If Names Matter for One Profession, They Matter for All

Marilyn Suri, DMSc, MPA, PA-C, FACHE

About the Author:

Marilyn Suri, DMSc, MPA, PA-C, FACHE is a pulmonary and critical care Physician

Associate, Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, healthcare executive,

educator, and national advocate for the PA profession. She serves as a Board of Director and

Legislative Government Affairs Chair for the Florida Academy of PAs (FAPA) and as the

Legislative Director for the Academy of Physician Associates in Legal Medicine (APALM). Dr.

Suri is a published author and national speaker whose work focuses on healthcare leadership, professional identity, legislative advocacy, workforce development, and strengthening collaborative, patient-centered care through mutual respect among all healthcare professionals.

Author’s Note:

For purposes of this article, the term Physician Associate is used in recognition of the terminology adopted by the American Academy of Physician Associates in 2021. The legal

title remains Physician Assistant in most states and regulatory frameworks. Regardless of

terminology preferences, the broader discussion concerns professional identity, accuracy,

mutual respect across healthcare professions.

Professional Identity and the Ethics of Naming in Healthcare

The American College of Physicians (ACP) recently published a position paper arguing that

physicians should not be referred to as "providers." Their argument is compelling: words have ethical significance. Language shapes professional identity, influences public perception, and affects how patients understand who is caring for them.

I agree.

Titles in healthcare are not mere labels. They communicate education, licensure, accountability, and professional role. They provide patients with clarity and reinforce trust within an increasingly complex healthcare system.

But the ACP's position also raises a broader question.

If names matter for physicians, should they not matter for every healthcare profession?

Language Shapes Professional Identity

Healthcare has long understood that language influences culture. Organizational psychology, ethics, and leadership research consistently demonstrate that words shape identity, behavior, and professional relationships.

This principle extends beyond physicians.

We would not refer to surgeons as technicians, pharmacists as dispensers, or nurses as assistants because those labels fail to reflect their education, expertise, and professional responsibilities.

Yet terms such as midlevel and physician extender continue to be applied to Physician Associates and other advanced practice clinicians despite repeated requests from these professions to use accurate titles.

This is not a debate about hierarchy or scope of practice.

It is a debate about professional identity.

A Profession That Has Grown

The Physician Assistant profession was established at Duke University in 1965 by Dr. Eugene

Stead to improve access to care during a growing physician shortage. Built upon the experience of highly trained military medics, it was conceived as a collaborative profession from its inception.

Sixty years later, the profession has evolved dramatically.

More than 200,000 certified PAs now practice in every specialty and every state, caring for

millions of patients each year. They perform procedures, perform or assist in surgery, manage critically ill patients, prescribe medications, educate future clinicians, conduct research, and increasingly serve as healthcare executives, legislators, faculty members, and policy leaders.

The profession has changed.

Its language has evolved as well.

In 2021, the American Academy of Physician Assistants adopted the name American Academy of Physician Associates, recognizing that the profession's modern responsibilities had outgrown terminology developed six decades earlier. Whether one supports that change or not, the underlying principle is identical to the ACP's position: professional titles should accurately reflect professional identity.

Respect Is Not Zero-Sum

Professional respect is not a finite resource.

Calling a physician a physician does not diminish a nurse.

Calling a nurse a nurse does not diminish a pharmacist.

Calling a Physician Associate a Physician Associate does not diminish a physician.

One profession does not strengthen its identity by weakening another's.

Healthcare is strongest when every profession is recognized for what it is—not defined by whatit is not.

"Provider" and "Midlevel" Are Different Words, but the Same Problem

The ACP argues that provider obscures professional identity by grouping physicians into a

generic category.

The term midlevel presents a parallel concern.

Unlike a professional title, midlevel communicates neither education, licensure, certification, nor clinical role. It identifies no profession at all. Instead, it assigns a place within a perceived

hierarchy.

Patients cannot determine whether a "midlevel" is a Physician Associate, Nurse Practitioner,

Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, or another licensed clinician.

If provider is criticized because it erases identity, midlevel or extender deserves similar scrutiny because it replaces identity with hierarchy.

Both terms ultimately obscure the very clarity patients deserve.

Leadership Begins with Language

As healthcare leaders, we often speak about culture, psychological safety, engagement, and

interdisciplinary collaboration. Yet culture is built through the language organizations choose to normalize.

Respecting professional titles does not erase distinctions in education, training, or responsibility.

It acknowledges them honestly.

Healthcare has never depended on one profession.

It depends on teams.

Physicians, Physician Associates, APRNs, nurses, pharmacists, therapists, social workers, and

countless others each contribute distinct expertise toward a shared goal: delivering exceptional patient care.

Mutual respect is not simply a professional courtesy.

It is foundational to effective collaboration.

A Principle Worth Applying Consistently

The ACP is right about one thing.

Words matter.

Professional identity matters.

Patients deserve clarity about who is providing their care, and healthcare professionals deserve to be identified by titles that accurately reflect their education, licensure, and role.

If names carry ethical significance, and I believe they do, that principle cannot stop with

physicians.

It must extend to every member of the healthcare team.

Because the true measure of professional respect is not whom we ask to recognize our identity.

It is whether we are willing to recognize theirs.