Physician assistants/associates in psychiatry: a workforce analysis

Area of Science:

• Medical Workforce Research
• Psychiatric Healthcare Delivery
• Physician Assistant Studies

Background:

• Physician assistants (PAs) are increasingly providing services across various medical specialties, including psychiatry.
• However, there is limited understanding of the demographic and practice characteristics of PAs specifically within the psychiatric discipline.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the characteristics of US-based physician assistants (PAs) practicing in psychiatry.
• To compare PAs in psychiatry with those in other medical and surgical specialties using national data.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) for analysis.
• Employed descriptive and inferential statistics to compare PAs in psychiatry to PAs in all other specialties.

Main Results:

• The percentage of PAs in psychiatry increased from 1.1% in 2013 to 2.0% in 2021.
• PAs in psychiatry were more likely to be female, racially diverse, and located in the South.
• They were also more likely to work in private practice and provide telemedicine services (62.7% vs. 32.9%).

Conclusions:

• The number of PAs in psychiatry is steadily increasing, with distinct demographic and practice patterns.
• PAs in psychiatry show a higher adoption of telemedicine services compared to other specialties.
• Despite experiencing burnout symptoms, the majority of PAs in psychiatry report high job satisfaction and are not considering changing positions.