A lack of diversity in physician assistant education

A lack of diversity in physician assistant education

A physician is a physical practitioner who treats with medication rather than surgery. A physician assistant, on the other hand, is a health care practitioner who practices medicine in collaboration with physicians. Physician assistants may practice autonomously and independently of physicians depending on the legislation. They obtain patient histories, perform physical examinations, diagnose illness, develop treatment strategies, among other roles. Diversity refers to the fact that there are many different types or kinds of things and people getting inclusion in something. It is a state of showing a great deal of variety. Diversity among people can be based on race, gender, religion, economic background, geographical background, and cultural practices as well.

Lack of ethnic diversity among physicians and the importance of matching the ethnicities of providers with their patients, has become a popular topic. Physician Assistant programs are very critical in ensuring that there is an increase in diversity in the profession. When students get put in a diverse learning environment, they learn how to work in a different atmosphere in the workplace as well, which is very crucial.

A study got done to investigate and try and understand whether students from various backgrounds value particular program attributes differently. The study investigated whether PA students’ demographic characteristics were associated with their probability of considering program diversity and how they rated program diversity when selecting the program to attend.

A study done in 2017, where 3882 PA students got asked to provide their critical demographic information, which includes gender, race, and ethnicity, and indicated whether they had put the student body and faculty diversity into consideration when choosing the program to undertake. Those who had considered it a factor when applying gave a reason stating why it was so crucial for their plan to have that specific attribute. The study also researched whether the students’ demographic characteristics were associated with the likelihood of considering Physician Assistant program diversity and their subsequent ratings of the significance of program diversity. After the study, it came to the revalation that female, Asian, and underrepresented racial and ethnic minority students were more likely to consider program diversity when choosing programs. the study revealed rated program diversity as more critical as compared to the male and Non-Hispanic white students who were the majority.

The research helped reach this conclusion; the female, racial and ethnic minority represented students highly consider program diversity when choosing programs. However, less diverse programs potentially increase their appeal to minority students by highlighting opportunities to connect with communities of colour outside the PA program and by prioritizing the recruitment of minority faculty.

According to the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), 66.6% of physician assistants are female, while 33.4% are male. By race, 86.8% are white, 5.1% Asian, 3.9% black, 0.5% American Indian and 0.4% Native. These statistics show that in summary, physician assistants are mostly white women.

The issue of diversity in the profession became a disturbing issue that needed to be discussed and tackled in the best way possible. For diversity in the profession to be achieved, several things had to get done. For instance, partnering with educational institutions and others to promote diversity within the profession was seen as very important a step. This move got supported by the fact that America is diversified, and therefore there was a need to have a much more diverse profession as well. The other reason, as given by Rich Bottner, said that inequality was tearing the moral fabric of the county. He stated that inequality existed in all aspects of the nation and is also sadly depicted in patient care and the demographics of the professionals who practice it. They needed to have a profession free of inequality by making it diverse. Many organizations are also coming together to recruit students from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. This recruiting is aiming at having healthcare providers that reflect the variety of backgrounds of the patients.

Recruiting students and involving educational institutions in making the change will be of many benefits which include the following. Students will be in a position to perform better. Studies show that students work better in a diverse environment as it enables them to concentrate and push themselves further. It also promotes creativity amongst the students as they get faced with a variety of ideas and opinions from people from other backgrounds. This factor makes them be creative and have skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking. They become competent in their field. Students in such environments also grow as confident people. They feel safe and are at peace with their cultural background. They also learn to appreciate and respect people from other ethnic groups. Implementing diversity in educational institutions will also enable physician assistant students to be empathetic and without prejudice. They get taught about cultural competence which allows them to be empathetic to the experience of others and also to counter discriminatory stereotypes. Another great reason for them partnering with these institutions is to enable the students to be global citizens as they get exposed to different cultures and traditions and will, therefore, be competent in the workplace even as they work with people from a variety of backgrounds.

According to the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (NAAHP), the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) is working on improving cultural diversity on many different levels which include the following.

PAEA is offering education on a variety of topics that will help Physician Assistants in their profession. The association aims at providing them with the necessary skills to give culturally competent care. PAEA has a committee (Committee on Ethnic and Cultural Diversity) which largely cheerleads this program. The organization offers teaching modules and other educational resources that deal with various aspects of diversity in the field of healthcare. Its publication, which is known as the Journal of Physician Assistant Education has a section dedicated to cultural perspectives and continuously publishes new ideas and innovations surrounding diversity in the profession. The committee is also involved in several projects which focus on recruiting and retaining minority students and faculty on campuses across the country.

The American Association of Physician Assistant (AAPA) also declared its commitment to increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the profession. This association teamed up with PAEA and created Project Access which is a program designed to inspire and encourage the underrepresented minority to pursue a career as a physician assistant. The program also addresses the social and economic barriers faced by a minority.

All these are certainly good steps that will help in achieving a culturally diverse profession.

The diversity in the profession will be important in two main ways. It will improve healthcare provision and provider competence. According to NAAHP, the 2004 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report stated that the nation’s compelling interest is to ensure diversity in the health professions. The report also offered the best reasons as to why promoting diversity in the profession is essential. One of the reasons was that healthcare professionals from minority backgrounds are more likely to serve patients from minority groups where they are needed most. The report also stated that having a diverse healthcare workforce will help in breaking down the linguistic and cultural barriers that usually stand between providers and the most vulnerable patients who are from the minority groups. Studies have also revealed that minority patients are more satisfied when they receive care from minority providers as compared to when they receive it from the other providers. IOM was also supported by the Commonwealth Fund’s rationale for increasing diversity. The fund was to help decrease racial and ethnic disparities which were in the system. This would result in patient satisfaction and even improved patient outcomes.

On the second benefit which is improving healthcare provider competence, it was found that physicians from schools with higher levels of ethnic diversity among student population felt much more confident about working in diverse environments as compared to those who graduated from less diverse institutions. This was after a survey was conducted where graduated across the country were invited to assess themselves on how prepared they felt to serve patients from cultural and ethnic backgrounds different from their own.

In conclusion, we see that great steps have been taken to solve the problem, and that also a diverse workforce is way better than a less diverse one as a diverse workforce is more satisfying and fulfilling.