Leadership Roles Among Physician Assistants/Associates: A 2024 National Cross-Sectional Analysis of Demographic and Occupational Characteristics.

BACKGROUND: Despite involvement of physician assistants/associates (PAs) in leadership roles, research on this topic remains limited. This study examined demographic and occupational characteristics associated with self-reported leadership positions among PAs. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used a 2024 national workforce dataset. The analytical sample included 83,667 PAs who responded whether they held a leadership position in their current employment. Analyses included descriptive and bivariate statistics comparing demographic and occupational attributes of PAs who reported having a leadership role versus those who did not. RESULTS: Among PA respondents, 16.9% reported holding a leadership position in their current employment, with 45.1% reporting a clinical leadership role, followed by administrative (35.7%), education (9.4%), and research (1.0%). Compared to PAs not in a leadership role, those in a leadership role (all p<0.001) were more likely to identify as male (37.7% vs 27.6%), older age (median 43 vs 39), from an underrepresented in medicine background (11.2% vs 10.0%), and hold a doctorate (6.9% vs 2.5%). PAs in leadership were also more likely to indicate symptoms of burnout (33.4% vs 31.4%), but less likely to indicate that they planned to leave their principal position in the next year (6.0% vs 8.5%), all p<0.001. Furthermore, PAs in leadership vs those not in leadership roles (all p<0.001) reported spending a higher proportion of time on administrative responsibilities, teaching/precepting, research, and activities related to quality improvement/patient safety. Overall, they were more likely to report satisfaction with their job, career as a PA, income, job benefits, and employer, but less likely to report satisfaction with work-life balance (all p<0.05). CONCLUSION: This study identified various demographic and occupational characteristics associated with self-reported leadership roles among PAs. However, further research employing a longitudinal design and a multivariate regression model is warranted to investigate the relationship between these factors and PAs engaged in leadership roles.