Is it time for physician assistant (PA)/nurse practitioner (NP) hospital medicine residency training?

Abstract

The roles of non-physician providers, such as physician assistants (PA) and nurse practitioners (NP), are constantly evolving in the United States healthcare system. They are a vital part of many inpatient multi-disciplinary teams and their role is even more challenging on the busy hospitalist services. The demand for hospitalists is constantly increasing and the current supply of physicians has been unable to keep up with the increase in demand. Residents' now restricted duty hours and regulations have further widened the gap. With a record number of patients seeking healthcare, a reliance on mid-level providers has increased tremendously in the last few years.