AAPA Research Funding

Do you have an important research question, but have limited time to explore it? Don’t have an individual research project, but looking to broaden your research capacity? No matter where you’re starting, AAPA has financial support for researchers!

The 2023 AAPA Small Research Grants and Research Scholars applications are now closed. We expect notifications to be sent out by the beginning of September.

Small Research Grants

Small Research Grants

Overview of the Small Research Grants Program

The goal of the SRG program is to support research for PAs who otherwise do not have access to institutional resources (e.g., time free from teaching or clinical practice, access to graduate student support, internal funding mechanisms, grant writing resources), and to help establish a record of external funding. The SRG is especially intended to provide seed funding to help individuals build their research portfolio and successfully apply for larger grants.

Application Process

The 2023 Small Research Grants Program application is now closed. We expect notifications to be sent out by the beginning of September.
If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected] and include “Small Research Grant” in the subject line. You should have a response within two business days. You can learn more about the program and what an application entails by downloading the 2023 AAPA Small Research Grants guidelines.
Researchers who wish to use existing data sets may find the following helpful: AAPA data: Access the public use file documentation on our Bibliography and Resources page

All of Us Research Hub: Learn more about the All of Us Research Hub and how to access All of Us data and tools

Other data: Learn more about other valuable data sets, such as the AHRQ Social Determinants of Health data which includes PAs, NPs, and physician data, by accessing the 2022 AAPA-PAEA Research Seminar Series at AAPA Learning Central

We have provided an extensive Bibliography on PA Value 2011 ‐ 2021, including how to conduct a search, to help you generate ideas and write your background. The bibliography also highlights select articles that are illustrative of work that can be done within the PA profession that would allow PAs and their advocates to show the value of PAs within the United States healthcare system.

Priority Areas for Funding

As AAPA and constituent organizations advocate to remove barriers to PA practice, much more research is needed to show that PAs provide safe, high quality, cost-effective care. We are looking for research to support this work. Examples include:

  • PAs’ role in increasing access to care, particularly in rural and/or in health provider shortage areas.
    • Access to care may include the expansion to a population for whom care in a particular specialty may have been inadequate. It may also include decreasing wait time to receive treatment. Finally, it may include the impact of practice/regulatory/legislative environments on PAs ability to provide healthcare.
  • Patient outcomes for PAs’ patients, particularly on teams.
    • This may include, but is not limited to, where PAs serve as team leaders, own or co-own a practice, work as first assists in surgery, and/or rural and health provider shortage areas.
  • Models of PA utilization.
  • Clinical teams optimized for patient care.
  • Impact of executive orders on PA roles and patient outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Patient satisfaction resulting from PA-delivered healthcare.
  • How transitions to PA practice/models of onboarding impact effectiveness/time to competency.
Research Scholars

Research Scholars

Overview of the Research Scholars Program

AAPA is providing a pilot project to establish a Research Scholars program (Scholars), which will fund two researchers in 2023. Each Scholar will receive $6,000 and complementary registration to AAPA 2024 to present their work. Each Scholar will produce high quality research under the guidance of AAPA and focus on projects that support the removal of barriers to PA practice which can’t be accomplished by AAPA due to resource limitations. These projects may be identified by the Scholar, or the Scholar may develop their topic from a list provided by AAPA.

Each Scholar will provide AAPA a minimum of 60 hours of their time over three months to determine their project, conduct analyses, and write up findings. AAPA will provide analytical support as well as guidance on the research, policy, and communications implications.

The outcomes of the Scholars’ research will be included in but not limited to conference presentations, recorded CME webinars, peer reviewed publications, News Central articles, white papers, and/or talking points.

Application Process

The 2023 Research Scholars Program application is now closed. We expect notifications to be sent out by the beginning of September.
If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected] and include “Scholar” in the subject line. You should have a response within two business days. You can learn more about the program and what an application entails by downloading the 2023 AAPA Research Scholars Program guidelines.

Priority Areas for Funding

For the pilot year, Research Scholars will investigate PAs’ role in increasing patients’ access to care.

  • Geography: How are PAs increasing access to care in medically underserved areas such as rural areas and/or areas with clinician shortages?
  • Resources: How are PAs impacting the distance patients travel for health care?
  • Specialization: How is PAs’ inability to provide specialist services negatively affecting patients?
  • Wait time: How do PAs get patients the services they need in a timely manner? (Specialist, family medicine, need for consults, etc.)

Funded Projects

Funded Projects

2022 Small Research Grantees

AAPA has awarded $101,000 to five researchers as part of the Small Research Grant. Congratulations to:

Robert McKenna, DMSc, MPH, PA-C, of Marshall B. Ketchum University, School of Physician Assistant Studies who received $30, 898 for the project “Comparison of Outpatient Procedures Performed by Primary Care Physicians, Physician Associates, and Nurse Practitioners.”

Chris Roman, DMS, PA-C, of Butler University who received $6,604 for the project “PA Access to Provider Health Programs and Safe Haven Non-Reporting.”

Christa Cooper, PA-C, MPH, PHD, of Rush University Medical Center who received $23,113 for the project “The Value of Physician Assistants in a Movement Disorder Clinic.”

Skylar Stewart-Clark, PhD, PA-C, of Oregon Health & Science University PA Program who received $22,000 for the project “Towards PA and NP Workforce Optimization in Federally Funded Rural Facilities: An Analysis of Oregon Critical Access Hospitals and Indian/Tribal Clinics.”

Victoria Beloy, DMSc, PA-C, of Intermountain Healthcare (Peaks Region) formerly Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth who received $18,772 for the project “The Value of Competency-based Onboarding in Increasing PA Utilization in a Non-Academic Healthcare Setting.”

2021 Small Research Grantees

AAPA has awarded $37,000 to three researchers as part of the Small Research Grant pilot. Congratulations to:

Cynthia Griffith, MPAS, PA-C, of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center who received $9,000 for “Patient Satisfaction: A Comparison of Dermatology Physician Assistants, Dermatologists, and Resident Physicians in Outpatient Academic Medical Center.”

Thank you, PA Griffith, for providing an infographic with your findings. This research team analyzed data from over 12,000 patients and the results show that patients are equally satisfied with Dermatology PAs as they are with Dermatologists. Both groups scored higher than residents. 

Read the results of this study: “Patient satisfaction with dermatologists, resident physicians, and physician assistants: a multi-year cross-sectional study in an academic medical center.”

Melissa Rodriguez, DMSc, PA-C, of AdventHealth who received $8,000 for “Role Delineation and Team Participation of Physician Assistant/Associates in Obstetrics and Gynecology.”

Gerald Kayingo, PhD, MBA, PA-C, of University of Maryland, Baltimore who received $20,000 for “COVID-19 and Job Posting Trends Among U.S. PAs. The ValuePac Study.”