The ability of PAs to solve patients' psychosocial problems. A preliminary report on patient expectations.

Patient expectations of physician assistants constitute a relatively unexplored field. A survey was designed to evaluate the expectations that patients have of PAs faced with a patient's psychosocial problems. The survey was distributed in 1987 to four practices that employ PAs in south central Kansas. Selected patients were surveyed for their expectations of the PA in dealing with a series of personal, social, psychological, and health-related items. Results indicated that patients expected the PA to be involved with these problems, but did not expect the PA to be an expert.