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Jump to Key Points Facing a future with an unprecedented shortage of workers, the healthcare industry has worked hard to address burnout in clinicians, including physician associates (PAs). Reports of provider burnout, a constellation of negative mental and physical health symptoms resulting from chronic workplace stress, skyrocketed during the COVID pandemic. Since then, healthcare organizations have sought ways to better support employees, from appreciation lunches to new technologies that reduce administrative burdens; the solutions have shown mixed success.
About Medscape Insights
Medscape continually surveys physicians and other medical professionals about key practice challenges and current issues, creating high-impact analyses. For example, the Medscape PA Burnout & Depression Report 2026 found that
- 1 in 6 PAs reported feeling both burned out and depressed.
- 3 in 4 PAs reported that their employer doesn’t recognize the toll burnout takes on them.
- 23% reported seeking professional help for burnout and/or depression.
Many would say such efforts have been fruitful; however, when you delve deeper into the data, other statistics paint a more complex picture. PAs now report experiencing burnout symptoms for a longer period of time — and approximately 3 in 4 report that bureaucratic tasks, insufficient pay, and heavy patient loads contribute. Even more concerning is that PAs do not feel comfortable sharing burnout symptoms with their employers.
Mirela Bruza, PhD, PA-C, senior research scientist at the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, who has conducted several studies on PA burnout and work-life integration, said she was not surprised by the findings. “Clinicians are trained to go, go, go and not think about their feelings — and this is not just PAs, but doctors and nurses, too,” she said. “Feeling overwhelmed is almost considered a stain on their professional integrity…if they express their feelings, it somehow means they aren’t good at their job.”
Jennifer M. Kolb, DMSc, PA-C, DFAAPA, chief medical officer and senior vice president of Clinical Affairs at the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA), agreed. She said many PAs are incredibly reluctant to discuss burnout and mental health symptoms with employers.
- PA burnout common; 1 in 6 also report depression.
- 3 in 4 PAs say employers miss burnout’s toll.
- Burnout drivers: bureaucracy, low pay, heavy patient loads.
- Stigma limits disclosure; many PAs hide symptoms at work.
- Peer mentoring, APP leadership, role clarity may improve retention/well-being.
“When I was first a PA, we were told not to disclose [burnout], as it could affect your license — even get you fired,” she said. “Policies have changed, but that stigma has stuck around.”
The stigma was apparent even in reporting this story. Several PAs declined to go on record about their experience with burnout because they were concerned about how it might be perceived at work. The data, both in the Medscape Medical News survey as well as in other burnout studies, make it clear that far too many PAs are experiencing burnout. They also feel they have to mask it at work for fear of negative consequences. It begs the question: What can workplaces do to help remedy the situation?
More Than Appreciation Lunches
Kolb said that finding the right way to support PAs is a challenge for hospitals and provider practices. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach — and healthcare organizations have to balance providing support while also meeting performance and revenue goals. Yet, she said, appreciation events and yoga classes can only take you so far.
“Throwing a pizza party because people are dissatisfied is not always the way,” she said. “What can really change things is when you know your employer is fighting for good policy — that they are looking at more than just productivity and reimbursement and finding ways to provide support for clinicians.”
Mentoring and Peer Ambassadors
She said studies have shown that peer-to-peer coaching and mentoring have been successful in encouraging clinicians to disclose issues — as well as to find ways to resolve them.
“Clinicians may not be willing to call HR [human resources] and say they need a wellness program, but they are more willing to talk to other clinicians at a peer level when they are facing challenges,” she said. “Creating those kinds of peer ambassadors in your organization, supporting pathways for employees to talk, holding debriefs when things go awry, and talking and engaging with your frontline staff goes a long way.”
Get Clarity on PA Roles Through Leadership
Brooke Schweitzer, DMSc, MSPA, PA-C, chief advanced practice officer at UChicago Medicine in Chicago, who has implemented a workforce improvement program at her organization, added that many PAs struggle because they lack clarity on their roles. She spoke with hundreds of advanced practice providers (APPs), including PAs, to understand what they needed to work at the top of their licenses. After implementing several different initiatives to improve patient care and access, they also saw significant improvements in APP engagement and well-being, as well as a significant jump in UChicago’s APP employee retention.
As a result, Schweitzer believes that having distinct APP leadership to drive the right strategies can help healthcare organizations find that careful balance between meeting their financial goals and supporting their employees.
“You’ve had physician and nursing leadership architecture in place for years — APPs, historically, have been left in between the cracks,” she said. “When you can support a professional identity that fits into the fabric of the organization, you can create a network of leaders embedded within their specialties and service lines who also provide peer support for PAs. That’s what provides the psychological safety to talk about what they are experiencing. They understand it. And because they do, they are going to go to bat for you and advocate for you.”
Creating the Right Culture and Systems
Today, PAs are 40% of the workforce — and are expected to make up close to half of clinicians in healthcare over the next decade. Kolb said that she hopes PAs who are struggling will find someone to talk to, whether it’s a leader in their organization, a good friend, a mentor, or an online community.
“If you are experiencing burnout symptoms, you should reach out to the people who will listen and who you feel comfortable and confident talking to,” she said. “Sometimes, just having the conversation can help…otherwise, those feelings just get pushed down, and that’s where burnout starts to happen.”
She added that PAs who do not feel they are getting adequate support at work can always access wellness resources on the AAPA website. She also recommends that employers and PAs alike get involved with the All In Coalition, a cross-disciplinary group of healthcare organizations working to change systems and policies to better protect clinicians’ mental health and greater well-being.
Schweitzer also said that PAs, as a profession, can benefit when more PAs step into leadership roles. They can then guide and enact policies to better support their fellow practitioners.
Being a PA is not easy. “We are asked do more and more as the resources thin,” she said. “But it’s our responsibility to help shape the culture and the set-up for providers to do the work. We need to make it easy for them to do what’s right. We need to remove the administrative barriers, and we need to ensure our clinicians feel supported. It should be a top priority to make sure we are supporting worker well-being as well as their workplace.”
The experts cited in this article had no relevant disclosures.
Kayt Sukel is a healthcare and science writer based outside Houston.
