The Hospitalist Physician Assistant/Associate in American Medicine

The growth of physician assistants/associates (PAs) in hospital medicine is due to increased demand and insufficient physician-house staff. We compared the demographics and practice attributes of 4074 PAs in hospital medicine to 111,430 in all other specialties. Hospitalist PAs were younger (median age, 36 <i>vs.</i> 39), female (73.4% <i>vs.</i> 68.9%), resided in urban regions (93.3% <i>vs</i>. 92.4%), and worked in secondary positions (18.7% <i>vs.</i> 15.1%). However, hospitalist PAs indicated a higher burnout rate than all other specialties. The growth of PAs in hospital medicine makes them part of the strategy to meet the demand for specialized service delivery.