The X-Ray they did was apparently to confirm their thoughts on the pneumonia, but the rest of the diagnosis seemed (to my admittedly untrained eye) to be good deduction and experience.
I can speak to the "Physician Assistant" thing personally, as an ex-girlfriend was one.. The law varies from state to state, but at least in Pennsylvania, becoming a PA requires several years of graduate-school education and a sort of mini-internship/residency period. They can pretty much do anything a doctor can do, short of surgery, with the supervision of a LOCAL (meaning in the building, within no more than a minute or two distance).
Little story:
About 2 years ago, I was having coughing fits severe and long enough that I was on the verge of blacking out (from lack of oxygen) several times. I called my primary care doctor, but even with the description I gave, their only advice was to either come in the following day or go to the ER.
So, being a reasonable sort of person, I decided to take the middle path. I went to one of those "Doc in a box" clinics, and within 45 minutes, I'd been seen, x-rayed, given a lung capacity test (one of those plastic things with the little red ball inside), advised of my diganosis, handed some prescription cough syrup and some STRONG antibiotics (turned out I was developing pneumonia) and sent on my way.
Cost.. $20, same as an office visit (since they're not open 24/7, they don't count as an ER).
I can find no fault with the entire experience. Now, if I thought that I'd developed meningitis or Parkisons or whatever, sure, I'd get an appointment with a "real" doctors office. But for probably 95% (total guess on that percentage, but seems reasonable to me) of what people go into their GP for, this was a perfect solution.
The clinic was staffed with 5 or so Physician Assistants and 2 Nurse Practitioners, with only one "real" doctor, but at no point was I concerned about the level of care or knowledge-base of those non-doctor staff people.
In short, I got quality care, in virtually no time at all, for the cost of an office visit. I simply cannot find anything to complain about in the entire experience.
"And remember: Evil will always prevail, because Good is dumb." -- Spaceballs