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Running Header: Ethnically Diverse PA and NP

Working with Ethnically Diverse PA's and NP's

Jonathan Bland

Working with Healthcare Professionals/ HSC4060 S01

South University

Professor Nelva Lee

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There are 83,466 physician assistants in America in 2010. There are a total of
180,233 nurse practitioners in America in 2011. It is estimated that one-fourth of all
nurse practitioners and physicians assistants that are non-white. (Hooker, Potts, & Ray,
1997) In the United States, in 2006, Hispanics made up 5% of the nations physicians,
while 3.5% of doctors were black and fewer than 1% were American Indian or Alaskan
Natives. There are a total of 811,553 physicians in America in 2012. (Distribution of
Physicians by Gender, February 2012, 2012). What does this mean with all of these
numbers? It means that the majority of providers in America are white and there are few
minorities practicing medicine. Patients who seek out care are often met by white
males. Colleges are trying to increase the number of minorities to the ranks of medical,
nurse practitioner, and physician assistant schools.
When some people who seek out medical care find that their provider is nonwhite they have issues. It doesn't mean that they are racist, it just means they may not
understand their providers. In one article following patients with cardiovascular disease.
They notices a low adherence rates of medications can be traced to the quality of the
patient-physician relationship (Maldonado, Maya-Silva, Menefee, & Xiong, 2010). The
patients communication with their provider became the biggest problem with these
patients. The patients didn't feel as if their provider listened and they didn't listen to their
provider so the medications were not taken as they were supposed to be. Another issue
that came up was, Concordance in patient-physician ethnicity, where the patient
identifies as having the same ethnicity as the physician, leads to better communication
and understanding because the patients feel more comfortable and have more trust in
their physician (Taylor, 2010). When there is a breakdown in communication between

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provider and patient, patients don't always have the best outcomes as far as their health
is concerned. No matter the race of the provider, patients must be able to trust them.
Without that trust then there will be a problem in that care.
In 1997, Kaiser wanted to know how the physician, NP, and PA all stacked up to
the patients. They were all equal except in the area of pediatrics, physicians had a
higher rating than NP and PA's. This is to be expected. Since trust in the provider has
been a very big issue when it comes to care the provider gives to the patients. If there is
a good trust then the provider has a better chance of healing the patient. When it comes
to providers and their patients no matter the degree whether it be an MD, DO, NP or PA
patients have to trust the provider.

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Works Cited
Distribution of Physicians by Gender, February 2012. (2012, Feb). Retrieved June 3, 2012, from
Statehealthfacts.org: http://www.statehealthfacts.org/comparetable.jsp?ind=430&cat=8
Hooker, R. S., Potts, R., & Ray, W. (1997). Patient Satisfaction: Comparing Physician Assistants, Nurse
Practitioners, and Physicians. Retrieved June 3, 2012, from The Permanente Journal:
http://xnet.kp.org/permanentejournal/sum97pj/ptsat.pdf
Krupa, C. (2010, Oct 4). New tactics for diversity: Creating doctors from all racial, ethnic groups.
Retrieved June 3, 2012, from Amednews.com: http://www.amaassn.org/amednews/2010/10/04/prsa1004.htm
Lillie-Blanton, M., Rushing, O. E., & Ruiz, S. (2003, June ). Key Facts Race, Ethnicity & Medical Care.
Retrieved June 3, 2011, from The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation:
http://www.kff.org/minorityhealth/upload/key-facts-race-ethnicity-medical-care-chartbook.pdf
Maldonado, J., Maya-Silva, J., Menefee, L., & Xiong, S. (2010, July 25). The Effect of Patient-Physician
Ethnicitiy and Communication on Adherence Rates to Cardiovascular Disease Medications. Retrieved
June 3, 2012, from Stanford University:
http://smysp.stanford.edu/documentation/researchProjects/2010/ethnicityAndMedications.pdf
Taylor. (2010). Adherence to Cardiovascular Disease Medications: Does Patient Provider Race/Ethnicity
and Language Concordance Matter? Journal of General Internal Medicine , 1-6.