Should You Write Physician Associate or Physician Assistant on Your PA School Essay?

On May 24'th, 2021, the AAPA made an "earth-shattering" announcement when they proclaimed that "the AAPA House of Delegates (HOD) passed a resolution affirming “physician associate” as the official title for the PA profession."

For many, like myself, who took the AAPA name change survey in 2019, we breathed an instant sigh of relief. This certainly would mean the death of the AAPA/WPPs survey approved title "Medical Care Practitioner" and, even worse, "Praxician!"

For others, like my colleague Jane, a 27-year seasoned PA veteran, the news didn't seem to shatter her earth at all. I could tell when she looked up at me and said, "Oh, I didn't know the name change was a thing?"

But for those of you who are Pre-PAs running on the CASPA hamster wheel, the AAPA threw a wrench in your gears.

Wanting to come across as knowledgeable and not wanting to offend anyone (especially the PA school ADCOMs), you may be wondering how to address the PA profession on your CASPA personal statement.

How to Address the PA Profession on your CASPA Personal Statement

In the press release, the AAPA made it clear that "It is inappropriate for PAs to hold themselves out as “physician associates” at this time until legislative and regulatory changes are made to incorporate the new title."

For this reason, I suggest you continue to write “physician assistant (PA)” on your CASPA personal statement.

I also suggest you continue to write "physician assistant (PA)" on your supplemental applications and all supporting materials that you will be submitting for the 2021 application season.

The only caveat to this rule is if the school you are applying to (such as Yale) specifically uses the term “associate” in their supplemental materials or on their program website. ⁣
⁣
If there is still any question about program-specific best practices, it is always OK to contact the PA program by telephone or email them directly.

Be Prepared to Express Your Feelings on the Physician Assistant/Associate Name Change

Although you will continue to use physician assistant (PA) in your communications with PA schools, colleagues, and the PA school admissions committee, I recommend you do your homework regarding the physician assistant/physician associate name change.

I can guarantee that along with other hot topics (such as optimal team practice), you will be asked questions regarding the PA name change come interview time.

It's time to ditch the one-line canned response that focuses on the term "assistant" versus "associate" and be prepared to deep dive with some cold hard facts that show you have done your homework and you are interested in the future of the PA profession.

The PA Doctor authored an excellent article earlier this year weighing in on the PA name change. Here are some thoughts from that article (and this one) that you should consider:

The WPP estimates that the total cost of the change from physician assistant to physician associate will be $21 million over 5 years.
There is more than meets the eye with the PA name change. PAs are the only major healthcare provider without a terminal doctorate. How could this be addressed in the coming years?
Physician associate is hardly a new idea - the Yale PA program has continued to train “physician associates” since its inception in 1971.
AAPA Survey respondents were split between Medical Care Practitioner and Physician Associate. Respondents inside the profession, i.e., PAs and PA students, chose Physician Associate while “employers, physicians, and patients” preferred Medical Care Practitioner. WPP suggested the acronym MCP. What do you think?
Apparently, WPP considered the similarity of the Physician Associate acronym (PA) and the current Physician Assistant acronym (also PA) to be a bad thing? Really? What do you think?
How does the name change fit in with the above-mentioned optimal team practice? How about full practice authority (FPA)?
How does the name physician associate relate to PAs around the world?

These are just some of the things the recent name change should get you thinking about.

Assistant for now Associates forever?

Although, for now, I advise you to keep the "assistant" in the PA on your CASPA application essay, you must understand this name change is the first domino in a chain of events that is likely to rock the PA profession in the coming years.

If you understand this, you understand the PA profession, and this is what the PA school ADCOMs want to see most in your PA school application (and during your interview).

If all this makes your brain hurt, book a one-hour consultation with one of our PRE-PA advisors. You will get guidance on your CASPA application from a seasoned PA who has been in your shoes, knows the application process inside and out, and will help you navigate the rapidly changing PA landscape.

We also offer free advice and personal essay revision through our PA school personal statement collaborative, help with CASPA resumes, and tons of downloadable templates.

Have a fantastic day!

- Stephen Pasquini PA-C

View all posts in this series

You may also like -

5 PA School Essays That Got These Pre-PAs Accepted Into PA School Ever wonder what PA school admissions directors are really looking for in a winning PA school essay? Have you been searching the internet and physician assistant forums for samples of PA school applicant essays for […]
How the Heck Did I Get into PA School? Believe me when I say I was not the perfect PA school candidate. I had a less-than-desirable GPA. I avoided the GRE like the plague that it is. I got an "F" in high school calculus. But despite all of this, I still got […]
The Ultimate PA School Application TimelineHere is the ultimate Physician Assistant Program Admissions Timeline for applying to PA school. When you should apply (start early) along with a monthly PA School application to-do list for guaranteed CASPA application success

William Cornelison, PA says

June 7, 2021 at 10:46 am

The name physician associate is not the best choice for our name change for at least the following reasons:
1. It does not describe who we are. A physician associate is someone who relates with physicians. This is a relational term, not a descriptive term. I am first and foremost a medical provider. I may work with physicians, but I also work with many other professions in the medical community. My identity is not tied to a physician as this name suggests.
2. Any profession that defines itself by another profession will be seen as a secondary position to the public. Name a major independent profession that defines itself by another profession. Our profession needs to move towards the realm of independent practitioner. We are losing jobs daily because we are not independent practitioners.
3. Similarly the name continues to tie us to the hip to physicians. The profession has matured and needs stand on its own merits. We should not depend on another profession even in our name. Physician associate continues to have a paternalistic nature as our current name.

A better choice would be medical practitioner or clinical practitioner. Both names are descriptive and communicate who we are and what we do. We could think a little outside the box and further describe ourselves depending on our specialty, such as Clinical Practitioner of Internal Medicine, or Clinical Practitioner of Neurology, etc. We could even have our competency exams in each discipline instead of the one exam fits all. Our national organization could be Association of Clinical Practitioners, or if the PAs at large chose medical practitioner, we could be Association of Medical Practitioners.

Either of these names would be descriptive of who we are and what we do, far more than physician associate. Over the years one questions from patients that have caused me grief is “what is a PA?” Or are you like a nurse? Both medical practitioner and clinical practitioner are terms clearly communicate our function, and are phrases that are familiar to the public We are medically trained and are we are providers. The name physician associate does not go far enough in describing who we are and is not worth the millions that will cost to change our name. Physician associate keeps us in some of the same dilemmas that we find ourselves in today. I don’t wish or want to chose that for the generations that are yet to come. We can do better.

Comments

William Cornelison, PA says

June 7, 2021 at 10:46 am

The name physician associate is not the best choice for our name change for at least the following reasons:
1. It does not describe who we are. A physician associate is someone who relates with physicians. This is a relational term, not a descriptive term. I am first and foremost a medical provider. I may work with physicians, but I also work with many other professions in the medical community. My identity is not tied to a physician as this name suggests.
2. Any profession that defines itself by another profession will be seen as a secondary position to the public. Name a major independent profession that defines itself by another profession. Our profession needs to move towards the realm of independent practitioner. We are losing jobs daily because we are not independent practitioners.
3. Similarly the name continues to tie us to the hip to physicians. The profession has matured and needs stand on its own merits. We should not depend on another profession even in our name. Physician associate continues to have a paternalistic nature as our current name.

A better choice would be medical practitioner or clinical practitioner. Both names are descriptive and communicate who we are and what we do. We could think a little outside the box and further describe ourselves depending on our specialty, such as Clinical Practitioner of Internal Medicine, or Clinical Practitioner of Neurology, etc. We could even have our competency exams in each discipline instead of the one exam fits all. Our national organization could be Association of Clinical Practitioners, or if the PAs at large chose medical practitioner, we could be Association of Medical Practitioners.

Either of these names would be descriptive of who we are and what we do, far more than physician associate. Over the years one questions from patients that have caused me grief is “what is a PA?” Or are you like a nurse? Both medical practitioner and clinical practitioner are terms clearly communicate our function, and are phrases that are familiar to the public We are medically trained and are we are providers. The name physician associate does not go far enough in describing who we are and is not worth the millions that will cost to change our name. Physician associate keeps us in some of the same dilemmas that we find ourselves in today. I don’t wish or want to chose that for the generations that are yet to come. We can do better.

Hung Nguyen, DMSc, PA says

June 6, 2021 at 8:35 am

I always wished for two things when I was a younger PA in clinical practice. The first thing is the profession’s name needed to change to “associate” from “assistant” to reflect who we are and what we do. Second, the PA needed to advance their academic level to the doctorate. When I went to the PA school in the early 1980s, my program name was the physician associate program. When I graduated, I became a physician assistant. Was that a switched and baited situation?
It’s a step in the right direction for the profession to obtain the associate name and doctorate level, and now it’s time!