National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants

Sep 12, 2023

Tuesday, September 12th, 2023 A recent study found 30 percent of certified physician assistants reported at least one symptom of burnout, and almost 8 percent said they intended to leave the profession in the next year. The study, conducted by National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, collected responses in 2021 from more than 111,700 physician assistants who worked in at least one clinical position. Researchers found that all demographic and practical characteristics were associated with burnout and the strongest predictors of burnout were workload, census division, age, specialty and practice setting. Here are seven other findings: Burnout was also associated with 3.5 times higher odds of certified physician assistants planning to leave their positions in the next 12 months. Those who worked 51 to 60 hours per week were 2.36 times more likely to experience burnout compared to those who worked 30 or fewer hours. Those who worked more than 60 hours were 2.24 times likely to experience burnout. Physician assistants were more likely to experience burnout if they worked at a community health center or urgent care center, compared to a hospital. Being older than 35, or working in New England, Mountain or Pacific Census divisions also led to more burnout. The strongest protective factors against burnout were related to specialty. Those who worked in surgery, dermatology, OB-GYN, occupational medicine or pediatrics had far less burnout than those working in primary care. Physician assistants who worked two or more clinical positions experienced 34 percent less burnout than those who worked only one position. Men were 38 percent less likely to experience burnout than women.