Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has considered allowing medical students in their second foundation year to apply for positions that are ring-fenced for physician associates.

No such consideration has been made. The role of physician associates (PAs) is to work with and support doctors, not to replace them. To become employed as a PA, candidates will need to have completed a recognised PA qualification.

Regulation of PAs by the General Medical Council (GMC) began at the end of 2024. To join the register, PAs must meet the GMC’s requirements and pass both parts of the Physician Associate National Examination.