Physician assistant role sees record growth in 2021

Nearly 11,000 physician assistants earned their certification in 2021, a new record for a profession that has grown by nearly 30% in the past five years.

The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants said the number of newly certified professionals rose 10.4% in 2021. Altogether, there were 158,470 certified physician assistants in the U.S. last year.

Physician assistants receive thousands of hours of classroom education and general clinical training that allows them to later specialize and address a lack of access to primary care, mental healthcare and other services, said Jennifer Orozco, president of the American Academy of Physician Associates.

“One of the beauties of the PA profession is that they're trained as generalists and they're really set up to help solve some of our major healthcare crises,” Orozco said.

Almost 42% of physician assistants practice in hospitals, and 22% provide care in medically underserved areas. The percentage of certified physician assistants offering telehealth services increased from 8.4% in 2017 to about 34% in 2021.

Top practice areas for physician assistants include surgical subspecialties, family medicine and emergency medicine.

Typically, physician assistants can provide 70% to 80% of the services ordinarily offered by physicians, so they are a resource for more frequent and accessible treatment amid the current shortage of healthcare professionals, said Dawn Morton-Rias, president and CEO of the commission.

Download Modern Healthcare’s app to stay informed when industry news breaks.

She said satisfaction surveys conducted by the group found patients are generally comfortable with physician assistants and the care they provide. Some patients even prefer to see physician assistants because their more consistent communication style and availability to answer questions makes it easier to build a rapport, Morton-Rias said.

The profession still has room to improve, particularly as it is less diverse than the communities being served, she said. More than 80% of physician assistants are white, 6.2% identify as Asian and 3.3% identify as Black. Females account to 70% of the total.

In Missouri, a state ranked 48 out of 51 for its number of physician assistants, the position has room to grow, said Paul Winter, immediate past president and legislative chair of the Missouri Academy of Physician Assistants. One issue especially at work in that state is the introduction of newer professions, like the assistant physician role—which requires a different certification process but fulfills responsibilities similar to physician assistants. Missouri was the first state to create and license the assistant physician role.