Cawley James F, Kayingo Gerald, Kulo Violet
At the Physician Assistant Leadership and Learning Academy at the University of Maryland Baltimore in Baltimore, Md., James F. Cawley is a scholar-in-residence and visiting professor; Gerald Kayingo is assistant dean, executive director, and a professor; and Violet Kulo is an associate professor of health professions education. The authors have disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.
JAAPA. 2023 Feb 1;36(2):1-6. doi: 10.1097/01.JAA.0000911216.02925.52.
New perspectives have been brought to bear in the discussion of the topic of the physician associate/assistant (PA) doctoral degree in general and the entry-level PA doctorate in particular. Both the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) and the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) have sought and supported formal research investigations into the question. Evidence from studies shows that perceived benefits and risks are strongly influenced by the lens of the various stakeholders; that most PAs believe that the master's degree is enough for clinical practice; and that most clinical PAs and PA students are not in favor of an entry-level doctorate. Lessons learned from other healthcare professions that have transitioned to a clinical doctorate only marginally serve as a model for the PA profession. PA organizations need to fully own and embrace the task of leading the discussion and reaching a definitive conclusion in the determination of PA doctoral education. Failure of the PA profession to act decisively on the doctoral degree question would essentially default this decision to colleges and universities, which tend to have a vested economic interest in new types of degrees.
在关于医师助理（PA）博士学位这一总体话题，尤其是入门级PA博士学位的讨论中，人们带来了新的观点。医师助理教育协会（PAEA）和美国医师助理学会（AAPA）都已对该问题进行并支持了正式的研究调查。研究证据表明，不同利益相关者的视角对所感知到的益处和风险有很大影响；大多数PA认为硕士学位足以满足临床实践；并且大多数临床PA和PA学生不支持入门级博士学位。从其他已过渡到临床博士学位的医疗保健专业中学到的经验对PA专业仅能起到有限的借鉴作用。PA组织需要完全承担并接受引领讨论以及在确定PA博士教育方面达成明确结论的任务。PA专业若不能就博士学位问题果断采取行动，实际上就会将这一决策默认给高校，而高校往往在新型学位上有既得经济利益。
