Last year, 30.6 percent of certified physician assistants reported experiencing burnout, according to a new report from the National Commission of Certification on Physician Assistants published Sept. 20.
At the same time, 70.5 percent of physician assistants said they are completely or mostly satisfied with their job, according to the group's 2021 Statistical Profile of Certified PAs by Specialty report. Data in the report are based on responses from 133,905 PAs who were certified as of Dec. 31, 2021.
Here are PA burnout rates from the report, ranked by specialty:
1. Critical care medicine — 37.9 percent
2. Emergency medicine — 36.8 percent
3. Oncology — 35.1 percent
4. Hospital medicine — 34.3 percent
5. Family medicine/general practice — 34.2 percent
6. Geriatrics — 33.7 percent
7. Internal medicine-general medicine — 33.6 percent
8. Primary care — 33.4 percent
9. Psychiatry — 31.8 percent
10. Gastroenterology — 31.3 percent
11. Pain medicine — 30.8 percent
12. Neurology — 30.2 percent
13. Neurosurgery — 29.2 percent
14. Urology — 28.4 percent
15. Cardiothoracic and vascular surgery — 27.7 percent
15. Cardiology — 27.7 percent (tie)
17. Obstetrics and gynecology — 26.5 percent
18. Pediatrics (general) — 26.3 percent
19. General surgery — 24.9 percen
20. Occupational medicine — 25.3 percen
21. Orthopedic surgery — 24.7 percent
22. Otolaryngology — 23.9 percent
23. Physical medicine/rehabilitation — 23.3 percen
24. Plastic surgery — 23.2 percent
25. Dermatology — 22.9 percent