PAPNJ Mission Statement

The mission of the Professional Assistance Program of New Jersey (PAPNJ) is to provide services to protect the public safety and welfare of the citizens of New Jersey through education, identification, evaluation, treatment planning, and advocacy for licensed healthcare and other professionals in recovery from impairing medical conditions and illnesses.   

The prevalence of healthcare    professional impairment is largely unknown among other groups than physicians.  The prevalence has been estimated conservatively to be between 10—15% of the   population (American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) – Principles of Addiction Medicine, 6th ed., 2019).  There are approximately 648,400 licensed physicians in the nation.  Accordingly, there are probably 64,000 physicians who are suffering from impairment conditions.  In New Jersey there are more than 207,000 licensed healthcare professionals including nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and other allied health professionals, as well as doctors.  Accordingly, there maybe more than 20,000 impaired healthcare professionals in the state.