More PAs Take Jobs in Specialties Rather Than Primary Care

March 2, 2016 - If the healthcare industry was depending on physician assistants (PAs) to help solve the expected shortage of doctors in primary care in the coming years, there may be a problem.  A new study from Duke University School of Medicine has found that the job market is luring more PAs to jobs in specialty care rather than primary care practices.

A declining proportion of PAs are entering primary care practice because of a lack of jobs right now, according to the study, which was published online by the journal Medical Care Research and Review. Researchers looked at job postings in 2014 and found only 18 percent were in primary care, although that varied by state and were highest in the West.

"For years we have encountered students who came to PA school wanting to work in primary care, but when they graduated they had difficulty finding those primary care jobs," Perri Morgan, Ph.D., director of research at the Duke Physician Assistant Program and the lead author of the study, said in a study announcement.

Morgan said the trend is troubling given the need for more primary care providers. Salaries are also usually higher for PAs in specialty practice than for those in primary care, such as family medicine and general pediatrics, she said.

There won't be a shortage of PAs in the future, however, as increasing numbers of people are training for what has become a well-paid job, according to a study announcement from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It's a hot career, with the university's physician assistant program receiving more than 1,000 applicants for 90 slots for the fall. Similar training programs across the country received approximately 23,000 applications for 6,500 openings, said James R. Kilgore, Ph.D., director of the Alabama program, in a report from the university.

PAs are also earning a good salary, as compensation is nearly $100,000 on average across the U.S., according to a Forbes report.

While there's a physician shortfall, the number of nurse practitioners (NPs) and PAs is expected to increase by 30 percent and 58 percent respectively by the year 2020. That growth, however, may not solve the shortage of primary care practitioners, according to research previously reported by FierceHealthcare. Like physicians, NPs and PAs are choosing subspecialty careers rather than primary care.

To learn more:
- read the study announcement
- find the Duke study
- read the University of Alabama study announcement
- check out the report on UAB News
- read the Forbes article

By Joanne Finnegan
Posted on FierceHealthcare

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