Factors Associated with Physician Assistant Practice in Rural and Primary Care in Utah

Table 1

2008 Utah PA characteristics for the study population.

PA characteristics	𝑁=432	Percent
Age
21–30	55	12.7%
31–40	158	36.6%
41–50	100	23.1%
51–60	91	21.1%
61+	28	6.5%
Gender
Female	170	39.4%
Male	262	60.6%
Years of practice
0–5	203	47.4%
6–10	89	20.8%
11–15	67	15.6%
16–20	34	7.9%
21+	35	8.3%
Practice type
Primary care^1	191	45.6%
Specialty care	228	54.4%
Practice location^2
Practice in rural county	60	14.7%
Practice in urban county	349	85.3%
Location of upbringing^3
Urban	74	17.2%
Suburban	224	52.2%
Rural	131	30.5%
Physician assistant school of graduation
Utah	203	47.6%
Other	223	52.3%

*474 surveys were returned, 432 (90.7%) reported they are clinically active in Utah.
¹Primary care definition: family practice, general internal medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology.
²Five Utah counties, Cache, Provo, Salt Lake, Weber and Washington county: urban; all others are considered rural. Location based on practice address zip code.
³Self-reported location of upbringing rural/suburban/urban.