The leadership of the Liberia National Physician Assistants Association (LINPAA) is calling on the Government of Liberia to speed-up the re-classification of mid-health workers in the country.
Addressing journalists on Monday, LINPAA’s President, Theophilus Fayiah, disclosed that the re-classification of Physician Assistants in the country will give an improved salaries and job security, which will be determined by their qualifications.
Fayiah disclosed that PAs in Liberia are pay far less than other health workers in the country. “Technically, PAs are next to Medial Doctors, but they are making less than US$130.00, we believe with the reclassification, there will be increment in salaries and which will be determined by qualifications. We don’t want to use the means of strike actions like other health groupings; we are appealing to the Legislature and the Executive to speed up the process,” he said.
The LINPAA President revealed that Physician Assistants in the country are used in administrative positions such as Officer-in-Charge (OIC), District Health Officers, County Clinical Supervisor, Community Health Department Director among others; without the requisite salaries, therefore, he is calling on the Government to declare those positions as civil servant positions.
He also cautioned all County Health Officers to desist from arbitrary change of PAs assignments; he also stressed that PAs in Liberia are striving and need attention from policy-makers in the country; he added that when it comes to time management, is a very busy and fast-paced environment; also, caring for a difficult patient is a challenge, therefore, Physicians welfares should be prioritized.
Meanwhile, Mr. Fayiah who recently visited Ghana upon the request of LINPAA, to include Physician Assistants in the University of Liberia University’s curriculum. The Masters in Physician Assistant program is a full-time graduate level program with an integrated curriculum that contains both didactic and clinical educational experiences.
In this study, students will build a strong academic foundation of medical knowledge in preparation for clinical training. They are also expected to be trained in Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery and Surgical specialties and Medicine Subspecialties.
The University of Liberia College Of Health Sciences (ULCHS) is the flagship institution responsible for training Liberia’s clinicians, researchers, health policy makers, and innovators.
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