Job Check
Physician Assistants
Provide healthcare services typically performed by a physician, under the supervision of a physician. Conduct complete physicals, provide treatment, and counsel patients. May, in some cases, prescribe medication. Must graduate from an accredited educational program for physician assistants.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 02Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal.People already use AI for this at work
- 03Prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 04Obtain, compile, and record patient medical data, including health history, progress notes, and results of physical examination.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 05Examine patients to obtain information about their physical condition.Mostly human for now
- 06Administer or order diagnostic tests, such as x-ray, electrocardiogram, and laboratory tests.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 07Instruct and counsel patients about prescribed therapeutic regimens, normal growth and development, family planning, emotional problems of daily living, and health maintenance.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 08Perform therapeutic procedures, such as injections, immunizations, suturing and wound care, and infection management.Mostly human for now
- 09Visit and observe patients on hospital rounds or house calls, updating charts, ordering therapy, and reporting back to physician.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 10Provide physicians with assistance during surgery or complicated medical procedures.Mostly human for now
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job lossToo little dataNot enough work use was seen to measure. This does not mean the job is safe from AI.Anthropic, 2026
38%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Above 10% of jobsin how often and how well AI helped with this job’s work in Microsoft Copilot chats (2024 data).Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025
Your human edge
The main tasks with no real AI use seen and no big speed-up expected. This is where your skill counts most today.
- Examine patients to obtain information about their physical condition.
- Perform therapeutic procedures, such as injections, immunizations, suturing and wound care, and infection management.
- Provide physicians with assistance during surgery or complicated medical procedures.