The Imposter Phenomenon: Self-Assessment And Competency to Perform as a Physician Assistant in the United States

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and correlation of three major psychological constructs in practicing physician assistants (PAs) in the continental United States. Through voluntary participant completion of a comprehensive online survey, the Imposter Phenomenon (IP), depression, and anxiety were analyzed using the Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) and the Depression Module and Anxiety Module of the Primary Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD). Demographic information, including age, gender, graduation date, and total number of years in practice, was also gathered. The study investigated a four-part hypothesis. First, the presence of IP would mimic earlier research showing that IP exists in approximately one-third of professionals, regardless of profession. Second, IP scores would decrease as the number of years in practice increased. Third, no gender difference would exist in the incidence of IP among PAs. Four, clinically expressed levels of both depression and anxiety would be statistically correlated with high IP scores. Results supported each of the study hypotheses with the exception that anxiety was not shown to be significantly associated with IP.