2002 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.

From 1990 to 1995, the AAPA 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 2002 AAPA Physician Assistant Census was conducted between March 15 and September 10, 2002. Survey forms were mailed to all individuals, both AAPA members and non-members, who were believed to be eligible to practice as PAs in the United States as of December 31, 2001 and for whom address information was available. In total, forms were mailed to 51,607 people – accounting for 90.6 percent of the 56,952 individuals eligible to practice as PAs as of September 19,2002. Completed surveys were received from 19,745 people, representing 34.7 percent of all individuals eligible to practice as PAs and 38.2 percent of the PAs who were mailed a survey form. Of the 27,158 AAPA members who were mailed a form, 14,663 (54%) responded; of the 24,375 non-members who were mailed a form, 5082 (20.8%) responded. Except for the information about sex, race, and age presented in the first three tables, this document presents the responses received on the census survey. It should be noted that these data have not been adjusted to account for non-response, 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: Females accounted for 58 percent of the respondents to this year’s census.

Ethnicity: White PAs comprise 89.4 percent of the respondents.

Age: The mean age of census respondents is 41.3 years; the median is 41.

Military Status: The majority of respondents (78.4%) have never served in the military.


Section II. Information about Respondents Education

Highest Degree before PA School: Approximately 72 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 of the PAs (51.2%) responding received a bachelor’s degree from PA school; 20 percent received a master’s level PA degree.

Highest Degree Ever Attained: At present, 54.9 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 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.

Years in Current Position: The mean number of years respondents have worked in their current position is 4.7; the median is 3 years.

Years in Current Specialty: The mean number of years in current specialty is 6.3; the median is 4 years.

Number of Clinical PA Jobs: Less than one-fifth of the respondents in clinical practice (16.9%) 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 (9.4%), California (8.1%), Texas (6.1%), Pennsylvania (5.5%), Florida (5.2%), and North Carolina (5.1%).


Section IV. Information about Respondents in Clinical Practice at Primary Job

Ownership: The vast majority of respondents (94.2%) do not hold any type of ownership in a practice. Ownership related to the primary clinical job was the most prevalent type, reported by 3.4 percent of the respondents.

Employer Type: More than four in ten respondents (42.3%) are employed by a single or multi-specialty physician group practice. Less than one-fourth of the respondents (23%) are employed by hospitals.

Government Employment: About 11 percent of the respondents work for some type of government agency; the Department of Veterans Affairs is the single largest government employer of PAs accounting for 2.7 percent of respondents.

Work Setting: The most prevalent work setting, reported by 37.9 percent of respondents, is a hospital; almost one third (28.3%) work in a group practice office, 12 percent work in the office of a solo practice physician, and about 9 percent work in some type of Federally Qualified Health Center or community health facility.

Type of Community Served: PAs practice medicine in communities ranging from the frontier to the inner city. A little more than one-fifth of respondents (21.6%) work in rural areas. Suburban and urban areas were however, the most prevalent types of communities reported, accounting for 34.3 and 29.6 percent of respondents, respectively.

Primary Specialty of Practice: While PAs practice in at least 61 specialty fields, 45.8 percent of this year’s respondents reported that their primary specialty was one of the primary care fields: family/general practice medicine (32.1%), general internal medicine (8.4%), obstetrics/gynecology (2.7%), and general pediatrics (2.6%). Other prevalent specialties for PAs were general surgery/surgical subspecialties (21.7%), emergency medicine (10.2%), and the subspecialties of internal medicine (9.4%).

Functions and Responsibilities: PAs can perform a variety of functions for their primary employers. More than one-fourth of respondents (25.9%) reported assisting in surgery and almost half (44.9%) reported performing invasive procedures. Almost eleven percent of respondents (10.5%) reported supervising other PAs, and more than one-fifth (22.2%) reported supervising other clinical staff. More than one-third of respondents (38.4%) indicated that they precept PA students; more than one-fourth (26.9%) reported precepting students of other health professions.

Patient Ages: PAs see patients of all ages, from newborns to the elderly. Almost half of respondents (49.3%) treat patients less than one year of age, while 77.8 percent of respondents treat patients who are 85 years old or older.


Section V. Information about Respondents in Clinical Practice Who Work at Least 32 Hours per Week at Primary Job

Work Status: The majority of clinically practicing respondents (86.9%) 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 the 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 97.7. Almost one-third of respondents who work full-time (29.4%) see inpatients in their primary job; the mean number of patient encounters provided per week by respondents who see inpatients exclusively is 59.9. Seven percent of full-time PAs reported seeing nursing home patients in their primary job, and 4.8 percent of full-time PAs reported seeing other types of patients.

Taking Call: More than one-third of full-time respondents (35.7%) reported taking call for their primary employer. The mean hours on call per month for those PAs who reported taking some call but who were not always on call is 107.3.

Base Pay: The majority of respondents (81.5%) reported receiving their base pay in the form of a salary; 17 percent indicated that they receive an hourly wage.

Compensation: Respondents reported receiving several additional forms of compensation from their primary employer. The most common form of additional compensation was overtime pay, reported by 17.8 percent of respondents. Twelve percent of respondents reported receiving an incentive based on their practice’s productivity or performance while 19.6 percent reported receiving an incentive based on their own productivity or performance. More than one-third of those who reported receiving an incentive based on productivity/performance (38.8%) indicated that the incentive was 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 $69,567; the mean is $72,241. The comparable figures for respondents who graduated in 2001 are $61,363 and $63,168, respectively.

CME Funding: Approximately 87% of respondents reported 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 is $1,438; the median is $1,500.

Source of Funds for Insurance and Other Expenses: More than ninety-seven percent of respondents reported that their employer pays 95-100% of their professional liability insurance fees. More than sixty percent of respondents also reported that their employer pays 95-100% of their DEA registration fees (71.6%), credentialing fees (71.3%), state license fees (69.7%), AAPA dues (64%), and NCCPA fees (62.7%).

 

Last Revised: 9/4/03