Record Number of PAs Certified in 2023
PA Profession Continues to Grow and Evolve

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Nov. 13, 2024 — The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) announced a record-breaking number of newly certified PAs in 2023.

A total of 11,762 PA students earned board certification, according to the 2023 Statistical Profile of Recently Board Certified PAs annual report. These new PAs can be found in every state and the District of Columbia, with the highest representation in New York, California and Florida.

“As the health care landscape evolves, PAs are increasingly playing a key role in delivering quality patient care,” said NCCPA President and CEO, Dawn Morton-Rias, Ed.D., PA-C, ICE-CCP, FACHE.  “The number of newly certified PAs in 2023 shows the increasing reliance on these health care professionals.”

Racial and ethnic diversity among newly certified PAs has increased since 2019, with higher percentages of Asian, Black/African American, multi-race, American Indian or Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander PAs. Additionally, the percentage of PAs of Hispanic/Latino/a or Spanish origin rose from 7.9% in 2019 to 10% in 2023.

“The growing diversity among newly certified PAs is an encouraging trend that brings the PA profession closer to the increasing diversity of the patient population,” Morton-Rias said. “Increasing clinician diversity brings a wealth of perspectives to the PA profession and subsequent patient experience, ultimately benefiting patient care.”

Looking ahead, 23.5% of newly certified PAs plan to seek additional education or clinical training within the next three years. Overall, 11.7% said they intend to pursue an advanced degree related to the PA profession, up from 7.6% in 2019.

A new survey question shows that 39.5% of newly certified PAs feel very prepared to start their careers, while 55.4% feel somewhat prepared. Only 3.2% feel neither prepared nor unprepared, 1.5% feel somewhat unprepared and 0.3% feel very unprepared.

Job acceptance rates have slightly increased since 2019, with 60.6% of newly certified PAs having accepted a job, 34.6% still searching and 4.8% neither searching for nor accepting a position. Among those who accepted a job, 32.5% found employment within one month, with an average job search duration of 2.5 months. Additionally, 78.5% received two or more job offers, up from 70.9% in 2019.

Most newly certified PAs, who have accepted a position, 52.5% are working in a hospital practice setting, a 2.5% increase from 2019, while 27.7% are in an office-based private practice settings, a slight decrease from 2019. Family medicine/general practice remains the most popular specialty for first jobs, with 17.1% but saw a proportional decrease of -0.3% from 2019.  Emergency medicine follows at 17.0% but saw a proportional increase of 1.6% from 2019.

The median salary for newly certified PAs in 2023 is $105,000, up from $95,000 in 2019. Income guarantee was the top-ranked incentive influencing job acceptance decisions.  67.2% said they received incentives, with the largest percentage being reimbursement for Continuing Medical Education (CME) and certification maintenance.

Newly certified PAs prioritize specific employment incentives. According to the report, 71% highly value income guarantees. Additionally, 58.9% of graduates emphasize the importance of reimbursement for CME and certification maintenance.

As of July 2024, there are 310 accredited PA education programs, with projections indicating an increase to 353 programs by 2027, according to the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).

In addition to these highlights, the report includes much more data on this newly certified group of PAs and the factors that are important to them as they embark on their careers. To read the complete 2023 Statistical Profile of Recently Board Certified PAs, visit nccpa.net.

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About the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA):

The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) is the only certifying organization for more than 178,700 PAs in the U.S. The PA-C credential is awarded by NCCPA to PAs who fulfill certification, certification maintenance and recertification requirements. NCCPA also administers the Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) program for experienced, Board Certified PAs practicing in ten specialties. For more information, visit https://www.nccpa.net.