Utah Bill 27 PA independence after 10,000 hrs

[Jake1993]

Hey all,

Long time reader, first time poster here.  I'm in PA school in WV right now, but am from Utah.  With the recent bill being passed that will allow PAs to practice independently after 10,000 hours under a Dr, I'm just interested in hearing what everyone thinks the biggest upsides of this will be for our field?  

Will much change for for those working at IHC?  

Other ways to benefit from this without owning your own practice?

in 1.5 years I will hopefully be back in Utah practicing and would just like to get some ideas on how this Bill should change career paths for those of us coming out of school.  

[SmokeyBear]

On 7/16/2021 at 9:39 AM, Jake1993 said:

With the recent bill being passed that will allow PAs to practice independently after 10,000 hours under a Dr...

10k hours under an MD/DO, or 4k hours under an MD/DO and then another 6k hours under a PA who has 10k+ hours. In either case you need 10k hours of experience. 4000 hours of which is mandatory to be with an MD/DO.  

I'm just interested in hearing what everyone thinks the biggest upsides of this will be for our field?  

Biggest potential upside imo is larger job opportunity net being cast. Hopefully. It is not a secret that the NP job listings in any state outnumber the PA listings. One of the largest reasons for this in my personal experience last year was they don't want to hire the physician oversight if they don't need to. NPs in many states have autonomy upon graduation, including in Utah. 

Will much change for for those working at IHC?  

Not much if any. I'm an IHC employee, and independent or not, NP or PA, all APPs within IHC need a "collaborating physician". So even if the state says with 10k hrs you no longer need a "supervising" physician, IHC can still mandate you have a "collaborating" physician. I don't think this will change anything for IHC APPs, regardless of years/hours of experience. At least any time soon. 

Other ways to benefit from this without owning your own practice?

Aside from being able to apply for more jobs listed for an NP by telling them you don't need supervision..  And being able to run your own clinic...  time will tell. Was there something specific you're looking for as a benefit? 

in 1.5 years I will hopefully be back in Utah practicing and would just like to get some ideas on how this Bill should change career paths for those of us coming out of school.  

As you'll need at least 4k hours with an MD/DO,  and another 6k hours with an SP or a PA with independent practice... You're at least 5-6 years away from working solo, so I wouldn't let this get in the way of any plans. There's a ton of growing from graduation to that point. Plenty of time to think about IP later. 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by SmokeyBear