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What is a PA?

PAs are medical professionals who diagnose illness, develop and manage treatment plans, prescribe medications, and often serve as a patient’s principal healthcare provider. With thousands of hours of medical training, PAs are versatile and collaborative. PAs practice in every state and in every medical setting and specialty, improving healthcare access and quality.

140,000+PAs inthe U.S.

PAs have more than

2020 AAPA Salary SurveyAll data based on clinically practicing PAs in the U.S.

400000000 patient interactions per year

2018 AAPA Salary Survey

EDUCATION BY THE NUMBERS

260

PA programs in the U.S.

The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA), 2020

2000+

hours of clinical rotations

Programs are 27 monthsor 3 academic years

(Bachelor’s degree is required for acceptance)

Educated at

MASTER’SDEGREE level

Certification & Licensing

To obtain a license, PAs must:

Graduate from an accredited PA program

Pass a certification exam

To maintain their certification, PAs must complete:

100Hours

100 hours of continuing medical education (CME) every two years

10 years

A recertification exam every 10 years

PAspracticemedicine inall specialties

All data based on clinically practicing PAs in the U.S.
*Other refers to a variety of healthcare settings including but not limited to psychiatry, hospice and palliative care, obstetrics and gynecology, addiction medicine, pain management, public health and dermatology. It also includes PAs with no specialty. Pie charts may not sum to 100.0% due to rounding error.

All data based on clinically practicing PAs in the U.S.

*Other refers to a variety of work settings including but not limited to schools/universities, rehabilitation facilities, nursing homes and correctional facilities. Pie charts may not sum to 100.0% due to rounding error.

PAspracticein everywork setting

Research on PA Quality

"...PA management of pediatric patients 6 years or younger is similar to that of attending emergency physicians (EPs). In addition, this study suggests that PAs have the ability to recognize more severely ill children and elicit the input of a supervising physician in those individuals."

Pediatric Emergency Care

"...Practices that work closely with their PAs and ensured that PAs were able to work to the full extent of their education and experience ranked the highest [among the best primary care practices in the country]"

Peterson Center on Healthcare

"A first-of-its-kind study found that PAs and nurse practitioners (NPs) delivered similar quality of care, services, and referrals in community health centers as physicians."

Medical Care

"...diabetes management by NPs and PAs was comparable to management by physicians. The Veterans Health Administration model for roles of NPs and PAs may be broadly useful to help meet the demand for primary care providers in the U.S."

The American Journal of Medicine

93%

PAs are trusted healthcare providers

92%

Having a PA makes it easier to get medical appointments

91%

PAs improve the quality of healthcare

*“Attitudes Toward PAs: A 2014 Survey by the American Academy of PAs.” The Harris online survey was conducted September 15–22, 2014 among 1,544 adults age 18 and older living in the US, including an oversample of 680 adults who have seen a PA and/or have accompanied a loved one to see a PA in the past 12 months. For full methodology visit aapa.org/media.’

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