Search

Objective: This study investigated educational debt, repayment strategies, and other factors potentially related to recently certified physician associates/assistants' (PAs') choice or preference for primary care versus all other specialties., Methods: A national dataset from 2023 of recently certified PAs was used to conduct quantitative and qualitative analyses. Analyses were conducted separately for PAs who had accepted a clinical position and those who had not accepted a clinical position., Results: Overall, 88% of respondents reported having educational debt, with 13.5% owing $200,000 or more. PAs from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine had accrued higher educational debt than their counterparts. Educational debt was significantly associated with specialty choices/preferences: PAs with higher debt were more likely to opt for nonprimary care specialties. Qualitative analyses revealed that PAs rely on different strategies for repaying their loans, depending on whether they choose or prefer primary care or nonprimary care specialties., Conclusions: These results suggest that educational debt plays a role in specialty selection, but other factors also are significant., (Copyright © 2025 American Academy of Physician Associates.)

Objective: We sought to assess public experiences with and perspectives about physician associates/assistants (PAs), who are taking on increasingly important roles in healthcare., Methods: We conducted a survey using a Qualtrics panel assessing whether participants (N = 1,388) received care from PAs, their perceptions of the care received, and their intentions of seeking care from PAs in the future., Results: About 67% of participants reported receiving care from PAs; 61.7% believed PAs have more time to communicate with patients. Most respondents were satisfied with the care received, said they were likely to see a PA again, and recommended PAs. Of those not treated by PAs, 30.6% were willing to receive care from PAs, 43.8% were willing to receive care from PAs for minor medical needs, 21.3% were unsure, and 4.3% were unwilling. Older participants and those with more education had consistently more favorable views., Conclusions: Public experiences with and perceptions of PAs are positive. Future research should employ longitudinal designs to assess trends as the PA workforce continues to grow., (Copyright © 2023 American Academy of Physician Associates.)