Muma Richard D, Phipps Brandon, Vredenburg Shawn
Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs and Research, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount, Box 13 Wichita, Kansas 67260, USA.
J Physician Assist Educ. 2012;23(3):7-11. doi: 10.1097/01367895-201223030-00002.
Since Dr. Stead first envisioned the physician assistant (PA) profession, there has been discussion of an accelerated PA-to-physician "bridge" program. Despite some conversations in the 1960s and the creation of other professional programs, such as the paramedic-registered nurse bridge, no formal long-term PA-to-physician programs were created in the United States, and the discourse faded over the years. With recent consideration of creating a clinical doctorate PA program of study, discussion has been revived about the need, efficacy, and propriety of a bridge program. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of PAs on the creation of a PA-to-physician bridge program; whether they would support a bridge program, its feasibility, and generally whether or not bridge programs should be initiated.
An online survey was sent to a cross-sectional, random sampling of PAs in the United States. The survey used a 5-point Likert scale to assess the perceptions of a PA-to-physician bridge program. A chi-squared analysis was performed to determine significant relationships.
PA respondents were strongly supportive of the bridge program concept; however, knowledge level about such a program was low. The chi-square analysis revealed that gender was the only variable with a significant relationship, with females being most in agreement about the concept.
The results of the study may help the PA and medical communities evaluate the applicability, feasibility, and practicality of a PA-to-physician bridge program. There is an overall tendency for PAs to support such a program.
自斯特德博士首次构想医师助理（PA）职业以来，就一直存在关于加速PA转医师“桥梁”项目的讨论。尽管在20世纪60年代有过一些讨论，并且创建了其他专业项目，如护理人员转注册护士桥梁项目，但美国并未创建正式的长期PA转医师项目，而且多年来相关讨论逐渐减少。随着近期对设立临床博士PA学习项目的考虑，关于桥梁项目的必要性、有效性和适当性的讨论再度兴起。本研究的目的是确定PA对创建PA转医师桥梁项目的看法；他们是否会支持桥梁项目、其可行性，以及总体而言桥梁项目是否应该启动。
向美国PA进行横断面随机抽样发送在线调查问卷。该调查使用5点李克特量表来评估对PA转医师桥梁项目的看法。进行卡方分析以确定显著关系。
PA受访者强烈支持桥梁项目的概念；然而，对该项目的了解程度较低。卡方分析显示，性别是唯一具有显著关系的变量，女性对该概念的认同度最高。
该研究结果可能有助于PA和医学社区评估PA转医师桥梁项目的适用性、可行性和实用性。PA总体上倾向于支持这样一个项目。
