Richard Dehn, MPA, PA-C, DFAAPA

The author asks his fellow PAs if they are acting as preceptors to PA students. If you want to make an impact on the quality of PA graduates, he says, and therefore the future of the profession, this is the one important contribution that will indeed make a difference.

While we may speculate as to why PAs choose the specialty they do, we really don't know much about the factors impacting this important choice at graduation or when a PA chooses a change of specialty.

The methodology for predicting medical workforce supply and demand consists of estimating the future medical provider workforce as well as modeling future demand for medical services.

I have attended AAPA annual conferences since the late 1970s, and while I don't attend every year, I attend more meetings than I miss. Thus over the years I have had the luxury to observe the changes the profession undergoes just from experiencing the conference.

The PA profession continues to shift away from primary care toward specialty care. Demand for PAs is increasing in relatively new specialties in the United States, creating new employment opportunities in these areas of practice.

PA salaries have been increasing significantly over the last few years, particularly for new graduates. PAEA data shows that between the graduating classes of 2006 and 2008, the average new graduate salary went from $68,886 to $76,410, a 9% rise.

This installment reviews a quality of care comparison study, a novel study of patient willingness to see a PA or NP rather than a physician prior to the visit, and an article that disagrees with the second article's conclusions.

Currently the PA profession is at the beginning of another substantial expansion. Several dozen institutions have indicated an interest in starting a PA program, and many existing programs have either increased enrollment or are seriously considering increases.

This installment of Research Corner reviews a detailed analysis of a pilot project that utilized five US-trained PAs in various setting in Queensland, Australia.

The questions of who chooses to become a PA and why has always been of interest to me. While on the surface this appears to be a basic and, some might consider somewhat banal question, I've always believed that it to be a fundamentally enlightening interview question that sometimes provides me a brief glimpse into our profession's future.