Lindsay Sally
Institute for Social, Cultural and Policy Research, University of Salford, The Crescent, England, UK.
Women Health. 2005;41(4):37-61. doi: 10.1300/J013v41n04_03.
Although the physician assistant profession has historically been male-dominated, women now comprise over sixty percent of physician assistants (PAs) in the U.S. This paper explores the reason for the increase of women into the physician assistant profession in recent decades and whether gender differences exist in how PAs are utilized. Twenty-one qualitative interviews with male and female physician assistants and key informants were conducted to assess the reasons for the influx of women. In addition, data from the American Academy of Physician Assistants Census Survey (n = 16, 569) were analyzed to assess current gender differences in employment characteristics of PAs. In the interviews, female PAs reported entering the profession because it allowed them to practice within the medical model without having the high expense and demanding schedule of medical school. In fact, they claimed that the profession was quite compatible with family life. Significant gender differences were found in work characteristics, primary employer type, and practice specialty. Although women tend to concentrate in practice areas of women and children's health, evidence suggests that they are moving beyond these traditional roles into areas such as internal medicine and surgery.
尽管从历史上看，医师助理职业一直以男性为主导，但如今在美国，女性占医师助理（PA）总数的比例超过了60%。本文探讨了近几十年来女性进入医师助理职业人数增加的原因，以及在医师助理的使用方式上是否存在性别差异。我们对男性和女性医师助理以及关键信息提供者进行了21次定性访谈，以评估女性涌入该职业的原因。此外，我们还分析了美国医师助理学会人口普查调查（n = 16,569）的数据，以评估当前医师助理就业特征方面的性别差异。在访谈中，女性医师助理表示进入该职业是因为这使她们能够在医学模式内执业，而无需承担医学院高昂的费用和繁重的课程安排。事实上，她们声称该职业与家庭生活相当契合。研究发现，在工作特征、主要雇主类型和执业专业方面存在显著的性别差异。尽管女性往往集中在妇女和儿童健康的执业领域，但有证据表明，她们正在超越这些传统角色，进入内科和外科等领域。
