Most physician assistants are in favor or neutral about changing their official title to "physician associate," according to Medscape's "Physician Assistant Career Satisfaction Report" released June 30.
The report is based on survey responses from 3,058 U.S. physician assistants collected between Nov. 7 and Dec. 20, 2022.
The American Academy of Physician Associates voted to adopt "physician associate" as the official title for the PA profession in 2021. However, the organization is not recommending PAs use the term in clinical practice until the jurisdiction governing their licensure and practice has formally adopted the physician associate title. This guidance is reflected in Medscape's findings: 90 percent of PAs reported that they still use the physician assistant title.
Overall, 40 percent of PAs were in favor of the title change, while 45 percent neither favored or opposed the change. Only 15 percent of respondents opposed the change.