National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, 12000 Findley Road, Suite 200, Johns Creek, GA, 30097, USA.
Retired Health Services Research, Ridgefield, WA, USA.
Hum Resour Health. 2024 Jun 18;22(1):40. doi: 10.1186/s12960-024-00911-2.
Physician assistants/associates (PAs) provide services in diverse medical specialties globally, including psychiatry. While health professionals in psychiatry have been described for many years, little is known about PAs practicing in this discipline.
We describe US PAs practicing in psychiatry using robust national data from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). Analyses included descriptive and inferential statistics comparing PAs in psychiatry to PAs in all other medical and surgical specialties.
The percentage of PAs practicing in psychiatry has increased from 1.1% (n = 630) in 2013 to 2.0% (n = 2 262) in 2021. PAs in psychiatry differed from PAs practicing in all other specialties in the following: they identified predominately as female (71.4% vs. 69.1%; p = 0.016), were more racially diverse (Asian [6.6% vs. 6.0%], Black/African American [5.5% vs. 3.4%], multi-race [2.8% vs. 2.1%], and other races [Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, or other; 3.7% vs. 3.6%]; p < 0.001), and resided in the South (43.8% vs. 34.1%; p < 0.001). PAs in psychiatry vs. all other specialties were more likely to work in office-based private practice settings (41.6% vs. 37.3%; p < 0.001) and nearly twice as likely to provide telemedicine services for their patients (62.7% vs. 32.9%; p < 0.001). While one-third (31.9%) of PAs in psychiatry experienced one or more burnout symptoms, and 8.1% considered changing their current position, the vast majority of PAs in psychiatry (86.0%) were satisfied with their position.
Understanding the attributes of PAs in psychiatry is essential in medical labor supply and demand research. Our findings suggest that the number of PAs working in psychiatry is steadily increasing. These PAs were predominantly female, exhibited greater racial diversity, and were primarily located in the South and Midwest regions of the US. A striking difference was that PAs in psychiatry were almost twice as likely to provide telemedicine services for their patients. Although nearly a third of PAs in psychiatry acknowledged having one or more symptoms of burnout, few were considering changing their employment, and the vast majority reported high job satisfaction.
医师助理/医师助理（PAs）在全球范围内提供各种医学专业的服务，包括精神病学。虽然多年来一直在描述精神病学领域的卫生专业人员，但对在这一学科执业的 PAs 知之甚少。
我们使用国家医师助理认证委员会（NCCPA）的强大国家数据描述在美国从事精神病学的 PAs。分析包括描述性和推断性统计，比较从事精神病学的 PAs 与从事所有其他医学和外科专业的 PAs。
从事精神病学的 PAs 的比例从 2013 年的 1.1%（n=630）增加到 2021 年的 2.0%（n=2262）。从事精神病学的 PAs 与从事所有其他专业的 PAs 有以下不同：他们主要是女性（71.4%对 69.1%；p=0.016），种族更加多样化（亚裔[6.6%对 6.0%]、黑人/非裔美国人[5.5%对 3.4%]、多种族[2.8%对 2.1%]和其他种族[夏威夷原住民/太平洋岛民、美洲印第安人/阿拉斯加原住民或其他；3.7%对 3.6%]；p<0.001），并且居住在南部（43.8%对 34.1%；p<0.001）。与所有其他专业的 PAs 相比，从事精神病学的 PAs 更有可能在以办公室为基础的私人执业环境中工作（41.6%对 37.3%；p<0.001），并且为患者提供远程医疗服务的可能性几乎是其两倍（62.7%对 32.9%；p<0.001）。虽然三分之一（31.9%）的精神病学 PAs 经历了一种或多种倦怠症状，8.1%的人考虑改变当前职位，但绝大多数精神病学 PAs（86.0%）对自己的职位感到满意。
了解精神病学领域的 PAs 的特点对于医疗劳动力供应和需求研究至关重要。我们的研究结果表明，从事精神病学工作的 PAs 人数稳步增加。这些 PAs 主要是女性，表现出更大的种族多样性，主要分布在美国南部和中西部地区。一个显著的区别是，精神病学 PAs 为患者提供远程医疗服务的可能性几乎是其两倍。尽管近三分之一的精神病学 PAs 承认有一个或多个倦怠症状，但很少有人考虑改变就业，绝大多数人报告说工作满意度很高。
