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Jump to Key Points Healthcare, as a profession, is not known for promoting a strong work-life balance for its workforce. Thanks to long hours, unpredictable schedules, staffing shortages, onerous administrative work, and complex cases, several studies have noted that physicians and nurses have difficulty drawing a hard and fast line between their work and personal lives, which has led to high levels of burnout. Physician associates (PAs) are not immune to these systemic factors — yet, historically, PAs have reported higher job satisfaction and work-life integration than doctors. Thanks to characteristics inherent to the job, PAs may be better positioned to find some balance — with shorter workweeks, opportunities to work part-time, and greater control over when and where they practice. But only, the experts say, if they are willing to look inward and speak out.
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 State of the Medical Profession Index Report 2026 found that respondents felt:
- The medical part of medicine is probably good.
- The administrative parts of medicine are probably not good.
- There is no work-life balance if you must come in every morning and see 25 patients per day.
- Healthcare professionals either feel bad because they have to take shortcuts to get home at the end of the day or stay late into the evening, ruining home life.
Flexibility and Control
Mirela Bruza, PhD, PA-C, a research scientist at the National Commission on Certification of PAs (NCCPA), has closely examined how PAs manage work-life integration. In a recent survey, she discovered that over two thirds of PAs (71.7%) indicated they were satisfied with their current work-life balance. That, she said, is in stark contrast with physicians, who not only tend to work longer average hours each (47.9 compared to 40.1, per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics) but are still struggling with high rates of burnout.
Bruza cautioned, however, that not all PAs are satisfied with their current balance — and they, as a field, aren’t at all immune from burnout. When you dive deeper into the data, it’s clear that some specialties, like other healthcare roles, struggle to align personal and professional lives.
“Specialties like surgical, dermatology, pain management — they tended to be more satisfied with work-life balance compared to those working in primary care,” she said. “And it makes some sense. If you work in a private office that doesn’t have a lot of emergencies and things are scheduled appropriately, you’ll likely be happier.”
- 71.7% of PAs report satisfaction with current work-life balance.
- PAs average shorter workweeks than physicians: 40.1 vs 47.9 hours.
- Surgical, dermatology, pain mgmt PAs report better balance than primary care.
- Lateral mobility common: 40.3% switch specialties by 10 years; ~75% by late career.
- Men report higher work-life integration; female PAs have lower odds of satisfaction.
Another factor that may help PAs find balance is lateral mobility, or the ability to move across different specialties. NCCPA research has shown that 40.3% of PAs will change disciplines in the first decade of practice. By late career stage, that number jumps to approximately 75%. Tim Thompson, PA-C, MBA, an instructor at a Doctor of Medical Science program and executive at a medical technology company, said this kind of lateral mobility makes it easier for PAs to find roles that support a healthy work-life balance. When needed, it’s much easier to pivot to roles that better fit their lifestyle, like moving from an intense, demanding emergency medicine department to a more predictable role in a dermatology office.
“When people figure out what they need and what they want to do, it’s fairly easy to make a change,” he said. “You can find a role that works around your schedule, or your kids’ school and sports schedules. You can find the flexibility to do that.”
Data also suggest that PAs are now benefiting from the emergence of more flexible working models. In fact, the American Academy of Physician Associates’ salary report notes that nearly 10% of PAs are working in part-time roles. This, said Hope Cook, PA-C, who often gives talks about work-life integration, provides another form of flexibility that PAs can use to find some balance.
“You can now make decisions about your schedule, and it makes a huge difference,” she said. “I think more practices and hospitals are finally seeing that they can get a high-quality PA or nurse practitioner (NP) if they are willing to be flexible regarding the number of hours or the number of days worked. It’s something that benefits everyone.”
Gender Differences
Another interesting finding from the NCCPA’s research is that men, overall, report having achieved greater work-life integration than their female counterparts.
“Compared to female PAs, male PAs had 25% higher odds of being satisfied with work-life integration. This may be related to specialties, too — as female PAs are more likely to work in primary care and males work more in hands-on specialties like orthopedics or surgery,” she said. “You see a similar trend in physicians, too.”
The reasons why are likely multi-factorial. Studies across different job types show that women bear the brunt of home and family responsibilities, which can make it harder to juggle all the balls involved with work and home life. But the gender difference could also be attributed to different job responsibilities, workforce gaps, or other factors. It is a topic that deserves a closer look in the future, Bruza argued.
Cook is not surprised by the finding. She recalls having a young baby at home and having to stay late to finish her charts while working in internal medicine.
“So much depends on which field you work in and how your office operates,” she said. “We were expected to stay, finish notes, and check labs. I didn’t realize I could say, ‘Hey, I have a baby at home. Do you think it would be okay if I left early?’”
PA Satisfaction With Occupation or Role?
Some might argue that comparing physicians and PAs on work-life integration is not an apples-to-apples comparison. NPs, however, are often lumped together with PAs, thanks to similar day-to-day duties and pay levels. Yet there are few studies comparing job satisfaction and work-life integration between these two professions — and what studies exist, do not show a significant difference when it comes to work-life integration. The most detailed look comes from a 1995 study of healthcare providers at Kaiser Permanente. The data showed that PAs and NPs were satisfied with their jobs, but for different reasons. PAs, for example, were particularly satisfied with their working hours, task variety, pay, and support from coworkers but were not as happy with advancement opportunities. Even with those differences, it’s hard to say that one profession is more aligned with work-life balance than the other.
Taking a step back, however, Thompson believes that work-life integration will always come down to your specific role. He recalls a 2021 study with data showing that more than 80% of PAs were happy with their jobs — but 32.2% planned to leave their current position, and another 19.5% reported an intent to reduce their work hours.
“At first glance, the data don’t make sense,” he said. “If you are happy with your job, you aren’t looking to leave or cut your hours. But I think this shows what’s really happening with PAs. We are very satisfied with being PAs. We love what we do. But we don’t always love where we’re doing it.”
Cook agreed. She said, increasingly, the younger PAs she meets at conferences and meetings are not willing to stay in roles that don’t allow them to have fulfilling lives outside the workplace.
“They know their limits. They are willing to speak up and say they have a family at home or aren’t willing to pull weekend shifts,” she said.
She added that more PAs could benefit from speaking up — and as she coaches PAs at different points in their careers, she reminds them that they have the power and flexibility to move into a role that better fits their needs.
“I tell them to constantly evaluate, become an observer of your life, and check in to see how you are feeling, how you are sleeping, and what your stress level is like,” she said. “You can redefine and re-explore who you are and what you need in each chapter of your life. You can give yourself permission to recognize that something isn’t working for you anymore — even if it used to work before. You can make a change so you can better integrate your work and home lives.”
The experts cited in this article had no relevant disclosures.
Kayt Sukel is a healthcare and science writer based outside Houston.
