ABSTRACT
A national sample of physician assistants (PAs) responded to
a survey about their perceptions of specialty certification. Fewer than one-third planned to certify. Of three factors, advantage ofspecialization was most related to awareness, plans to certify, and demographics. Respondents were unsure whether certification would increase PA salaries. Many felt specialty certification will be the undoing of the profession.
In response to the prevalence of PA specialization, in 2008 the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) proposed specialty certification for PAs in certain fields.1 To counter opposition, the NCCPA offered "certificates of added qualifications" (CAQs) instead.2 This study analyzes the perceptions of practicing PAs regarding specialty certification as NCCPA originally proposed.
Methods The Wichita State University Institutional Review Board approved an online survey of 2,687 PAs that collected demographics and asked two categorical questions about respondents' knowledge of specialty certification and plans to certify if offered. Fourteen statements, based on issues raised by Danielsen,3 addressed perceptions about PA specialty certification. The answers to these statements, based on Likert-scale format, underwent factor analysis. Chi-square analyses determined whether relationships existed between demographic variables and between these variables and factor statements.
Results The return rate was 11% (n = 293) (Table 1). Younger practitioners, males, and nonprimary care providers were more aware of certification than were their counterparts. However, most PAs did not intend to pursue certification (Table 2).
Significant relationships existed between three factors (Table 3) and demographic variables (Tables 4, 5, 6).
An affirmative response to "I plan to work toward specialty certification" and awareness of certification influenced the most items representing advantages of certification (factor 1). Gender and other demographic variables had less influence.
