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.
The AP license is currently issued in Missouri, Kansas, Arizona, Utah, and Arkansas.
[2] The expansion of the AP profession aims to provide primary care in underserved areas.
[2][3] The position also provides a career pathway for the increasing number of unmatched physician graduates.
[4] In the United Kingdom, before the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, an AP was a junior physician attached to a hospital.