Physician Assistants
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations- O*NET-SOC code
- 29-1071.00
Provide healthcare services typically performed by a physician, under the supervision of a physician. Conduct complete physicals, provide treatment, and counsel patients. May, in some cases, prescribe medication. Must graduate from an accredited educational program for physician assistants.
- Data source: BLSPublished: 2026-08
Low· relative
LowFour relative bandsVery highGroup-level value
Scale, basis and source
Four relative bands (Low / Moderate / High / Very high)
831 detailed occupations in the BLS Employment Projections table. Assigned per National Employment Matrix (NEM) code, so occupations sharing a NEM code carry the same band
- Data source: AnthropicPublished: 2026-03
0.000
0.000Range of values carried here0.745Group-level value
Scale, basis and source
Observed exposure index, 0–1 as published
Mapped onto O*NET tasks
Published per SOC 2018 occupation; every O*NET occupation with the same SOC 2018 code carries this value
- Data source: ILOPublished: 2025
0.23
0.09Range of values carried here0.70Group-level value
Scale, basis and source
Generative AI exposure index, 0–1 as published
Published per ISCO-08 unit group. Linked to this occupation, wholly or in part, by applying U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics crosswalks (ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC, 2010 SOC to 2018 SOC) as published
What kind of figure this source publishes
The BLS category is a relative rank, not an absolute level, and it is not a first-hand measurement: it groups an occupation's percentile ranks across several published studies into four bands. It is not an employment or wage forecast, not a probability of adoption, and it does not separate automation from augmentation.
Task-level exposure
Show 9 hidden tasks12 rated tasks · 9 tasks with β ≥ 0.5 (75.0%)
β = direct exposure (E1) + 0.5 × exposure when tools are available (E2), per the source repository's definition.
- Source unit: O*NET 27.2 tasks → O*NET 31.0 occupation code
- All rated tasks are in the O*NET 31.0 task list.
- Source
- OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" exposure rubric
- Release
- gh-main-0471612
- License
- MIT License, Copyright (c) 2024 OpenAI
| Task (O*NET 30.2) | Claude.aiRaw / share % | APIRaw / share % |
|---|---|---|
Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal.29-1071.00 | 0.020050.0 | 0.0100100.0 |
Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients.29-1071.00 | 0.010025.0 | 0.00000.0 |
Instruct and counsel patients about prescribed therapeutic regimens, normal growth and development, family planning, emotional problems of daily living, and health maintenance.29-1071.00 | 0.010025.0 | 0.00000.0 |
Values in this tab are predicted labels, not observations. Eloundou et al. (2023) published two rating regimes — human raters and GPT-4 — and the β shown here is derived from the GPT-4 rater basis alone; the same task can take a different value under the other regime. The unit and the meaning differ from the observed shares (%) in the other tabs, so do not place them on the same axis.
| Task (O*NET 27.2) | βE1 + 0.5 × E2 |
|---|---|
Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal.O*NET Task ID 4074 | 0.5 |
Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients.O*NET Task ID 4075 | 0.5 |
Obtain, compile, and record patient medical data, including health history, progress notes, and results of physical examination.O*NET Task ID 4076 | 0.5 |
Administer or order diagnostic tests, such as x-ray, electrocardiogram, and laboratory tests.O*NET Task ID 4077 | 0.5 |
Prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval.O*NET Task ID 4078 | 0.5 |
Instruct and counsel patients about prescribed therapeutic regimens, normal growth and development, family planning, emotional problems of daily living, and health maintenance.O*NET Task ID 4080 | 0.5 |
Supervise and coordinate activities of technicians and technical assistants.O*NET Task ID 4082 | 0.5 |
Visit and observe patients on hospital rounds or house calls, updating charts, ordering therapy, and reporting back to physician.O*NET Task ID 4083 | 0.5 |
Order medical and laboratory supplies and equipment.O*NET Task ID 4084 | 0.5 |
β = E1 + 0.5 × E2 · E1 = tasks where direct LLM access alone cuts time by at least 50%, E2 = tasks where software built on top of an LLM cuts time by at least 50%. Values take only 0 / 0.5 / 1.0.
Data sources & licenses — O*NET®, Anthropic Economic Index, Eloundou et al. (2023): see full notices on the Credits page
All O*NET 31.0 task statements (12)
All O*NET 31.0 task statements for this occupation (English, as published; task type core or supplemental). Exposure values are not listed here; they are in the table above, next to each task statement as worded in the O*NET version each source used.
| Task (O*NET 31.0) | Type |
|---|---|
| Examine patients to obtain information about their physical condition. | Core |
| Interpret diagnostic test results for deviations from normal. | Core |
| Make tentative diagnoses and decisions about management and treatment of patients. | Core |
| Obtain, compile, and record patient medical data, including health history, progress notes, and results of physical examination. | Core |
| Administer or order diagnostic tests, such as x-ray, electrocardiogram, and laboratory tests. | Core |
| Prescribe therapy or medication with physician approval. | Core |
| Perform therapeutic procedures, such as injections, immunizations, suturing and wound care, and infection management. | Core |
| Instruct and counsel patients about prescribed therapeutic regimens, normal growth and development, family planning, emotional problems of daily living, and health maintenance. | Core |
| Provide physicians with assistance during surgery or complicated medical procedures. | Core |
| Supervise and coordinate activities of technicians and technical assistants. | Core |
| Visit and observe patients on hospital rounds or house calls, updating charts, ordering therapy, and reporting back to physician. | Core |
| Order medical and laboratory supplies and equipment. | Core |
0.00/ 3· Robot exposure index
Scale, basis and source
Each physical task is graded 0–3 by the setting in which robots that have been deployed, sold or demonstrated could do it (0 none · 1 purpose-built robot settings such as a fenced machine cell or a bottling line · 2 structured facilities such as a hospital pharmacy or a container port · 3 unstructured settings such as a private home or a construction site), and the grades are averaged by share of working time
Physical tasks among this occupation's O*NET 29.3 tasks
Anthropic estimated the grades and time shares with Claude Opus 5 using web search, as of 2026.
The robot exposure index is a different measure from the AI exposure figures on this site and cannot be added to or compared with them. It does not measure actual adoption or cost, and 0 also covers occupations with no physical tasks.
Tier of each physical task
Robot environment tiers (E0–E3)
E0 noneDetails
Rated not doable by robots that have been deployed, sold or demonstrated, even in a purpose-built setting
E1 purpose-built robot settingsDetails
Rated doable in a setting built around the machine, such as a fenced machine cell or a bottling line
E2 structured facilitiesDetails
Rated doable in a human work facility that an institution keeps to a working standard, such as a hospital pharmacy or a container port
E3 unstructured settingsDetails
Rated doable in a setting that no institution keeps to a working standard, such as a private home or a construction site
Only tasks classified as physical are listed; other tasks have no tier in the source.
| Task (O*NET 29.3) | Robot environment tier |
|---|---|
| Examine patients to obtain information about their physical condition. | E0 none |
| Perform therapeutic procedures, such as injections, immunizations, suturing and wound care, and infection management. | E0 none |
| Provide physicians with assistance during surgery or complicated medical procedures. | E0 none |
| Visit and observe patients on hospital rounds or house calls, updating charts, ordering therapy, and reporting back to physician. | E0 none |
Occupation information
Employment outlook (BLS)
Values for the whole SOC 29-1071 group (Physician assistants), not for this O*NET occupation alone.
- Employment, 2025
- 169K
- Projected employment, 2035
- 205K
- Change (2025–35)
- +21.1%
- Median annual wage, 2025
- $135,880
- Typical education needed for entry
- Master's degree
Korea classification links (KSCO)
Links from the current release of the Korea Occupation Direct Crosswalk v1.1, made by AI Changing Work. Relation values are read from the O*NET-SOC occupation side.
| KSCO code | KSCO title | Relation | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24401 | 전문 간호사 | Related, not a match | confirmed |
Relation and status definitions(kr-direct v1.1)
ILO occupational description
AI Changing Work links the ISCO-08 unit groups below to this occupation by applying the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics crosswalks (2018 SOC to 2010 SOC, 2010 SOC to ISCO-08) as published, without case-by-case selection; each link may be whole or partial.
- ISCO-08 2240Paramedical Practitioners
The definition, tasks and examples below are the ILO's description of that unit group, not of this occupation.
Paramedical practitioners provide advisory, diagnostic, curative and preventive medical services more limited in scope and complexity than those carried out by medical doctors. They work autonomously, or with limited supervision of medical doctors, and apply advanced clinical procedures for treating and preventing diseases, injuries and other physical or mental impairments common to specific communities.
Tasks
- (a) conducting physical examinations of patients and interviewing them and their families to determine their health status, and recording patients' medical information;
- (b) performing basic or more routine medical and surgical procedures, including prescribing and administering treatments, medications and other preventive or curative measures, especially for common diseases and disorders;
- (c) administering or ordering diagnostic tests, such as x-ray, electrocardiogram, and laboratory tests;
- (d) performing therapeutic procedures, such as injections, immunizations, suturing and wound care, and infection management;
- (e) assisting medical doctors with complex surgical procedures;
- (f) monitoring patients' progress and response to treatment, and identifying signs and symptoms requiring referral to medical doctors;
- (g) advising patients and families on diet, exercise and other habits which aid prevention or treatment of disease and disorders;
- (h) identifying and referring complex or unusual cases to medical doctors, hospitals or other places for specialized care;
- (i) reporting births, deaths and notifiable diseases to government authorities to meet legal and professional reporting requirements.
Example occupations
Advanced care paramedic · Clinical officer (paramedical) · Feldscher · Primary care paramedic · Surgical technician
Sources: ILO ISCO-08 — details: Credits
ESCO occupational vocabulary
Each entry below is matched to this occupation in the published ESCO-O*NET Crosswalk (version 1, 2022). The match types are that crosswalk's; the wording is AI Changing Work's.
- doctors' surgery assistantESCO 3256.1Overlapping, not the same
Doctors' surgery assistants support doctors of medicine in medical measures, in performing simple support activities during medical procedures, standardised diagnostic programmes and standardised point-of-care tests, ensuring surgery hygiene, cleaning, disinfecting, sterilising and maintaining medical devices and performing the organisational and administrative tasks required for operating a doctor`s surgery under supervision, following the orders of the doctor of medicine.
Source: European Commission, DG EMPL — ESCO API 2026-08-08 (bridge v1.2.1)
License: CC BY 4.0 (EU Reuse Notice)
ESCO reuse terms and the modification notice are in Credits.
France classification links (ROME)
AI Changing Work's links between this occupation and ROME 4.0 job profiles, judged with AI models. Relations are read from this occupation's side. Links marked “provisional” were adopted on the judgments of two judges from the same model family (Claude) alone, or by an operator rule applied to their judgments, so they rest on weaker evidence than confirmed links.
| ROME code | ROME title (French) | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| J1303 | Assistant / Assistante médico-technique | Related, not a matchprovisional |
| J1508 | Infirmier / Infirmière en Pratique Avancée (IPA) | Related, not a matchprovisional |
Source: France Travail — Répertoire Opérationnel des Métiers et des Emplois (ROME 4.0), version 61, last updated 15 June 2026 (https://www.data.gouv.fr/datasets/repertoire-operationnel-des-metiers-et-des-emplois-rome). Licence Ouverte 2.0.
ROME codes and titles are reproduced unchanged; the links to O*NET-SOC occupations are AI Changing Work's own judgment and are not a France Travail correspondence.
(AI Changing Work link release: fr-direct v1)
Spain classification links (CNO-11)
AI Changing Work's links between this occupation and CNO-11 occupations, judged with AI models. Relations are read from this occupation's side.
| CNO-11 code | CNO-11 title (Spanish) | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| 2159 | Profesionales de la salud no clasificados bajo otros epígrafes | This occupation is narrowerprovisional |
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), National Classification of Occupations 2011 (CNO-11, Royal Decree 1591/2010) — www.ine.es · Licensed CC BY 4.0. CNO-11 codes and Spanish titles are reproduced unchanged; the links to O*NET occupations are AI Changing Work's own judgment and are not an INE correspondence.
(AI Changing Work link release: es-direct v1)
Germany classification links (KldB)
AI Changing Work's links between this occupation and KldB occupations, judged with AI models. Relations are read from this occupation's side.
| KldB code | KldB title (German) | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| 81333 | Berufe in der operations-/medizintechnischen Assistenz - komplexe Spezialistentätigkeiten | Same scope |
Source: © Statistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit — Klassifikation der Berufe 2010 – überarbeitete Fassung 2020, https://statistik.arbeitsagentur.de. KldB codes and titles are reproduced unchanged; the links to O*NET occupations are AI Changing Work's own mapping (eigene Zuordnung) and are not a Bundesagentur für Arbeit correspondence.
(AI Changing Work link release: de-direct v1)
Japan classification links (JSCO)
AI Changing Work's links between this occupation and JSCO occupations, judged with AI models. Relations are read from this occupation's side.
| JSCO code | JSCO title (Japanese) | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| 121 | 医師 | Related, not a matchprovisional |
| 133 | 看護師（准看護師を含む） | Related, not a matchprovisional |
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), Japan Standard Occupational Classification (Dec. 2009, MIC Notification No. 555). JSCO codes and Japanese titles are reproduced unchanged; the links to O*NET occupations are AI Changing Work's own judgment and are not a MIC correspondence.
(AI Changing Work link release: jp-direct v1)
Sources, licenses and AI Changing Work's modification and translation notices for this page: Credits & sources