Physician associate/assistant contributions to cancer diagnosis in primary care: a rapid systematic review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Symptom recognition and timely referral in primary care are crucial for the early diagnosis of cancer. Physician assistants or associates (PAs) have been introduced in 18 healthcare systems across the world, with numbers increasing in some cases to address primary care physician shortages. Little is known about their impact on suspected cancer recognition and referral. This review sought to summarise findings from observational studies conducted in high income countries on PAs' competence and performance on processes concerned with the quality of recognition and referral of suspected cancer in primary care.

Method

A rapid systematic review of international peer-reviewed literature was performed. Searches were undertaken on OVID, EMBASE, Web of Science, and CINAHL

SUBMITTER: Sheringham J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8254243 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature