From the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT.
National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, Johns Creek, GA.
Ann Plast Surg. 2024 Sep 1;93(3):384-388. doi: 10.1097/SAP.0000000000004033. Epub 2024 Jul 15.
Physician assistants (PAs) play a vital role in the US health care system, particularly amid the persistent surgeon shortage and escalating health care demands. We aim to characterize the current cohort of PAs in plastic surgery by comparing them to PAs in all other specialties. Using a cross-sectional analysis of the 2022 National Commission on Certification of PAs dataset, we examined demographic and practice characteristics of PAs in plastic surgery with those in all other specialties. Analysis included descriptive and bivariate statistics. In 2022, 1.0% of PAs worked in plastic surgery, with the specialty's numbers nearly doubling from 2015 (n = 647) to 2022 (n = 1186). Bivariate analysis among PAs in plastic surgery and those in other settings revealed several important attributes (all P's < 0.001); PAs in plastic surgery were younger (median age, 36 vs 39), identified as female (91.0% vs 69.4%), resided in urban locations (97.6% vs 92.5%), and performed a higher proportion of clinical procedures (66.5% vs 33.9%). Furthermore, a statistically significant higher percentage of PAs in plastic surgery reported high job satisfaction and was more likely to report no symptoms of professional burnout. The expanding PA profession amid the scarcity of surgeons presents an ideal prospect for enhanced collaboration. In an era where surgeon burnout is increasingly common and PAs express a readiness to function at an advanced level, expanding PAs' role becomes desirable and imperative. This collaborative approach has the potential to address workforce challenges, elevate patient care, and enhance provider satisfaction.
医师助理（PAs）在美国医疗保健系统中发挥着至关重要的作用，尤其是在外科医生持续短缺和医疗保健需求不断增加的情况下。我们旨在通过将整形外科的 PAs 与其他所有专业的 PAs 进行比较，来描述当前整形外科 PAs 群体的特征。我们使用 2022 年全国医师助理认证委员会数据集的横断面分析，比较了整形外科和其他所有专业的 PAs 的人口统计学和实践特征。分析包括描述性和双变量统计。2022 年，有 1.0%的 PAs 在整形外科工作，该专业的人数从 2015 年的 647 人几乎翻了一番，达到 2022 年的 1186 人。整形外科和其他环境中的 PAs 之间的双变量分析揭示了几个重要属性（所有 P < 0.001）；整形外科的 PAs 更年轻（中位数年龄 36 岁 vs 39 岁），女性比例更高（91.0% vs 69.4%），居住在城市地区（97.6% vs 92.5%），并进行了更高比例的临床操作（66.5% vs 33.9%）。此外，报告工作满意度高和没有职业倦怠症状的 PAs 在整形外科中的比例也显著更高。在外科医生短缺的情况下，PA 职业不断扩大提供了一个加强合作的理想前景。在外科医生倦怠日益普遍的时代，PA 表示愿意发挥更高水平的作用，扩大 PA 的角色变得理想和必要。这种合作方法有可能解决劳动力挑战，提高患者护理水平，并提高提供者的满意度。
