Chatterjee Somu, Westneat Susan, Wyant Andrew, Hunton Ryan
Somu Chatterjee, MD, MPH, is an assistant professor and director of clinical education for the Physician Assistant Studies Program at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Susan Westneat, MA, is a staff epidemiologist at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Andrew Wyant, MD, MDiv, is an associate professor for the Physician Assistant Studies Program at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Ryan Hunton, MSPAS, PA-C, is an emergency medicine physician assistant resident at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
J Physician Assist Educ. 2018 Dec;29(4):197-204. doi: 10.1097/JPA.0000000000000226.
The use of certified physician assistants (PA) has increased throughout the US health care system. The purpose of this study was to objectively evaluate physicians' perceptions of PAs' mastery of specific skills. It is important to understand stakeholders' perceptions of PAs' capabilities to support future changes in policies for better utilization of PAs in our health care system.
From 2014 to 2015, randomly chosen "active" physicians listed with the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure were surveyed about their perceptions of competencies of certified PAs. Six competency domains (medical knowledge, interpersonal and communication skills, patient care, professionalism, practice-based learning, and improvement and systems-based practice) were rated using a Likert scale. Each competency-derived skill-based question was ranked by the number of physicians giving the highest scores on the Likert scale (a score of 4 or 5) and by effect size. Cronbach's alpha for the survey was calculated.
An overwhelming majority of the physicians perceived certified PAs to be competent (n ≥ 161, ≥ 60%) for specific skills. The survey had internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.75 to 0.87 for competency domains. Effect size ranged from 0.44 to 0.98 for scores given by physicians with, versus without, experience with PAs.
For the first time, there is objective evidence of physicians' perceptions of PAs' mastery of specific competency-derived PA skill sets. This study will help guide effective utilization of PAs throughout the health care system and future PA education.
在美国医疗保健系统中，注册医师助理（PA）的使用有所增加。本研究的目的是客观评估医生对医师助理掌握特定技能的看法。了解利益相关者对医师助理能力的看法对于支持未来政策变化，以便在我们的医疗保健系统中更好地利用医师助理非常重要。
2014年至2015年，对肯塔基州医学执照委员会列出的随机选择的“在职”医生进行了调查，询问他们对注册医师助理能力的看法。使用李克特量表对六个能力领域（医学知识、人际沟通技能、患者护理、专业精神、基于实践的学习与改进以及基于系统的实践）进行评分。每个基于能力的技能问题根据在李克特量表上给出最高分（4分或5分）的医生数量以及效应量进行排名。计算了该调查的克朗巴哈系数。
绝大多数医生认为注册医师助理在特定技能方面具备能力（n≥161，≥60%）。该调查具有内部一致性，能力领域的克朗巴哈系数在0.75至0.87之间。有医师助理工作经验的医生与没有该经验的医生给出的分数的效应量在0.44至0.98之间。
首次有客观证据表明医生对医师助理掌握特定能力衍生的医师助理技能集的看法。本研究将有助于指导在整个医疗保健系统中有效利用医师助理以及未来的医师助理教育。
