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Draining and Privileges of Physician-Assistants All physician assistants hired had received formal college education and graduated with bachelors degrees as physician assistants. They were certified, licensed and had passed the certifying examination given by the American Board of Physician Assistants. They had several years of experience in managing in-patients in acute medical and surgical settings. Following recruitment, the physician-assistants spent a period of three months rotating with fellows and residents under the supervision of certified intensivists in a university hospital. The physician-assistants received training in the techniques of obtaining history and physical examination in a critical care setting. They also were instructed in the performance of numerous invasive procedures, record keeping and family and patient counseling. At the end of this period of training, the physician-assistants were certified and allowed to take primary care of patients under the supervision of staff physicians. The physicians actually were present in the unit and visually supervised the PAs when invasive procedures were being conducted. In other situations, physicians could be outside the unit (but within the hospital complex) and provide supervision via telephone consultations.