Pandemic Be Damned, PAs Still Like Their Job
Field also continues growing, according to new workforce report
Physician assistants (PAs) reported high job satisfaction in 2020, despite much of the year being marked by the pandemic, and the field continues to grow. That's according to the annual Statistical Profile of Certified PAs, released this week by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA).
In the survey, which had a response rate of 85.9%, nearly three-quarters of PAs reported strong job satisfaction, with 72.9% saying they were "completely or mostly satisfied."
The number of certified PAs grew to 148,560, a 28.6% increase over 2016 (the report compared 2020 findings with the 2016 report), giving the field 45 PAs per 100,000 people in the U.S. -- an increase over 36 per 100,000 in 2016. And for the third straight year (2018-2020), more than 9,000 new PAs were certified.
