McKenna Robert E, Hooker Roderick S, Bruza-Augatis Mirela, Puckett Kasey, Kozikowski Andrzej
Medical Science Program, School of Physician Assistant Studies, Marshall B. Ketchum University, Fullerton, California.
Independent Researcher, Ridgefield, Washington.
Endocr Pract. 2025 Apr;31(4):433-438. doi: 10.1016/j.eprac.2024.12.016. Epub 2024 Dec 27.
Physician assistants (PAs) are employed in endocrinology, but little is known about their roles and activities. The study aimed to assess PAs' employment characteristics in endocrinology compared to those in all other specialties.
This descriptive observational study used the 2022 National Commission on Certification of PAs dataset. The study includes 117 748 board-certified PAs who indicated a clinical specialty in 2022. The characteristics of PAs in endocrinology were examined using descriptive statistics, including counts and percentages for categorical variables; means (with standard deviations), and medians (with interquartile ranges) for continuous variables. Bivariate analyses (ꭙ and Mann-Whitney U tests) were used to determine statistical differences between PAs practicing in endocrinology versus PAs in all other specialties.
This study found that as of 2022, 685 PAs reported practicing in endocrinology. PAs in endocrinology, compared to PAs in all other specialties (all P < .001), were more likely to identify as female (82.0% vs 69.6%), work in an office-based private practice (61.3% vs 37.0%), and participate in telemedicine (70.8% vs 40.1%). Conversely, PAs in endocrinology were less likely to work in a secondary position, saw slightly fewer patients weekly, and earned $10,000 less yearly than their PA colleagues in all other specialties.
Examining the PA endocrinology workforce is essential due to the shortage of endocrinologists and the increased prevalence of diabetes as the U.S. population ages. Understanding where PAs in endocrinology are employed and their attributes could assist efforts in specialty modeling to address supply and demand projections.
医师助理（PA）受雇于内分泌科，但对其角色和活动了解甚少。本研究旨在评估与所有其他专科相比，PA在内分泌科的就业特征。
这项描述性观察性研究使用了2022年医师助理全国认证委员会数据集。该研究纳入了117748名在2022年表明有临床专科的获得委员会认证的PA。使用描述性统计方法检查内分泌科PA的特征，包括分类变量的计数和百分比；连续变量的均值（及其标准差）和中位数（及其四分位间距）。采用双变量分析（卡方检验和曼-惠特尼U检验）来确定内分泌科执业的PA与所有其他专科的PA之间的统计学差异。
本研究发现，截至2022年，有685名PA报告在内分泌科执业。与所有其他专科的PA相比（所有P <.001），内分泌科的PA更有可能为女性（82.0%对69.6%），在基于办公室的私人诊所工作（61.3%对37.0%），并参与远程医疗（70.8%对40.1%）。相反，内分泌科的PA担任次要职位的可能性较小，每周看诊的患者略少，且每年比所有其他专科的PA同事少挣10000美元。
由于内分泌科医生短缺以及随着美国人口老龄化糖尿病患病率上升，研究PA内分泌科劳动力至关重要。了解内分泌科PA的就业地点及其属性有助于进行专科建模，以应对供需预测。
