Scientific and technologic improvements in medicine provide prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of diseases. On the other hand, the proportional and numeric increase in elderly population in our country leads to increased cardiovascular system diseases. This group of high-risk “fragile patients” we encounter frequently even today will need more intensive medical care in the future. The qualitative and quantitative inadequacy of active and prospective physicians in the current setting has not met the current required demand for care, let alone can it meet more demand for care in the future. This will potentially jeopardize the quality of service, which will result in increased mortality and morbidity. These arguments exhibit the need to prepare against the problems expected in the upcoming decades, plan the quality of service and human resources, and reorganize healthcare and social policies accordingly. These chronic problems that reflect on patient service quality have been overcome today in the United States and numerous European countries thanks to healthcare professionals who work as “Physician Assistants”. In this article, we emphasize the need for such competent professionals in the healthcare system in Turkey as well.

Keywords : Healthcare professionals; patient care; physician assistant