Darwin Brown, MPH, PA-C, is an assistant professor in the Physician Assistant Program, School of Medicine, at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.
Brenda Quincy, PhD, MPH, PA-C, is a professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana.
J Physician Assist Educ. 2021 Dec 1;32(4):207-224. doi: 10.1097/JPA.0000000000000385.
This study described the assumptions that PA educators hold regarding the option and/or transition to a doctoral entry-level degree for PA graduates.
A cross-sectional electronic survey of all members of accredited PA programs was administered. The survey comprised 32 Likert-type statements that measured respondents' level of agreement ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree and general demographic information. Mean scores are reported for each Likert statement and then compared with analysis of variance and post hoc testing for subgroups of baseline variables.
Responses indicate wide-ranging opinions regarding the adoption of an entry-level doctoral degree for PAs. However, the preponderance of responses appeared more neutral or in opposition to an entry-level doctoral degree. The statement with the strongest level of agreement was that "consideration of the entry-level doctoral degree was really about competing with advanced practice nurses." Educators who were PAs and those who were physicians differed significantly in their responses for 17 of 32 statements.
Most respondents believed that the master's degree is "enough for clinical practice." If there is not a deliberate discussion informing the transition to a doctoral entry-level degree, then the change is likely to occur at the individual program level as it did with the transition from a certificate to a bachelor's degree and then to a master's degree. If the PA profession moves to the acceptance of an entry-level doctoral degree, the PA professional organizations should continue to be involved in developing a measured plan forward.
本研究描述了 PA 教育者对 PA 毕业生选择和/或过渡到博士入门级学位的假设。
对认证的 PA 项目的所有成员进行了横断面电子调查。该调查由 32 个李克特量表组成，衡量了受访者的同意程度，从强烈不同意到强烈同意，以及一般人口统计学信息。报告了每个李克特陈述的平均分数，然后根据方差分析和基线变量的事后检验进行比较。
研究结果表明，对于 PA 采用入门级博士学位存在广泛的意见。然而，大多数回应似乎更加中立或反对入门级博士学位。最强烈的一致意见是“考虑入门级博士学位实际上是与高级执业护士竞争”。作为 PA 的教育者和作为医生的教育者在 32 个陈述中的 17 个陈述上的回答有显著差异。
大多数受访者认为硕士学位“足以进行临床实践”。如果没有关于过渡到博士入门级学位的深思熟虑的讨论，那么这种变化很可能会在个别项目层面发生，就像从证书到学士学位再到硕士学位的过渡一样。如果 PA 专业过渡到接受入门级博士学位，那么 PA 专业组织应该继续参与制定一个有计划的前进方案。
