PA Name/Title Change Vote AAPA House of Delegates

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* 1. In May 2018, AAPA House of Delegates (HOD) commissioned a Title Change Investigation for physician assistants. In September 2018, AAPA selected WPP to conduct a “comprehensive and unbiased investigation of the state/federal, financial, political, branding aspects and alternatives to the creation of a new professional title for physician assistants that accurately reflects PA practice.” An extensive two-year investigation was performed which explored more than 150 alternative title options and relied on the input of an advisory council consisting of 12 PAs. The investigation eventually narrowed it down to 3 alternative title options:

Medical Care Practitioner
Praxician
Physician Associate

In November 2020, WPP presented their findings of the Title Change Investigation at the AAPA HOD meeting. They concluded that “Medical Care Practitioner” best represented the PA profession if a title change were to occur.

The Board of Directors of DCAPA is interested in hearing your input regarding the proposed title change. We need your feedback to provide to AAPA. This is a significant and expensive undertaking, any name change will be very expensive as laws/regulations will need to change to allow PA practice under a new title. We are very interested in your feedback.

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* 2. Which Name do you prefer?

Physician Assistant (PA)

Physician Associate

Medical Care Practitioner (MCP)

Praxician

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* 3. Please explain your choice