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.
Watch Out!
Paramount might feel the need to sue over your unlicensed use of their intellectual property.
So, was torturing my neighbors kid's girlfriend about her little tirade about her pony being moved, and felt the need to find the theme song for "My Little Pony" and text it to her.
The only possible interpretation of any research whatever in the `social sciences' is: some do, some don't. -- Ernest Rutherford