Career regret: an analysis of physician assistants

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify life and career variables that differ between physician assistants (PAs) with and without career regret. The information in this article may be useful to PAs and PA students in their search for a professional environment that is associated with a lower risk of career regret. Methods: A survey was emailed to 5,000 PAs nationally. Aspects of their life and careers were compared between those with career regret and those without. Results: 26.9% of respondents indicated career regret. Differences were found between PAs with and without regret on the degree of schedule control, hours worked per week, salary, work-life balance, perceived burnout, career satisfaction, advice to others considering the career, and work stability. Other elements that were analyzed were not statistically significant between groups. Conclusion: Differences in work and life aspects were found when comparing PAs with and without regret. Current and future PAs may use the information from this study to help create or seek professional environments that will be less likely to lead to burnout and career regret. Employers can also utilize the information from this research study to develop or maintain work environments that protect against burnout.

Keywords

• career regret
• career satisfaction
• burnout
• physician assistant