Radiology physician extenders and their perspective in their own words

Physician assistants have been previously studied to evaluate their satisfaction with their vocation. A recent evaluation of physician assistants demonstrated common themes that indicated job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Provider satisfaction increases the likelihood of provider retention in any practice. Physician extenders provide an enlarging portion of radiology services. Understanding the motivations, expectations, and needs of this group of midlevel care providers as perceived by these providers will allow radiology practices to better address these issues and retain these needed practitioners. Previous evaluations have been performed on the physician assistant community at large rather than on radiology extenders, a relatively new position. Therefore, the authors sought to assess the factors that influence vocational satisfaction in radiology extenders at their institution to identify issues specific to these providers. The use of qualitative data analysis allowed the physician extenders to speak for themselves.