Office of Rural Health & Primary Care
Health Workforce Analysis Program
Physician Assistants: Minnesota Demographics 2005
The Office of Rural Health and Primary Care asks physician assistants to answer
questions about their employment status and the nature of their practices each year when
they renew their registrations. Response to the survey is voluntary and does not affect
license renewal.
Old definitions. Physician assistant workforce data has previously been reported for
“urban” and “rural” portions of the state. Urban has been defined to include seven Twin
Cities metropolitan counties (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott and
Washington) and the cities of Duluth, Rochester and St. Cloud.
New definitions. For 2005, data is also reported for three groupings that focuses greater
attention on the 46 most rural counties:
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) counties – 21 Minnesota counties
included in seven metropolitan statistical areas (Minneapolis-St. Paul, St. Cloud,
Rochester, Duluth-Superior, Fargo, Grand Forks and La Crosse).
Micropolitan counties – 20 counties surrounding smaller urban centers of at least
10,000 people.
Rural – 46 counties outside MSAs and Micropolitan areas.
In the following data tables, gray shading distinguishes data reported under the old urbanrural definition from data reported under the new MSA-micropolitan-rural definition.
P.O. Box 64882
St. Paul, MN 55164-0882
(651) 201-3838
http://www.health.state.mn.us
May 2006
Minnesota Demographics: Physicians Assistants
page 2
Numbers of physician assistants
There were 832 registered physician assistants in Minnesota as of July 1, 2005, up from
804 in 2004. Some of these were retired or not working as physician assistants, and
many lived or practiced in other states.
Registered Physician Assistants
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
Numbers of registrations July 1 of each year; not necessarily practicing in Minnesota.
Source: Minnesota Board of Medical Practice
Based on survey responses and licensing data from the Minnesota Board of Medical
Practice, the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care estimates approximately 750
physician assistant were practicing at least part-time at Minnesota practice sites in
mid- 2005. For explanation of this estimate, see the methodological note at the end of
this report.
Using the July 1, 2005, population estimate for Minnesota, 750 physician assistants
equate to 15 active physician assistants per 100,000 people.
All data reported below is for physician assistants who work at least part time at a
primary practice site in Minnesota, according to the Office of Rural Health and Primary
Care survey of physician assistants renewing licenses for 2005.
Minnesota Demographics: Physicians Assistants
page 3
Geographic Distribution
•
•
Physician assistants’ practice sites are disproportionately located in metropolitan
areas, but the imbalance is not as pronounced as for physicians.
The 46 most rural counties have 13 percent of the state’s population and 10
percent of the state’s practicing physician assistants.
Geographic Distribution of Physician Assistants
Rural
10%
Micropolitan
12%
Metropollitan
78%
2004 Minnesota Population
Rural
13%
Micropolitan
15%
Metropollitan
72%
Urban
Rural
Statewide
Metropolitan counties
Micropolitan counties
Rural
2004 Population
3,015,421
2,129,685
5,145,106
3,732,499
752,857
659,750
% Population
58.6%
41.%
100.0%
72.5%
14.6%
12.8%
% Physician Assistants
68.4%
31.6%
100.0%
77.9%
11.8%
10.3%
Minnesota Demographics: Physicians Assistants
page 4
Gender of Physician Assistants
•
•
Fifty-eight percent of all physician assistants are female, and 73 percent of physician assistants
under age 35 are female.
Rural physician assistants are slightly more likely than physician assistants in metropolitan
counties to be female.
AGE
Respondents
% MALE
526
41.9%
All physician assistants
167
27.1%
Under 35
142
40.1%
35-44
141
43.3%
45-54
70
77.1%
55-64
6
*
65 and older
360
43.9%
Urban locations
166
37.6%
Rural locations
410
42.7%
Metropolitan
62
39.3%
Micropolitan
54
38.9%
Rural
*Percentages not calculated because of small number of physician assistants
% FEMALE
58.1%
72.9%
59.9%
56.7%
22.9%
*
56.1%
62.4%
57.3%
60.7%
61.1%
Age of Physician Assistants
•
•
•
Physician assistants (median = 41 yrs.) tend to be much younger than physicians (48 yrs.).
This reflects both a somewhat shorter training period and the newness of the profession.
Nearly 59 percent of physician assistants were less than 45 years old in 2005; nearly a third
were under 35.
Micropolitan and rural physician assistants are older than physician assistants in
metropolitan counties.
Age of Physician Assistants
200
150
100
50
0
< 35
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
Minnesota Demographics: Physicians Assistants
page 5
Age Group
Median age
Less than 35
35-44
45-54
55-64
65 and older
Total
Statewide
n = 526
Urban
n = 360
Rural
n = 166
Metropolitan
n = 410
Micropolitan
n = 62
Rural
n =54
respondents
respondents
respondents
respondents
respondents
respondents
41 yr.
31.7%
27.0%
26.8%
13.3%
1.1%
100.0%
39 yr.
34.3%
27.5%
22.8%
14.2%
1.1%
100.0%
44 yr.
25.9%
25.9%
35.5%
11.4%
1.2%
100.0%
39 yr.
34.6%
26.3%
23.7%
14.1%
1.2%
100.0%
43 yr.
22.6%
29.0%
38.7%
9.7%
-0100.0%
44.5 yr.
20.4%
29.6%
37.0%
11.1%
1.9%
100.0%
Types of practice sites
•
•
•
•
Most (about 77 percent) physician assistants work in provider offices or clinics.
About 15 percent reported their primary workplace as a hospital-inpatient site.
Metropolitan (and urban) physician assistants are more likely than rural physician than
micropolitan or rural physicians to work in hospitals.
Physician assistants based in clinics are about two-thirds female, while those in hospitals are
somewhat more likely to be male
Type of Site
N = respondents
Office/clinic
Hospital – inpatient
Other
Statewide
461
76.8%
15.2%
8.0%
Urban
308
73.0%
18.8%
8.2%
Rural
153
89.9%
4.8%
5.3%
Metropolitan
257
72.6%
18.9%
8.5%
Micropolitan
53
91.3%
3.5%
5.2
Rural
44
90.0%
2.0%
8.0%
Note: Some respondents in the “other” category identified workplaces that are probably in clinics or hospitals.
Percentages for micropolitan and rural (new definition) are less reliable because of the small number of respondents.
Type of Site
Office/clinic
Hospital – inpatient
Respondents
354
70
Male
38.8%
54.3%
Female
61.8%
45.7%
Minnesota Demographics: Physicians Assistants
page 6
Methodological note for numbers of physician assistants
Data reported here is from responses received from physician assistants renewing their licenses
for 2005. Renewals were due July 1, so most physician assistants answered the survey in May or
June 2005.
The Board of Medicine received about 704 registration renewals for 2005. This estimate is based on
the number of active registrations on July 1, minus the number of new registrations during 2005.
The Office of Rural Health and Primary Care received survey responses from 586 physician assistants
renewing their registrations for 2005. At the time of registration renewal, 526, or 90 percent, of these
said they working at least part time at a primary practice site in Minnesota.
The exact number of physician assistants actually practicing in Minnesota is not known. If the 90
percent figure is applied to the total number of registered physician assistants, there would have been
about 750 physician assistants working in Minnesota in mid-2005. This would be a reasonable estimate
if practitioners working in Minnesota were no more likely than physician assistants not working in
Minnesota to respond to the survey. However, active Minnesota practitioners were probably more
likely to respond, making this estimate somewhat high.
Using the July 1, 2005, population estimate for Minnesota, 750 physician assistants equate to 15 active
physician assistants per 100,000 people.
Because of different data sources and definitions, the estimate of 15 active physician assistants per
100,000 people is not directly comparable to other reported data. The Bureau of Health Professions in
the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration reported that Minnesota had 711 practicing
physician assistants in 2000, or 14.4 per 100,000 people, matching the national rate of 14.4.