Physician assistants have been part of American health care for almost 40 years.  Generally, PAs work alongside physicians and provide many of the same services.  In Santa Barbara, the biggest single employer of PAs is Sansum-Santa Barbara Medical
Foundation Clinics.
   I am currently licensed as a PA in California, but work only as a massage therapist.
   PA training and experience provides a broad medical base of knowledge, particularly in areas such as anatomy, physiology, and illness and disability.  As a massage therapist, this background enables a higher level of comfort when working with people with illness or disability.
   Moving from work in Western medicine to massage therapy, the emphasis has shifted from a focus on cure, to one of facilitating healing, both on a spiritual and a physical level.