In our last blog, we explored why PA doctorates have become such a hot topic. A master's degree remains the standard entry-level credential for our profession, and for now it remains the terminal degree for most physician assistants.¹ Now let’s answer the question most readers are really asking:
If you don't need a doctorate to practice, why are more and more PAs choosing to earn one?
As someone who completed a Doctor of Physician Assistant Studies (DScPAS) in 2020, I can tell you the answer depends almost entirely on where you want your career to go.
After more than seven years in clinical practice, I knew I wanted my career to extend beyond patient care. I hoped to move into PA education and wondered whether a doctorate might eventually open doors in academia and leadership. So I took the leap.
My goal wasn’t to learn more medicine. PA school had already prepared me to care for patients. I wanted to better understand the parts of healthcare that PA school simply doesn’t have time to teach in depth: education, leadership, research, and healthcare systems.
Looking back, earning my doctorate became one of the stepping stones that led me into medical education, content creation, and curriculum design here at Hippo Education.
One thing that surprised me was how different doctoral education felt from PA school.
PA school teaches you how to care for patients. A doctoral degree asks you to think beyond the individual patient encounter. These programs are generally designed to prepare PAs for roles in leadership, education, administration, research, quality improvement, policy, and healthcare systems, rather than provide additional clinical training or revisit the diagnosis and treatment of common diseases.²
Many programs also offer concentrations tailored to specific career interests, including educational leadership, executive leadership, healthcare administration, disaster medicine, public health, and policy.²
Most programs are online or hybrid, making them feasible for working clinicians.2 Recent reviews identified nearly 30 post-professional PA doctoral programs in the United States, with the Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc) being the most common degree, alongside programs offering the DScPAS, Doctor of PA Studies (DPAS), and similar credentials.²
Importantly, these programs are not accredited by ARC-PA because they are post-professional doctorate programs rather than entry-level PA education.²
Let's be honest. This is often the biggest hurdle.
Most programs are designed for working clinicians and can generally be completed in one to three years, depending on the program and whether you attend full-time or part-time.² Tuition varies widely, making it difficult to talk about the cost of a PA doctorate.² Some programs cost less than $20,000, while others approach or exceed $50,000.² A handful are considerably more expensive.
Financial planning has become an even more important part of this decision. Recent changes to federal student loan programs may also affect how future students finance advanced degrees, making employer tuition assistance, scholarships, personal savings, and other financing options increasingly important considerations.⁴
None of this means a PA doctorate isn't worth pursuing. It simply means that, now more than ever, you should weigh the financial investment alongside your long-term career goals.
That's a significant investment of both money and time, which means it's worth asking an equally important question before you apply: What do you hope this degree will do for your career?
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Before you start comparing PA doctorate programs, it’s worth asking yourself:
There aren't right or wrong answers to these questions. But being honest with yourself can ensure you're pursuing a doctorate because it aligns with your goals, not simply because it feels like the next box to check.
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If you're hoping a doctorate comes with an automatic raise, I have some disappointing news. No evidence shows that adding a doctoral degree to your credentials leads to higher clinical pay.¹,³ If you're a physician assistant/associate seeing patients five days a week in primary care, emergency medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics, or urgent care, earning a doctorate is unlikely to suddenly change your paycheck.
Where the degree may make a difference is in expanding the types of roles available to you.
Some academic, leadership, administrative, and program director positions require or prefer applicants with doctoral preparation. Studies of PA faculty compensation have also found that leadership roles, such as program director positions, are associated with higher salaries, even if the doctorate itself produces only modest salary differences.¹
So the financial value may come less from the letters after your name and more from the career opportunities those letters help you pursue.
This answer sometimes surprises people. No, not directly.
I didn’t come out of my doctorate program diagnosing pneumonia better than I did before. I didn't suddenly become better at managing diabetes or interpreting an ECG.
There is no evidence that earning a PA doctorate improves diagnostic accuracy, procedural skills, prescribing practices, or patient outcomes compared with a master's-trained PA.³ That isn't a failure of doctoral education. It's just not what these programs are designed to do.
What I gained instead was a completely different skill set: curriculum development, educational leadership, research, healthcare systems, and organizational leadership. Those skills helped open the door to my career in medical education. But they're different from the clinical skills I developed in PA school and practice.
I don't think every PA needs a doctorate. But I do think it makes sense for certain career paths.
A PA doctorate may be worth considering if you see yourself someday moving into healthcare administration or executive leadership, leading quality improvement work, pursuing healthcare policy or advocacy, becoming PA program faculty, or developing medical education.
If your goal is to spend your career primarily in clinical practice, it's equally reasonable to question whether the time and financial investment will meaningfully change your career. Neither answer is wrong.
If I had remained in full-time clinical practice, I'm not sure I would view my doctorate the same way I do today. But moving into medical education completely changed the equation. The degree didn’t change me as a clinician. It changed the kinds of opportunities available to me.
That's why I don't think the real question is "Should every PA get a doctorate?"
The better question is: "Where do I want my career to take me?"
For many PAs, a master's degree is exactly the right degree. For others, a doctorate may open doors into education, leadership, administration, or other areas of the profession.
Neither path is better. They're simply different.
And that's one of the greatest strengths of the PA profession: there isn’t just one way to build a meaningful career.
References:
Kayingo G, Kibe L, Venzon A, et al. Demand and supply for doctoral-prepared PA faculty: A 5-year national longitudinal study.. JAAPA. 2021;34(12):1–1. Link
McKenna RE, Hooker RS. The PA postprofessional doctorate. JAAPA. 2025;38(5):35–41. Link
Kulo V, Fleming S, Gordes KL, et al. A physician assistant entry-level doctoral degree: More harm than good? BMC Med Educ. 2021;21(1):274. Link
U.S. Department of Education. One Big Beautiful Bill Act Updates. Federal Student Aid. Updated July 6, 2026. Accessed August 4, 2026. Link