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2001 AAPA Physician Assistant Census Report
Introduction
The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) was founded in 1968 and is the only national organization representing physician assistants (PAs) in all medical specialties. The Academy educates the general public about the PA profession, assures competency of PAs through active involvement in the accreditation of PA programs, provides continuing education, and conducts PA-related research. The Academy works to promote quality, cost-effective health care, and the professional and personal growth of PAs.
Each year since 1990, the AAPA has conducted a census survey of its members. Beginning in 1996, the census survey was expanded to include those PAs who were not members of AAPA. While the survey instrument and the data collection process have undergone some revisions since the inception of the census, the general approach and data elements have remained much the same.
The data collection effort for the 2001 AAPA Physician Assistant Census was conducted between March 15 and September 28, 2001. Survey forms were mailed to all individuals, both AAPA members and non-members, who as of December 31, 2000, were believed to be eligible to practice as PAs in the United State and for whom address information was available. In total, forms were mailed to 47,280 people - accounting for 90 percent of the 52,716 individuals eligible to practice as PAs as of the census expiration date. Completed surveys were received from 19,942 people or 38 percent of all individuals eligible to practice as PAs. Of the 28,417 AAPA members as of October 1, 2001, 15,012 (53%) completed surveys; of the 24,299 non-members, 4,930 (20%) completed surveys. Except for the information about static personal characteristics presented in the first three tables, this document presents the responses received from these PAs. It should be noted that these data have not been adjusted to account for non-response and that the number of usable responses for each item does vary, and the percentages displayed in all tables may not sum to 100 due to rounding.
To facilitate locating specific items of interest, an index of the subjects addressed by the tables is provided in addition to a list of tables.
Highlights of National Statistics
Section I. Personal Characteristics of Respondents
- Sex: The proportion of female respondents to this year's census is 56.5 percent.
- Ethnicity: White PAs comprise 90 percent of the respondents.
- Age: The mean age of census respondents is 41.5 years; the median is 41.
Section II. Information about Respondents' Education
- Highest degree before PA School: Approximately 69 percent of the PAs responding had received at least a bachelor's degree before enrolling in a PA program.
- Credential from PA School: More than half (52%) of the PAs responding received a bachelor's degree from PA school; 17 percent received a master's level PA degree.
- Highest Degree Ever Attained: At present, 58 percent of respondents hold at least a bachelor's degree, 31 percent hold master's degrees, and 2.4 percent hold doctorate degrees.
Section III. Information about Respondents in Clinical Practice
- Practice Status: The vast majority of census respondents (88%) are in clinical practice.
- Years in Clinical Practice: The mean number of years in clinical practice is 9.2; the median is 6 years. The mean number of years respondents have worked in their current position is 4.6; the median is 3 years.
- Years in Current Specialty: The mean number of years in current specialty for census respondents is 6.3; the median is 4.
- Number of Clinical PA Jobs: Less than one-fifth (17.4%) of the respondents in clinical practice work more than one clinical PA job concurrently.
- Geographic Distribution: The states in which the largest numbers of clinically practicing respondents are employed include: New York (9.5%), California (8%), Texas (6.2%), North Carolina (5.6%), Pennsylvania (5.5%), and Florida (5%).
Section IV. Information about Respondents in Clinical Practice at Primary Job
- Employer Type: More than four in ten respondents (41%) are employed by a single or multi-specialty physician group practice. Almost one-fourth (24%) of the respondents are employed by hospitals.
- Public Service: About 12 percent of the respondents work for a government agency; the Department of Veterans Affairs is the single largest government employer of PAs accounting for 3 percent of all respondents.
- Work Setting: The predominant work setting for more than one-third (39%) of all respondents is a solo or group practice office, more than another third (37%) work in a hospital, and about 11 percent of respondents work in some type of Federally Qualified Health Center or community health facility.
- Type of Community Served/Population of Geographic Area: PAs practice medicine in communities ranging from the most rural to the inner city. A little less than thirty percent (28%) of respondents work in areas that they believe have fewer than 50,000 people.
- Primary Specialty of Practice: While PAs practice in at least 60 specialty fields, almost half of this year's respondents (48.5%) report that their primary specialty is one of the primary care fields: family/general practice medicine (34.5%), general internal medicine (8.5%), general pediatrics (3%), and obstetrics/gynecology (2.5%). Other prevalent areas of practice for PAs include general surgery/surgical subspecialties (21%), emergency medicine (10%), and the subspecialties of internal medicine (8.6%).
- Functions and Responsibilities: PAs can perform a variety of functions for their primary employer. More than one-fourth (26%) of respondents assist in surgery; almost half (46%) perform invasive procedures. Eleven percent of respondents report supervising other PAs, and almost one-fourth (23%) report supervising other clinical staff. Exactly 39 percent of respondents indicate that they precept PA students; more than one-fourth (27.5%) precept students of other health professions.
- Patient Ages: PAs are seeing patients of all ages, from newborns to the elderly. Half (50%) of respondents treat patients less than one year of age, while 77 percent of respondents treat patients who are 85 years old or older.
- Work Status: Eighty-seven percent of clinically practicing respondents work full-time, defined as more than 32 hours per week, for their primary clinical employer.
- Hours Worked: The mean number of hours worked by these respondents who work more than 32 hours in a typical week is 44.6; the median is 42 hours.
- Patient Visits/Encounters: Due to the variety of work settings and specialty fields in which PAs practice, the types of patients PAs treat are quite varied. About 91 percent of census respondents who work full-time see outpatients in their primary job; the mean number of patient visits provided per week by PAs who see outpatients exclusively is 98.8. Thirty percent of respondents who work full-time see inpatients in their primary job; the mean number of patient encounters provided per week by respondents who see inpatients exclusively is 57.5. Seven percent of full-time PAs see nursing home patients in their primary job, and 5 percent of respondents see other types of patients.
- Taking Call: More than one-third (34%) of full-time respondents report taking call for their primary employer. The mean hours on call per month for those PAs who take some call but are not always on call is 107.4.
- Base Pay: Eighty-one percent of respondents report receiving their base pay in the form of a salary; 18 percent indicate that they receive an hourly wage.
- Compensation: Respondents report receiving several different forms of compensation from their primary employer. Common forms of compensation include on-call pay (9%) and overtime pay (17%). Fourteen percent of respondents report receiving an incentive based on the practice's productivity or performance while 19 percent report receiving an incentive based on their productivity or performance. More than one-third (37%) of those who receive an incentive based on productivity/performance report that the incentive is based on revenue.
- Annual Income: The median total annual income from primary employer for respondents who work at least 32 hours per week for their primary employer and who are not self-employed is $67,743; the mean is $71,046. The comparable figures for respondents who graduated in 2000 are $58,578 and $59,839, respectively.
- CME Funding: Almost 87% of respondents report having CME funds available to them from their primary employer. For those PAs who reported the amount of CME funds available to them, the mean was $1,420; the median was $1,500.
- Source of Funds for Insurance and Other Expenses: More than ninety-seven percent of respondents report that their employer pays 95-100% of their professional liability insurance fees. More than sixty percent of respondents also report that their employer pays 95-100% of their credentialing fees (70%), state license fees (68%), DEA registration fees (70%), AAPA dues (63%), and NCCPA fees (61%).
Last Revised: 2/1/02
