The Faculty of Physician Associates at the Royal College of Physicians provides professional support to physician associates across the UK. Members of the FPA are part of a professional membership body campaigning for progress and change in the profession, offering advice to the government, and taking part in national debates on medical, clinical and public health issues.
The FPA provides support to both qualified and student physician associates in their education, training and professional development, giving members access to a benefits package that includes a CPD diary, publications, library resources, and discounts on professional development courses and events.
The FPA oversees and administers the running of the Physician Associate Managed Voluntary Register (PAMVR) and is campaigning to achieve statutory registration of the profession.
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PATH is a remote supervision and support offer for employers of Physician Associates (PAs) in General Practice and Primary Care
This will support a shared understanding of the role of the PA in primary care and support a successful transition, first year. This is webinar based, with hosted resources and live Q&As.
The supervision is from HR experts, GPs and programme directors, there is also a legal team to understand the complexities of the role
This team has a wealth of expertise and information that can be of very great support to you. Contact us now to discuss your specific needs via info@our-path.co.uk
Health Education England (HEE) have commissioned PATH to provide a package of support for practices who are interested in employing a new PA onto a preceptorship and to help us deliver our manifesto targets. The package includes the following benefits:
- Access to resources to help prepare and set up for recruitment
- Assessment of the practice environment in preparation for a PA
- Help and support on-boarding a new PA
- Help with the first year of supervising a PA
- Realisation of the benefits that a PA can offer to a practice
- Development of the PA role for the long-term
- Wider connections with other GPs/practices across the UK through their extensive networks and social media platforms.
Download further information about the PATH support offer to Primary Care Networks.
GP practices employing a Physician Associate (PA) on a 12 month preceptorship in primary care can claim up to £5,000 worth of Physician Associate support funding. This is a national offer available from Health Education England (HEE) that is valid until 31st March 2021.
The funding is designed to help support the PA in their first year of qualification but there are no hard and fast rules about how it should be used. It could be used to support the PA directly in training and development, or it could be used to backfill staffing resource to enable supervisors to spend that little extra time with the PA.
In terms of claiming, once a PA has been appointed and there is a start date in place the practice can write to HEE via Jacqui.Baines@hee.nhs.uk to request a claim form.
This fund is able to support a maximum of 59 claims across the year in the North West of England.
The video playlist below published by Health Education England shows case studies of Physician Associates working in general practice.