Swanchak Lori E, Levine Alan M, Arscott Karen E, Golden Mary Alice
Physician Assistant Program, Marywood University, 2300 Adams Avenue Scranton, Pennsylvania 18509, Telephone: (570) 961-4711 Email:
J Physician Assist Educ. 2011;22(1):19-24. doi: 10.1097/01367895-201122010-00004.
In recent years, a growing trend toward clinical doctorate degrees has emerged in several allied health professions. However, few studies have been conducted within the physician assistant (PA) profession related to changing the entry-level degree for PAs to a clinical doctorate.
A descriptive, quantitative study assessing PA students' perceptions of changing the entry-level credential for PAs to a clinical doctorate was conducted. Thirty randomly selected programs with 1,966 students were invited to participate in the survey.
Of the programs invited, 25 (83%) participated, with 486 (25%) full-time students completing the survey. Of the respondents, 56.1% (272) were first-year students and 43.9% (213) were second-year students. Both groups had a negative perception of changing the entry-level degree for PAs to a clinical doctorate, indicating the doctorate will raise the cost of PA education and discourage some people from entering the profession (82.1%, n = 398); a doctorate for PAs will cause confusion for patients (71.3%, n = 346); and that there is no need for the profession-specific doctorate since the master's degree sufficiently prepares PAs to practice in today's health care setting (70.9%, n = 344).
The present findings lend additional support to previous studies, endorsing the master's degree as the entry-level and terminal degrees.
近年来，几个联合健康专业出现了向临床博士学位发展的趋势。然而，在医师助理（PA）专业中，很少有关于将PA的入门级学位改为临床博士学位的研究。
进行了一项描述性定量研究，评估PA学生对将PA的入门级证书改为临床博士学位的看法。随机选择了30个项目，邀请其中的1966名学生参与调查。
在受邀项目中，25个（83%）参与了调查，486名（25%）全日制学生完成了调查。在受访者中，56.1%（272人）是一年级学生，43.9%（213人）是二年级学生。两组学生对将PA的入门级学位改为临床博士学位都持负面看法，认为博士学位会提高PA教育成本，并阻碍一些人进入该行业（82.1%，n = 398）；PA的博士学位会让患者感到困惑（71.3%，n = 346）；并且认为由于硕士学位足以让PA在当今的医疗环境中执业，因此不需要特定专业的博士学位（70.9%，n = 344）。
目前的研究结果为先前的研究提供了更多支持，认可硕士学位作为入门级和终端学位。
