In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, an assistant physician (AP) is a

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

doctor of osteopathic medicine Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become li ...

who has graduated from a four-year medical school program and is licensed to practice, in a limited capacity, under the supervision of a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

who has completed their

residency Residency may refer to: * Artist-in-residence, a program to sponsor the residence and work of visual artists, writers, musicians, etc. * Concert residency, a series of concerts performed at one venue * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or m ...

. The AP license is currently issued in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. To be licensed, APs must have graduated from medical school and passed the

USMLE Step 1 The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 is a standardized test that assesses a medical student's knowledge of basic science concepts and their application to clinical medicine. The exam is one of three components required ...

and

USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge USMLE Step 2 CK ("Clinical Knowledge") is a nine-hour-long exam that represents the second part of the United States Medical Licensure Examination. It assesses clinical knowledge through a traditional, multiple-choice examination divided into eig ...

exams. The expansion of the AP profession aims to provide

primary care Primary care is a model of health care that supports first-contact, accessible, continuous, comprehensive, and coordinated person-focused care. It aims to optimise population health and reduce disparities across the groups by ensuring equitable ...

in underserved areas. The position also provides a career pathway for the increasing number of

unmatched ''Unmatched'' is a documentary about tennis players Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, their decades-long on-court rivalry and lifelong friendship, created for ESPN's ''30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary fil ...

physician graduates. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, before the establishment of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

in 1948, an AP was a junior

attached to a hospital.

References

Works cited

* *

External links

Association of Medical Doctor Assistant Physicians
{{Authority control Physicians Health care occupations