While PAs may be familiar with their hospitals' medical staffs and may even be members or affiliate members of a medical staff themselves, substantial benefits can be gained from a greater understanding of the scope of medical staff operations and the potential involvement of PAs. A medical staff is more than a group of practitioners who have been granted clinical privileges in a given institution; it is also a legal entity that formulates policy directly affecting the clinical practice, compensation, and job security of providers within its purview, including PAs. For these reasons, PAs need to keep informed of medical staff decisions and should seek representation in some capacity on the medical staffs of the hospitals in which they practice.