In recent years, the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) has encouraged the discontinuation of using “mid-level provider” to describe physician assistants/associates (PAs), arguing that the term is antiquated and offensive. But do PAs share this same sentiment? We asked 440 PAs in our network to gauge whether they find the term “mid-level provider” offensive. Read on to learn more about what we uncovered!
45% of Surveyed PAs Find ‘Mid-Level Provider’ Offensive
To determine PA sentiment on whether or not they find ‘mid-level provider’ offensive, we asked each PA exactly that question. Interestingly, nearly half (45%) of all of the PAs surveyed said they find the term offensive.
In total, 198 PAs said they do find the term “mid-level provider” offensive, compared to 242 who do not. But how does this sentiment change among PAs of different age groups? We split the results of our survey to find out whether there’s a difference between older and younger PAs on this question.
PAs 45 and Older are 23% More Likely to Find ‘Mid-Level Provider’ Offensive
Our survey uncovered some interesting data points when comparing younger PAs to older PAs on the “mid-level provider” question. We found PAs aged 45 and older are 23% more likely to find the term offensive, with 39% of PAs aged 25–44 said they find the term offensive, compared to 48% of the PAs aged 45 and older.
In total, 60 of the 153 PAs in the younger cohort said they find the term offensive; 138 of the 286 PAs 45 and older said they find it offensive.
A Majority of PAs Aged 55–64 Find ‘Mid-Level Provider’ Offensive
Out of all the age groups surveyed, only one had a majority of respondents who said they find the term “mid-level provider” offensive. The majority of PAs aged 55–64 (51%) said that they find “mid-level provider” offensive. In contrast, only 38% of respondent PAs aged 25–34 agreed that they find the term offensive.
In total, 57 of the 112 PAs surveyed in this age group said they find the term offensive.
Current Locum Tenens PAs 11% More Likely to Find Term Offensive Than Non-Locum PAs
Current locum tenens PAs surveyed were 11% more likely to say that they find the term “mid-level provider” offensive, with 49% of those respondents finding the term offensive compared to 44% of non-locum tenens providers who had the same opinion.
In total, 52 of the 107 current locum tenens PAs who responded to the survey said they find the term offensive, and 146 of the 333 noncurrent locum tenens PAs surveyed said the same.
Survey Methodology
The survey, which was conducted on SurveyMonkey from April 22 to April 29, 2024, received responses from 440 PAs in Barton Associates’ network.
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