TY - JOUR
T1 - Physician assistant specialty choice
T2 - Distribution, salaries, and comparison with physicians
AU - Morgan, Perri
AU - Everett, Christine M.
AU - Humeniuk, Katherine M.
AU - Valentin, Virginia L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Physician Assistants.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Objectives: To describe trends in physician assistant (PA) specialty distribution, compare these trends with physicians, and quantify the relationship of PA specialty prevalence with both PA and physician salary. Methods: PA specialty and salary data were obtained from the 2013 American Academy of PAs' Annual Survey; physician specialty and salary data from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile and the Medical Group Management Association. Analyses included descriptive statistics and linear regression. Results: The proportion of PAs working in primary care decreased from 50% in 1997 to 30% in 2013. Substantial growth in PA proportions occurred in surgical and medical subspecialties. Regression models showed a higher prevalence of PAs in specialties with higher PA salary, higher physician salary, and higher physician-to-PA salary ratio (P<0.05). Conclusions: PAs are moving toward subspecialty practice. Our study suggests that demand for PAs may be an important factor driving the trend toward specialization.
AB - Objectives: To describe trends in physician assistant (PA) specialty distribution, compare these trends with physicians, and quantify the relationship of PA specialty prevalence with both PA and physician salary. Methods: PA specialty and salary data were obtained from the 2013 American Academy of PAs' Annual Survey; physician specialty and salary data from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile and the Medical Group Management Association. Analyses included descriptive statistics and linear regression. Results: The proportion of PAs working in primary care decreased from 50% in 1997 to 30% in 2013. Substantial growth in PA proportions occurred in surgical and medical subspecialties. Regression models showed a higher prevalence of PAs in specialties with higher PA salary, higher physician salary, and higher physician-to-PA salary ratio (P<0.05). Conclusions: PAs are moving toward subspecialty practice. Our study suggests that demand for PAs may be an important factor driving the trend toward specialization.
KW - Physician
KW - Physician assistant
KW - Primary care
KW - Salary
KW - Specialty
KW - Workforce
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U2 - 10.1097/01.JAA.0000484301.35696.16
DO - 10.1097/01.JAA.0000484301.35696.16
M3 - Article
C2 - 27306328
AN - SCOPUS:84974815482
SN - 1547-1896
VL - 29
SP - 46
EP - 52
JO - Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants
JF - Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants
IS - 7
ER -