Table 2 Physician assistants/associates who agreed or strongly agreed with the following value of certification items and associated characteristics
| Â | Helps with fulfilling my licensure requirements | Helps me update my medical knowledge | Provides objective evidence of my continued level of competence | Contributes to the acceptance/ respect others have of the PA profession | Provides personal satisfaction | Helps me monitor or improve the quality of my patient care | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All No. (%) | 9578 (87.9) | 9372 (86.0) | 8875 (81.4) | 8146 (74.7) | 7691 (70.6) | 7659 (70.3) | ||||||
Characteristic | No. (%) | P value | No. (%) | P value | No. (%) | P value | No. (%) | P value | No. (%) | P value | No. (%) | P value |
Age |  | .001 |  | < .001 |  | < .001 |  | < .001 |  | < .001 |  | < .001 |
 Less than 35 | 2425 (89.5) |  | 2418 (89.2) |  | 2365 (87.2) |  | 2141 (78.9) |  | 2014 (74.3) |  | 2042 (75.2) |  |
 35–44 | 3400 (87.9) |  | 3338 (86.3) |  | 3212 (83.0) |  | 2884 (74.6) |  | 2660 (68.9) |  | 2732 (70.7) |  |
 45–54 | 2216 (88.0) |  | 2116 (84.0) |  | 1971 (78.3) |  | 1829 (72.6) |  | 1758 (69.8) |  | 1693 (67.4) |  |
 55 +  | 1537 (85.5) |  | 1500 (83.4) |  | 1327 (73.7) |  | 1292 (71.7) |  | 1259 (69.9) |  | 1192 (66.2) |  |
Gender |  | .150 |  | < .001 |  | < .001 |  | .004 |  | .207 |  | .430 |
 Female | 6616 (88.2) |  | 6518 (86.8) |  | 6208 (82.7) |  | 5667 (75.5) |  | 5320 (71.0) |  | 5289 (70.6) |  |
 Male | 2962 (87.2) |  | 2854 (84.1) |  | 2667 (78.5) |  | 2479 (73.0) |  | 2371 (69.8) |  | 2370 (69.8) |  |
Race | Â | .547 | Â | .006 | Â | .414 | Â | .804 | Â | .465 | Â | .025 |
 White | 7879 (88.0) |  | 7705 (86.0) |  | 7326 (81.8) |  | 6745 (75.3) |  | 6339 (70.8) |  | 6287 (70.2) |  |
 Asian | 440 (89.8) |  | 438 (89.2) |  | 405 (82.7) |  | 369 (75.3) |  | 355 (72.4) |  | 370 (75.7) |  |
 Black/African American | 275 (89.6) |  | 281 (91.8) |  | 263 (85.4) |  | 228 (73.8) |  | 228 (74.5) |  | 229 (74.8) |  |
 Other | 343 (87.5) |  | 333 (85.2) |  | 319 (81.4) |  | 289 (73.5) |  | 281 (71.9) |  | 278 (71.3) |  |
Ethnicity | Â | .194 | Â | .064 | Â | .172 | Â | .141 | Â | .038 | Â | .015 |
 Non-Hispanic/Latino | 8972 (88.0) |  | 8757 (85.9) |  | 8294 (81.3) |  | 7613 (74.7) |  | 7174 (70.4) |  | 7142 (70.1) |  |
 Hispanic/Latino | 524 (86.2) |  | 540 (88.7) |  | 511 (83.6) |  | 473 (77.4) |  | 452 (74.5) |  | 455 (74.8) |  |
Specialty |  | < .001 |  | .238 |  | < .001 |  | < .001 |  | < .001 |  |  < .001 |
 Primary Care | 2231 (89.0) |  | 2176 (86.7) |  | 2141 (85.3) |  | 1925 (76.7) |  | 1865 (74.4) |  | 1926 (76.8) |  |
 Surgery–Subspecialties | 1676 (89.2) |  | 1614 (86.1) |  | 1464 (77.9) |  | 1345 (71.7) |  | 1280 (68.3) |  | 1201 (64.1) |  |
 Emergency Medicine | 1079 (89.5) |  | 1036 (85.8) |  | 1044 (86.6) |  | 956 (79.3) |  | 888 (73.6) |  | 924 (76.7) |  |
 Internal Medicine–Subspecialties | 921 (89.0) |  | 904 (87.3) |  | 843 (81.4) |  | 786 (75.8) |  | 719 (69.7) |  | 733 (70.8) |  |
 Dermatology | 450 (84.1) |  | 438 (82.2) |  | 388 (72.4) |  | 386 (71.7) |  | 325 (60.7) |  | 315 (58.8) |  |
 Surgery—General | 255 (86.7) |  | 257 (87.7) |  | 249 (85.3) |  | 222 (75.8) |  | 208 (71.0) |  | 218 (74.7) |  |
 Hospital Medicine | 228 (87.4) |  | 226 (86.6) |  | 226 (85.9) |  | 203 (77.5) |  | 202 (77.1) |  | 202 (77.7) |  |
 Pain Medicine | 166 (83.0) |  | 175 (87.5) |  | 164 (82.0) |  | 148 (74.0) |  | 138 (69.0) |  | 145 (72.5) |  |
 Psychiatry | 163 (83.6) |  | 160 (82.1) |  | 148 (75.9) |  | 137 (70.3) |  | 120 (61.9) |  | 122 (62.6) |  |
 Occupational Medicine | 159 (90.9) |  | 153 (87.4) |  | 134 (76.6) |  | 131 (74.9) |  | 129 (73.7) |  | 134 (77.0) |  |
 Obstetrics and Gynecology | 128 (89.5) |  | 125 (87.4) |  | 116 (81.1) |  | 102 (71.3) |  | 93 (65.0) |  | 93 (65.5) |  |
 Pediatrics-Subspecialties | 125 (91.9) |  | 122 (89.7) |  | 109 (80.1) |  | 103 (75.7) |  | 102 (75.0) |  | 89 (65.9) |  |
 Critical Care Medicine | 104 (87.4) |  | 102 (85.0) |  | 95 (79.2) |  | 87 (72.5) |  | 82 (68.3) |  | 86 (71.7) |  |
 Other | 1670 (85.5) |  | 1664 (85.0) |  | 1540 (78.7) |  | 1437 (73.5) |  | 1362 (69.8) |  | 1283 (65.5) |  |