PA Profession
History
In the mid-1960s, physicians and educators recognized there was a shortage and uneven distribution of primary care physicians. To expand the delivery of quality medical care, Dr. Eugene Stead of the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina put together the first class of PAs in 1965. He selected Navy corpsmen who received considerable medical training during their military service and during the war in Vietnam but who had no comparable civilian employment. He based the curriculum of the PA program in part on his knowledge of the fast-track training of doctors during World War II.*
Evolution
Since its inception, the PA concept has experienced tremendous growth, both in the expansion of physician assistant educational programs and in the increase in the number of PAs nationwide. Since the establishment of the first PA educational program at Duke University in 1965, the number of PA educational programs has mushroomed to 142 accredited programs today. Approximately 12,000 students are currently enrolled in PA programs.*
The intensity of PA education is reflected in the level of degrees awarded to PA program graduates. Of the 142 PA programs, 113, or 80%, award a master’s degree.*
Future Directions
As a direct result of the increase in PA educational programs, the number of PA graduates has grown dramatically since 1965. The number of new graduates in 2007 was approximately 4,600. The national professional organization for physician assistants (AAPA) estimates that at the beginning of 2008 there were 79,706 people eligible to practice as PAs and 68,124 people in clinical practice as PAs. Eighty-five percent of all individuals eligible to practice as PAs were in clinical practice at the beginning of 2008.*
Recent responses to the AAPA Census Survey identified the following distribution of primary practice specialties among PA respondents nationwide:
| Specialty | Percent |
| Family Medicine | 25.9% |
| Emergency Medicine | 10.5% |
| Internal Medicine (General) | 5.2% |
| Internal Medicine Subspecialties | 13.9% |
| Obstetrics/Gynecology | 2.3% |
| Pediatrics (General) | 2.5% |
| Pediatric Subspecialties | 1.8% |
| Surgery (General) | 2.5% |
| Surgical Subspecialties | 22.7% |
| Other | 12.7% |
| TOTAL | 100.0% |
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that the number of PA jobs will increase by 27 percent between 2006 and 2016 (compared to the 10 percent projected increase in all jobs during the same time period). The PA profession was ranked the fourth fastest growing profession in the country by CNN.com and Forbes.com in 2007.*
Keeping pace with the growth in PA practitioners, the level of income earned by PAs has also shown impressive increases. Results of the 2008 AAPA Physician Assistant Census Survey indicate that the mean total income from primary employers of PAs who work at least 32 hours per week for their primary employer is $89,987. The comparable mean for PAs who have been in clinical practice for less than one year is $76,232.*
*Information provided by American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA)
