right to know about their health and exercise their autonomy to accept or refuse a treatment, which can only happen through effective communication. Autonomy is a patient’s right to present their point of view regarding the medical treatment or condition without any external pressure from the healthcare provider (Yeo, M et al. ,2010b). Autonomy is divided into four components: free action, effective deliberation, authenticity, and moral reflection. Free action is the patient’s right to ask or refuse a treatment (Yeo, M et al., 2010b). In order to practice the free action right, the patient needs to understand the clinical condition, which can only happen through communication between the provider and the patient. For effective communication, I plan to use non-technical language while explaining the medical condition and treatment plan. I also plan to lay out the possible benefits and harms of treatment and allow the patient to ask questions. This model of communication will help me to have a shared goal of treatment with the patient, where the patient can exercise effective deliberation as the thought process matches with the stated core goals. 

My second goal as a PA is to minimize harm for the patient and the ethical principle of beneficence can guide toward this clinical practice. Beneficence is an obligation to do good for others with good intentions and outcomes (Yeo, Michael et al., 2010a). In Bangladesh, I have seen my parents struggle financially to take me to the doctors because money is a big aspect to the type of care a patient receives from the provider. I want to prioritize my patient’s safety above all the materialistic needs. I do not want my patient to ever feel neglected and I want to build a trustworthy relationship to ensure the patient that I am always there for them. My only intention will be benefitting the patient even if that means running multiple tests or spending extra time to discuss the chief complaint. With this intention, I also want to serve the lower socio-economic status patient because often they are neglected of the right of beneficence. I want to work towards providing the best quality of care with the intention of not harming the patient. 

Finally, this essay revealed the reasons for perusing PA and hoping to guide the scope of practice under the framework of beneficence and autonomy to increase patient satisfaction.  

Work Cited

1. Yeo, Michael et al. (2010). Beneficence . In M Yeo et al. (eds.). Concepts and Cases in Nursing Ethics. [3rd edition] Ontario: Broadview Press, pp. 103-116.
2. Yeo, M et al. (2010). Autonomy [selections]. In M Yeo et al. (eds.). Concepts and Cases in Nursing Ethics. [3rd edition] Ontario: Broadview Press, pp. 91-97, 103-109.