INDIANAPOLIS — Much of what we know about depression, anxiety, and suicide among healthcare professionals comes from investigations into the mental health of physicians and medical students. Now, new research is shedding light on how common these mental health conditions are among physician assistants (PAs) and PA students, Talia Sierra, PA-C, DMSc, told attendees in a session at the American Academy of Physician Associates 2022 annual meeting.
Sierra and co-presenter Heidi Posey, PA-C, both professors in the PA program at Idaho State University, surveyed PA students and practicing PAs about their experiences with depression, anxiety, and suicide.
They found that PAs and student PAs reported feelings of depression, anxiety, or thoughts of suicide at about the same rate physicians and medical students did. Their research is currently under review by the Journal of the American Academy of PAs.
Dr Talia Sierra
"We know there's a perception that PAs have a better quality of life than physicians do, and that many choose to become PAs for that reason," Sierra told Medscape Medical News. "They think they'll be able to avoid burnout and not have the same problems we see in physicians, but our research shows that's not always the case."
This was a key takeaway for Jared Papa, PA-C, MPAS, a colleague of the presenters who attended the session, but was not involved with the research.
