Perri Morgan1, Brandi Leach, Kristine Himmerick, Christine Everett. 1. In the PA program at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, N.C., Perri Morgan is a professor and director of research and Brandi Leach is a research analyst. Kristine Himmerick is a postdoctoral research scholar at the Center for the Health Professions at the University of California, San Francisco. Christine Everett is an assistant professor in the PA program at Duke University. This project was funded in part by a grant from the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) in Washington, D.C. Funding of this project does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the research findings by PAEA. The authors have disclosed no other potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Physician assistants (PAs) have adapted to roles in virtually every practice specialty. One factor that has affected PAs' specialty choices has been the availability of jobs. We describe 2014 job postings for PAs at the national level by practice specialty. METHODS: National data on 2014 job postings for PAs were obtained from a leading labor analytics firm. Each job posting (N = 34,137) was coded with regard to practice specialty and analyzed descriptively. RESULTS: The largest proportions of job postings were in the surgical (28%) and medical subspecialty (23%) categories, followed by primary care (19%), other (18%), and emergency/urgent care (12%). CONCLUSIONS: Job opportunities for PAs are plentiful and are focused in subspecialty practice. Future research should examine trends in job postings for PAs. Trend analyses will be useful for multiple purposes, including informing PAs who are seeking employment and tracking demand for the profession as a whole.
OBJECTIVE: Physician assistants (PAs) have adapted to roles in virtually every practice specialty. One factor that has affected PAs' specialty choices has been the availability of jobs. We describe 2014 job postings for PAs at the national level by practice specialty. METHODS: National data on 2014 job postings for PAs were obtained from a leading labor analytics firm. Each job posting (N = 34,137) was coded with regard to practice specialty and analyzed descriptively. RESULTS: The largest proportions of job postings were in the surgical (28%) and medical subspecialty (23%) categories, followed by primary care (19%), other (18%), and emergency/urgent care (12%). CONCLUSIONS: Job opportunities for PAs are plentiful and are focused in subspecialty practice. Future research should examine trends in job postings for PAs. Trend analyses will be useful for multiple purposes, including informing PAs who are seeking employment and tracking demand for the profession as a whole.