Healthcare · SOC 29-1071
PAs diagnose and manage care — high-stakes, interpersonal, liability-bearing work that AI supplements but cannot replace.
Hands-on, interpersonal or high-stakes work AI struggles to replace.
Timeline: AI clinical decision support will assist PAs with documentation and pattern recognition, but physical examination and licensed clinical accountability keep this role human-centered through 2035.
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$101,990 median pay
$128,790 median pay
Healthcare
$238,380 median pay
$113,730 median pay
$79,000 median pay
Industry pages show which sectors this occupation feeds and the AI companies driving the shift.
AI job-risk card
Physician Assistants is resilient on AIFear. Hands-on, interpersonal or high-stakes work AI struggles to replace.
AIFear.com
Our AI Fear Score for Physician Assistants is 30/100 (Resilient). Hands-on, interpersonal or high-stakes work AI struggles to replace.
30 out of 100, based on an AI-model review of this occupation's O*NET tasks against what current AI can actually do.
Most exposed: Compiling and entering structured patient medical data, Interpreting standard diagnostic test results, Writing progress notes and hospital round documentation. Harder to automate: Physically examining patients and gathering clinical history, Making diagnostic and treatment decisions, Ordering and interpreting complex diagnostic workups, Patient counseling on medications and lifestyle.
Lean into Clinical examination and diagnosis, AI-assisted clinical decision support, Electronic health record (EHR) proficiency, Patient education and shared decision-making, Specialty collaboration. Consider roles such as Specialty PA (surgery, dermatology, cardiology) or Urgent care clinic director or Clinical informatics specialist.
Tasks, skills and AI-exposure for this role were reviewed by an AI model against its O*NET task profile (curated roles use published research anchors). Pay and employment, where shown, are U.S. BLS OEWS (May 2024) figures. This is an estimate, not a prediction about any individual's job. Compare all occupations.