Footnotes

• Twitter @kristintanney

• Contributors KT led the completion of this article; HT-U contributed the physician associate (PA) background and perspective; and NE-O reviewed and edited, having been the linchpin to PA recruitment in this neonatal intensive care unit.

• Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

• Competing interests None declared.

• Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.