Optimizing the Future Competitiveness of the Physician Assistant Profession

The physician assistant (PA) profession is presently one of the fastest-growing occupations in the United States with demand projected to remain strong in the coming years. This period of rapid growth amidst a changing healthcare landscape presents a timely opportunity to evaluate and optimize the PA profession to ensure its continued value and marketability moving forward. This study sought to understand the opinions of advanced practice providers (APPs) regarding the importance of various factors in helping the PA profession maximize its competitiveness within the APP marketplace and value within the healthcare field.

We conducted a cross-sectional online survey study of PAs and nurse practitioners (NPs) via convenience sampling. Participants rated the importance of 23 factors in maximizing competitiveness of the PA profession on a Likert-type scale. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.

A total of 362 APPs completed the survey: 77.3% (280/362) were PAs and 22.7% (82/362) were NPs. Factors considered most important based on mean responses were: increasing PA representation on state medical boards (4.13±1.42), increasing publications about the value of PAs (4.02±1.16), increasing public awareness about the value and role of PAs in healthcare (4.00±1.67), practice-level determination of physician/PA collaborative agreements (3.96±1.32), and increasing awareness about the PA profession among pre-health advisors (3.93±1.38).

This study highlighted several factors that APPs consider to be valuable in optimizing the PA profession. These data should inform discussions among policymakers and advocates of the PA profession as they consider how to maximize marketability within the APP marketplace and ensure that PAs can most effectively meet the needs of a changing healthcare landscape.