MIMA has providers other than doctors. These include ARNP, PA, PA-C, and AUD. What do these titles mean? Can they provide you with acceptable care? Read below for a detailed explanation.

Advanced Registered Nurse Practioner (ARNP)

PROFESSIONAL ROLE
Nurse Practitioners are licensed independent practitioners who practice in ambulatory, acute and long term care as primary and/or specialty care providers. According to their practice specialty they provide nursing and medical services to individuals, families and groups. In addition to diagnosing and managing acute episodic and chronic illnesses, nurse practitioners emphasize health promotion and disease prevention. Services include, but are not limited to ordering, conducting, supervising, and interpreting diagnostic and laboratory tests, and prescription of pharmacologic agents and non pharmacologic therapies. Teaching and counseling individuals, families and groups are a major part of nurse practitioner practice.

As licensed independent practitioners, nurse practitioners practice autonomously and in collaboration with health care professionals and other individuals to assess, diagnose, treat andof NP manage the patient's health problems\needs. They serve as health care researchers, interdisciplinary consultants, and patient advocates.

Entry level preparation for nurse practitioner practice is at the master's, post master's or doctoral level. Didactic and clinical courses prepare nurses with specialized knowledge and clinical competency to practice in primary care, acute care and long term health care settings. Self-directed continued learning and professional development beyond the formal advanced and education is essential to maintain clinical competency.

The autonomous nature of the nurse practitioner's advanced clinical practice requires accountability for health care outcomes. Insuring the highest quality of care requires national certification, periodic peer review, clinical outcome evaluations, a code for ethical practice,of evidence of continuing professional development and maintenance of clinical skills.

The role of the nurse practitioner continues to evolve in response to changing societal and health care needs. As leaders in primary and acute health care, nurse practitioners combine the roles of provider, mentor, educator, researcher and administrator. Members of the profession are responsible for advancing the role of the nurse practitioner and insuring that the standards of the profession are maintained. This is accomplished through involvement in professional organizations and participation in health policy activities at the local, state, national, and international levels.

Audiologist / Doctor of Audiology (Au.D.)

Doctors of Audiology specialize in the diagnosis, management and treatment of hearing and balance disorders. They provide direct services to patients from birth through adulthood, including:

Physician Assistant (PA)

In the mid-1960s, physicians and educators recognized there was a shortage and uneven distribution of primary care physicians. To expand the delivery of quality medical care, Dr. Eugene Stead of the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina put together the first class of PAs in 1965. He selected Navy corpsmen who received considerable medical training during their military service and during the war in Vietnam but who had no comparable civilian employment. He based the curriculum of the PA program in part on his knowledge of the fast-track training of doctors during World War II.

On October 6, 1967, Duke University PA program graduated the first PA students who went on to start practicing as PAs. Today there are over 79,000 graduates of PA programs.

Physician assistants are health care professionals licensed, or in the case of those employed by the federal government they are credentialed, to practice medicine with physician supervision. As part of their comprehensive responsibilities, PAs conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventive health care, assist in surgery, and write prescriptions. Within the physician-PA relationship, physician assistants exercise autonomy in medical decision making and provide a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic services. A PA's practice may also include education, research, and administrative services.

PAs are trained in intensive education programs accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).

Because of the close working relationship the PAs have with physicians, PAs are educated in the medical model designed to complement physician training. Upon graduation, physician assistants take a national certification examination developed by the National Commission on Certification of PAs in conjunction with the National Board of Medical Examiners. To maintain their national certification, PAs must log 100 hours of continuing medical education every two years and sit for a recertification every six years. Graduation from an accredited physician assistant program and passage of the national certifying exam are required for state licensure.