AFPPA Membership Supports PA Name Change from “Assistant” to “Associate”

Over the years there has been much talk about the possibility and desirability of changing our profession's name. "Physician Assistant" has served us well for more than 45 years, but our students, our patients, and the healthcare climate are constantly changing. Thus, it is time that we as a profession change as well and in doing so, it is imperative that our name clearly defines us and keeps us moving forward for the next 45 years.

The general membership of the AFPPA was recently surveyed regarding the support for changing the name of our profession from “Assistant” to “Associate”. The majority of the membership who responded to the survey supports the name change. The AFPPA BOD’s position is in accord with our membership opinion and agrees the time to change the name of our profession has arrived.

While we can debate much about a name change, we have agreed to the following statements and thoughts; we also believe the name change will advance the profession. We as the majority specialty group of PAs call on the leaders of the profession and all PAs to announce and start to implement this change as soon as possible. The AFPPA believes it is unwise to delay any longer in making this long-needed change.

Why We Need a Change

Our profession’s original name was physician associate. Physicians demanded that “associate” be changed on the grounds that it did not properly describe the desired scope of PA practice. Forty years later we believe that we have outgrown the "assistant" title. It no longer accurately represents our profession. It is inaccurate and confuses consumers. The title is misleading and carries negative connotations which we can and should avoid. As we move into a new model of healthcare delivery, it is of the utmost importance that our profession’s name accurately describes our role.

Why a Change Is Justified

The PA role is truly one of partnership; of association and collegiality. We work as associates and have for many years. As stated previously, our profession’s birth-name in 1965 was physician associate.

“Physician(s) assistant” is a generic term. It can mean anything: a person in the office that bills patients, a records assistant, the person that sets up and cleans the exam room, and all the way to a certified, licensed PA. The profession must move from this generic name to one that aptly and more accurately describes our function.

The AFPPA leadership has studied the issue of name change and has agreed on the following points:

• In our society, "assistant" denotes a technical job, not a profession.
• PAs are held to the same legal and medical standards as physicians.
• The title is confusing and misleading to our patients and the public in general. Since the name practically guarantees that “physician assistants” will be confused with “medical assistants”, patients are at risk of thinking they are receiving substandard care or expect that after the “assistant” a physician will also be seeing them. Most times this does not happen, nor does the physician or the PA expect it to happen. It is time to have the name mirror the reality that exists.
• The internationalization of PAs is important to our profession. Repeatedly explaining that the common meaning of the name “assistant” under-represents our true practice is a barrier to full understanding of the professional level of a PA.
• The above problems also keep some prospective applicants and others away from becoming PA-S as they would not want to go through extensive schooling only to become someone's assistant. Our education and practice is professional, as should be our title.
• “Assistant” obscures the PA’s true role in the practice. Physicians who might otherwise consider a PA do not hire one as they feel they need someone more than just another "assistant".

However, there are some in our profession that believe that a change to a more appropriate name should not occur at the present time for the following reasons:

• There is growing acceptance by the medical community of PAs, and this process would be hampered by a name change at the present time.
• To some, the term "Physician Associate" is nearly as vague as “Physician Assistant”, and a change at this time will not prevent a future change to a name that more accurately represent the specific nature of the profession.
• Renaming the profession at the present time would require renaming education materials, professional organizations, committees, journals, funding announcements and websites. It would also make data retrieval in the medical literature more difficult and confusing for some.
• The efforts involved in effecting a name change at the present time would detract from more pressing needs, such as improving the educational needs of our membership, assisting the medically underserved and our current patient population, supporting charitable endeavors, and enhancing and promoting the Physician Assistant profession.
• The ‘trivialization’ and disrespect for PAs that is thankfully only intermittently displayed will not be corrected solely by changing the name of the profession. There will be a critical need for the education of all health care professionals, office managers, insurance companies, and medical organizations at the state and federal level.
• All professions should be able to name their profession. “Physician Assistant” both demeans and misrepresents our profession. It is time to claim the name that is both appropriate and our birthright and discard the one that was forced upon us.

The Process

The profession, ideally through the AAPA Board or HOD, should immediately adopt a policy that states that "Hereafter the profession will work to be re-titled ‘Physician Associate,’ as it more accurately reflects the profession in the 21st century".

This renaming can be done over a number of years, with the ability reserved to use either title in the interim if necessary, depending on state legislation, etc.

The PA profession should advise organized medicine that this change is not an effort for independent practice but is a move to more accurately describe the scope and status of the profession and place it at a level where it belongs.  It should also be explained that the name “physician associate” had been chosen for us by organized medicine to represent the PA profession 45 years ago. PAs should stress that after 45 years of delivering quality medical care across the entire spectrum of practice, we are choosing a more appropriate name and that we would expect the full support of organized medicine, which will also benefit from the change.

PA programs should include the name “physician associate” whenever possible--along with the title “physician assistant” if need be.

“Physician Associate” allows continued use of the initials "PA", which are well-known to the public.

“Associate” does not imply that PAs are equal to physicians. Associate professors are not full professors. Associate deans are not full deans.

The profession should consider funding state-level efforts to effect this change.

The opposing arguments stated above, as well as those that profess that a change will open laws at the state level, is a hollow one. This action can be introduced as a "cosmetic" name change amendment which will have no impact on PA practice law. If opposed, the profession can educate the legislature as to the source of the opposition that we are asking for no increased privileges and the current title is confusing consumers and others.

This name change should be done BEFORE the profession embarks upon any large public relations campaign. We can effectively brand the profession through the use of the new name, avoiding any confusion of our status when compared with medical, podiatry, chiropractic and other assistants.

Therefore, the AFPPA declares that because of the above reasons and more, the PA profession should adopt the name "Physician Associate" and begin an educational campaign to other medical professionals and the public regarding Physician Associates.