Assistant physician

Not to be confused with Physician assistant.

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. In 2020 the AP licencrs were authorized and issued in Missouri, Kansas, Arizona, Utah, and Arkansas.^[1] By 2024 the program has also passed into effect in Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee and Texas.^[2] To be licensed, APs must have graduated from medical school and passed the USMLE Step 1 and USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge exams.^[3] The expansion of the AP profession aims to provide primary care in underserved areas.^[3][4] The position also provides a career pathway for the increasing number of unmatched physician graduates.^[5]

In the United Kingdom, before the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, an AP was a junior physician attached to a hospital.^[6][7]