Objective: Ireland has medical workforce challenges and a growing demand for services. One strategy is to include Physician Associates (PAs) in healthcare settings. A pilot study was undertaken with PAs recruited from North America and the United Kingdom to work in a large Dublin teaching hospital.Methods: Four PAs were deployed on surgical services. Communication with the hospital staff preceded their employment. A series of interviews were undertaken at the beginning [2015] and end [2017] of the project. Data collection included surveys and interviews with staff and PAs.Results: Despite a series of communications about the employment of PAs a lack of awareness among hospital staff prevailed. This presented a challenge for the PAs to assume their role and for staff to bring them on board. Once on board those staff who worked with the PAs found their role beneficial in terms of continuity of care and skillset. Recommendations for inclusion of PAs in any new employment should include a more robust stakeholder engagement and promulgation throughout the wider healthcare system.Conclusion: Attitudes about the adoption of the PA have come slowly when first introduced in a country and Ireland seems no exception. At the same time communication lessons were learned about introducing a new health provider role in Irish society.
This study assessed the 2014 clinical productivity of 5,959 physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) in the US Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Total work relative value units divided by the direct clinical full-time equivalent measured annual productivity, and correlated factors were examined using weighted analysis of variance. PAs and NPs in adult primary care roles were more productive than those in other specialties. Both providers were more productive in rural than in nonrural settings and less productive in teaching than nonteaching hospitals. Men were slightly more productive than women but age and years of VHA employment were not correlates of productivity. PAs were more productive when their scope of practice allowed significant autonomy; NP productivity was unaffected by supervisory requirements. PAs and NPs are an important component of the VHA provider workforce, and their productivity correlates with a number of factors. More organizational research is necessary to better understand the contributing roles PAs and NPs provide in a rapidly evolving, vertically integrated, national health delivery system.
There is broad consensus among medical workforce analysts that the demand for physician assistants (PAs), physicians, nurses, allied health, and other medical providers has substantially increased since the late 1990s. While researchers tend to examine the deployment of various providers in private medical offices, they often overlook federally-employed PAs. Since the late 1980s, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been a major employer of PAs. The demand for services is projected to increase by 30% over the next decade as the VA undergoes expansion. We examined the characteristics of PAs in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the medical arm of the VA. In 2010, 1,878 PAs were employed in 153 VA medical centers and many of the more than 900 community-based outpatient clinics. The majority work full time, and 49% are female. VHA PAs are distributed broadly across medical services (38%), surgery (47%), mental health (11%), and other services (4%). Thirty-one percent of PAs have prior military experience. The average years of VHA PA employment is 10.5, and the average age of a VHA PA is 49 years (range 23-74 years); one-third (34%) are within 5 years of retirement eligibility. Annual attrition for PAs is 9%, consistent with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists in the VHA. Projected demand for PA services in the VHA is expected to grow to 2,550 by 2018. Strategies are under way to improve the PA workforce in the VA.
Purpose Results from an evaluation of a 12-month postgraduate Veterans Health Administration (VHA) residency in primary care for physician assistants (PAs). Methods Descriptive and open-ended data were collected to describe the experience of faculty and trainees participating in the first 3 years of this pilot residency. Quantitative data were summarized using descriptive statistics. Text data were transcribed and reviewed for common themes across residency sites and respondents. Data were collected at 2 time points—the end of the first year and the beginning of year 4. Results In the first 3 years of the program, 18 residents were enrolled at 6 sites, with 89% completing the residency. At the second time point, 8 more residents were enrolled. Residents were primarily female (69%). Of the residents completing the program, 56% obtained VHA employment, and 75% of the current residents planned to work for the VHA upon completing the program. Program infrastructure, such as written curriculum, a dedicated administrative staff, and written evaluations for trainees, was more common at the second time point. Recurring themes included the importance of establishing relationships with potential applicants, preceptors, medical center leadership, and trainees to support the program and the importance of securing resources such as space and protected time for faculty. Conclusions Although postgraduate residency programs are less common for PAs than for some other health professions, our data suggest that a one-year residency can provide training for new graduates to help solidify their clinical experience and facilitate their transition to practice.
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