Assistant physician

{{distinguish|Physician assistant}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}

In the United States, an assistant physician (AP) is a medical doctor or doctor of osteopathic medicine 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 who has completed their residency. The AP license is currently issued in Missouri, Kansas, Arizona, Utah, and Arkansas.{{Cite web |url=https://www.aafp.org/dam/AAFP/documents/advocacy/workforce/scope/BKG-Scope-AssistantPhysicians.pdf |title=AAFP Backgrounder - Scope of Practice: Assistant Physicians |date=January 1, 2020 |access-date=July 25, 2024}} To be licensed, APs must have graduated from medical school and passed the USMLE Step 1 and USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge exams.{{cite web |last1=Lieb |first1=David A. |title=Missouri targets doctor dearth, expands first-in-nation law |url=https://apnews.com/article/id-55c5cd4f30064140a1ac8917739ce1e5 |publisher=AP News |access-date=March 12, 2024 |language=en |date=May 14, 2017}} The expansion of the AP profession aims to provide primary care in underserved areas.{{cite web |last1=Singer |first1=Jeffrey |title=One simple fix for the primary care shortage: assistant physicians |url=https://www.statnews.com/2023/05/18/assistant-physicians-missouri-law/ |publisher=STAT |access-date=March 12, 2024 |date=May 18, 2023}} The position also provides a career pathway for the increasing number of unmatched physician graduates.{{Cite journal|last=Van Way|first=Charles W III|date=May–June 2021|title=Are Assistant Physicians a Good Idea? Should We Create Jobs for Unmatched Physicians?|journal=Missouri Medicine|volume=118|issue=3|pages=179–181|pmc=8210997|pmid=34149069}}

In the United Kingdom, before the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, an AP was a junior physician attached to a hospital.{{sfn|Abel-Smith|1964|p=7}}{{sfn|Peterson|1978|pp=137, 160, 162}}