Message from the President and CEO

When the NCCPA issued the first Statistical Report of Certified PAs by Specialty in 2015, I proudly stated that “Certified PAs are answering the call.” Today, I’m proud to report that Certified PAs continue to answer the call by providing access to high quality care and by addressing growing needs for more specialty providers. Though Certified PAs practice in every discipline and setting, in 2018 most Certified PAs practiced in
family medicine/general practice (19.2 percent), followed by emergency medicine (13.0 percent) and orthopedic surgery (10.8 percent). We see that 21.5 percent of certified PAs practiced in surgical subspecialties such as cardiothoracic, colorectal, gynecology and obstetrics, gynecologic oncology, neurosurgery, ophthalmic, oral/maxillofacial, orthopedic, otorhinolaryngology, pediatric, plastic and maxillofacial, urologic and vascular. During this same time frame, 12,755 Certified PAs reported that they worked in a secondary position, the highest among these being those working in emergency medicine (23.4 percent). In reviewing the report you’ll also find that Certified PAs worked a median of 40 hours, with those working in cardiothoracic and vascular surgery having the highest median number of hours worked (48 hours). PAs are active members of the specialty practice workforce, across all disciplines and the numbers are increasing. Additional detailed data, such as PA demographics, services provided, patient encounters, hours worked, payer mix and income range for 23 specialties and subspecialties can be found in this report, which we hope will be used to continue to inform discussions regarding the areas in which PAs practice and the opportunities to continue to enhance their full utilization. This report was made possible by the more than 89 percent of Certified PAs who update their professional profiles throughout the year. To those PAs, we extend our sincere appreciation for the time and effort you expend in updating your data. What you do every day matters, and your contributions help to showcase PAs’ important role in the healthcare arena. We hope that you, as well as all other PAs, will continue to update your practice information, so that we can share this robust data on the PA profession. To healthcare policy makers and researchers, thank you for your interest in the PA profession. We hope you will find this data useful.

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About the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants

The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) is the only certifying organization for the 139,000 physician assistants (PAs) in the United States. The PA-C credential is awarded by NCCPA to PAs who fulfill certification, certification maintenance and recertification requirements. NCCPA also administers the Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) program for experienced, Certified PAs practicing in seven specialties. For more information, visit  https://www.nccpa.net.