Wellness and Preventing Burnout of Physician Assistant Faculty

Nationally, the PA faculty attrition rate is 9-10% annually and replacement of a lost APC faculty member costs the University of Utah system approximately $250,000. This financial loss hardly covers the loss of historical and institutional knowledge, effect on students and effect on the greater community in the academic division when a faculty member leaves. The most common reasons for PA faculty to leave their positions include role conflict and a perception in lack of the following: institutional support, recognition by administration, support for scholarly work, fair promotion process, a sense of institutional community and support of the PA program by administration. Identifying and intervening on PA faculty burnout can have a positive impact on job satisfaction, wellness and retention of PA faculty.

PROGRESS TO DATE: Results from 2016 system-wide survey were analyzed. A more inclusive department survey was sent to faculty and staff that included open ended solution-oriented questions. Results were shared with division leadership. University of Utah Health Division of Physician Assistant Studies Joanne Rolls, MPAS, PA-C; Amanda Moloney-Johns, MPAS, PA-C ROADBLOCKS & BARRIERS: Motivating leadership to develop actionable items, personal time, and uncertainties on best approaches to improve have been challenging. VALUABLE LESSONS LEARNED: Culture change and leadership engagement are critical to success. Timely implementation of solutions is challenging. Project Insights Wellness and Preventing Burnout of Physician Assistant Faculty PROJECT VISION Nationally, the PA faculty attrition rate is 9-10% annually and replacement of a lost APC faculty member costs the University of Utah system approximately $250,000. This financial loss hardly covers the loss of historical and institutional knowledge, effect on students and effect on the greater community in the academic division when a faculty member leaves. The most common reasons for PA faculty to leave their positions include role conflict and a perception in lack of the following: institutional support, recognition by administration, support for scholarly work, fair promotion process, a sense of institutional community and support of the PA program by administration1. Identifying and intervening on PA faculty burnout can have a positive impact on job satisfaction, wellness and retention of PA faculty. BASELINE ANALYSIS & INVESTIGATION IMPROVEMENT DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION We evaluated the October 2016 and 2017 wellness survey data provided by the Resiliency Center and found: Leadership is supportive and receptive to project with plans to implement solutions based on the data results. • 89% of Physician Assistant (PA) faculty report that overall they are satisfied with their job. • While job satisfaction is high, 44% of PA faculty report signs of burnout (figure 1). Future Project Goals • 67% of PA faculty report working more than 50 hours per week (figure 2). • Level of burnout is directly correlated with number of hours worked per week (Pearson correlation = .587) Reported Burnout 33% 33% Time (hours) spent on work per week Figure 1 SOM PA Figure 2 SOM 44% PA 22% 22% 11% I enjoy my work. I have I am under stress and no symptoms of don't always have as burnout. much energy, but I don't feel burnt out. I am definitely burning The symptoms of I feel completely out and have one or burnout won't go away. burned out, I am at the more symptoms of I think about work point where I may need burnout. frustrations a lot. to seek help. 11% < 20 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 11% 11% 60-69 70-80 >80 We conducted an internal survey of faculty and staff (16) in May 2017 to better define wellness, barriers, and potential solutions to improve wellness. Top themes include: communication, prioritization, time, organization. GOALS Decrease rates of burnout through: • Implement strategies to optimize work-life balance. • Improve work efficiency to decrease overall number of hours worked. • Determine what contributes to high job satisfaction and ensure that those factors remain a priority. • Continue to survey faculty about ways in which to improve wellness. RESULTS 1 Define faculty and staff perceptions of wellness 2 Identify barriers to "living your definition of wellness" • Work-life balance • Workload • Wellness Activities 3 Get Ideas from faculty and staff to improve wellness • Ask faculty and staff what can be done to improve their idea of wellness; concerns/suggestions in areas of administration, clinic, personnel, scholarship, teaching wellness, & responsiveness to concerns. • Positive environment • Unclear assignments • Respect of time • Time • Clear, consistent leadership 1 Definitions of Wellness 2 Barriers to Wellness 3 Suggestions to Improve 1. Factors Predicting Physician Assistant Faculty Intent to Leave. Coniglio, David Martin ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, North Carolina State University. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28207582. RESILIENCY CENTER | DIVISION OF PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT STUDIES