For release: November 20, 2000contact: Nancy Hughes703/836-2272, ext. 3505[email protected]Robin Herron703/836-2272, ext. 3501[email protected]
Physician Assistant Census Shows Numbers Increasing
(Alexandria, VA) – The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA), the national organization representing physician assistants (PAs) in all medical specialties and all work settings throughout the United States, estimates there will be 40,469 PAs in clinical practice at the beginning of 2001.
This estimate is based in part on results of the 2000 AAPA Physician Assistant Census Survey. According to AAPA’s projection, the states of New York and California will have the largest percentage of practicing PAs, followed by Texas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Florida. These states also had the most respondents on the census.
While PAs practice in virtually all medical and surgical specialties, the majority (51%) of census survey respondents practiced in one of the primary care fields – family and general practice medicine, general internal medicine, general pediatrics, and obstetrics/gynecology. Other leading areas of practice included general surgery and surgical subspecialties (20%), emergency medicine (10%), and the subspecialties of internal medicine (8%).
The most prevalent employer type for responding PAs was a group practice (39%), followed by hospitals (25%). The most prevalent work setting, however, was a hospital (39%), followed by a group practice (27%). The largest single employer of PAs responding to the survey was the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, employing 3 percent of all respondents.
More than 90 percent of the census respondents who worked full time reported seeing outpatients in their primary job. PAs who saw outpatients exclusively had a mean number of 99.4 patient visits per week. Twenty-nine percent of the respondents who worked full time saw inpatients in their primary job. PAs who saw inpatients exclusively had a mean number of 59 patient visits a week. Seven percent of full-time PAs saw nursing home patients.
PAs provide medical care in communities of all sizes, and they continue to practice in less populated and rural areas, with 29 percent of respondents reporting they practiced in communities of fewer than 50,000 people.
Data for the annual physician assistant census was collected by AAPA between March 1 and September 29, 2000. More than 19,000 people or 43 percent of all individuals eligible to practice as PAs completed the survey.
Physician assistants are licensed health professionals who practice medicine as delegated by their supervising physicians. PAs deliver a broad range of medical and surgical services to diverse populations in rural and urban settings. As part of their comprehensive responsibilities, PAs conduct physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, order and interpret tests, counsel on preventive health care, assist in surgery, and prescribe medications.
Founded in 1968, the Academy works to promote quality, cost-effective health care, and the professional and personal growth of PAs. For a complete copy of the census results and the methodology used, visit the AAPA Web site, www.aapa.org/research/index.html.
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