PA Title Change Announcement
Posted about 3 years ago
Dear colleagues,
You may have heard the big news circulating today--the AAPA HOD voted today to move forward with the title change to "physician associate" for our profession. The thought behind this change is to more accurately reflect what we do in clinical practice. It also hoped this will help with legislative efforts aimed at improving practice laws and securing parity with other advanced practice providers.
It is important to note that this is not going to be an instantaneous change, and in fact, may take years. Please do not use the name "physician associate" until legislative and regulatory changes are made to incorporate the new title. There will also need to be rebranding campaigns to educate our patients and other stakeholders and professional organizations. ARAPA will be working with AAPA to determine how the title change impacts us at the state level, and what legislative changes will need to occur before we can move forward. We will work to keep Arkansas PAs updated on our progress, and we respectively encourage ARAPA membership for all PAs in our state to help with communication of these efforts. Currently, less than 25% of PAs licensed in Arkansas are members of ARAPA.
There are some pretty strong opinions, on both sides, regarding this change. This highlights the need to become involved with state and local organizations to help your voice be heard. We welcome volunteers--please contact us through the website if you are interested.
Respectfully,
ARAPA Board of Directors
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