Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33985497›Full record

ArticleBMC medical education2021

A physician assistant entry-level doctoral degree: more harm than good?

Violet Kulo, Shani Fleming, Karen L Gordes, Hyun-Jin Jun, James F Cawley, Gerald Kayingo

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical education, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
5.8field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Violet KuloPhysician Assistant Leadership and Learning Academy (PALLA), University of Maryland Baltimore Graduate School, 620 West Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Shani FlemingPhysician Assistant Leadership and Learning Academy (PALLA), University of Maryland Baltimore Graduate School, 620 West Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Karen L GordesPhysician Assistant Leadership and Learning Academy (PALLA), University of Maryland Baltimore Graduate School, 620 West Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Hyun-Jin JunPhysician Assistant Leadership and Learning Academy (PALLA), University of Maryland Baltimore Graduate School, 620 West Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD, USA.
James F CawleyPhysician Assistant Leadership and Learning Academy (PALLA), University of Maryland Baltimore Graduate School, 620 West Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Gerald KayingoPhysician Assistant Leadership and Learning Academy (PALLA), University of Maryland Baltimore Graduate School, 620 West Lexington Street, Baltimore, MD, USA. gkayingo@umaryland.edu.
University of Maryland, Baltimore · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAs most health professions in the United States have adopted clinical or practice doctorates, there has been an ongoing debate on whether physician assistants (PAs) should transition from a master's to a doctorate as the terminal degree. The authors examined perceived risks, benefits and impact of transitioning to an entry-level PA doctoral degree.

methodsA multi-prong, mixed-methods approach was used that included a literature review and collecting quantitative and qualitative data using a survey and interviews. Bivariate analysis and binomial logistic regression were performed to evaluate relationships between perceptions/perspectives on an entry-level PA doctoral degree and the anticipated impact of it causing more harm than good to the PA profession. Deductive content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data.

resultsOf 636 PA clinicians and students (46% response rate), 457 (72%) disagreed that an entry-level PA doctoral degree should be required. More than half of the respondents (54%) agreed that it should be offered but not required and 380 respondents (60%) agreed that an entry-level doctoral degree would cause more harm than good. Race, educational attainment, occupation, and length of practice as a PA were significantly associated with having a perception of causing more harm. There was strong positive association between the perception of a doctoral degree causing more harm with expectations of having a negative impact on the availability of clinical training sites (OR = 4.39, p < .05). The most commonly cited benefits were parity with other professions and competitive advantage, whereas the perceived risks were increased cost for education, decreased diversity in the profession, and negative impact on the PA/physician relationship.

conclusionsThe major takeaway of our study was that perceived benefits and risks are strongly influenced by the lens of the stakeholder. While the majority of PAs and students appear to be not in favor mainly due to the potential harm, the proportion of those in favor is not insignificant and their views should not be ignored. Addressing concerns with key stakeholders could help the PA profession to transition to a doctoral degree with minimal adverse impact.

Indexed as

Physician AssistantsPhysiciansEducational StatusHumansStudentsSurveys and QuestionnairesUnited StatesBenefits and risksEntry-level doctoral degreePhysician assistantPost-graduate educationTerminal degree

Identifiers

PMID33985497
PMCPMC8120902
OpenAlexW3126565335

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.